by Richard Dawkins
Dawkins states the core of his book in chapter two. God is a delusion, he says, because “any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to design anything comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution. Creative intelligences, being evolved, necessarily arrive late in the universe, and therefore cannot be responsible for designing it.”
This is a faulty fundamental assertion, coming though a couple unfounded assumptions. A simple review is far insufficient to hit the particulars, but here are my initial afterthoughts on the book as a whole:
Dawkins is an intelligent man. I respect his value of science, his passion for knowledge, and his search for answers.
Still, Dawkins (and atheist scientists) are not the only thinking people. Some have a faith simply through parental upbringing; others approach God with deep intelligence. Many intelligent people have looked at much of the same facts Dawkins presents and reached the opposite conclusion, faith in God.
I'd hoped Dawkins' book would face more of the “greats” of faith (C.S. Lewis, A.W. Tozer, Ravi Zacharias, e.g.) and ignore the religious extremists like Ann Coulter and Fred Phelps. Dawkins would be equally upset if I used the opinions of the wilder atheists (see YouTuber TheAmazingAtheist, for a public example) to represent him.
Admittedly I had a few misconceptions about Dawkins and aspects of Darwinism (though I still think it incorrect, having examined further). Dawkins, however, also has his own misconceptions about Christianity--and Judaism, Islam, and others.
Throughout the book, I get the feel that Dawkins believes not only that humans are evolved, but also that smarter humans are evolved further still. (This, by the way, explains the pomposity that often creeps up through the pages.) If Dawkins views himself as among the most supreme beings, does that make him, in his own eyes... godlike?
This book seems more trendy than anything. He makes a few valid points, but I think it’s mostly popular because it’s an edgy topic.
GRADE:
_ _ C- _ _
If you can read past the arrogance, Dawkins is thoughtful and occasionally correct.
No comments:
Post a Comment