Unfortunately I found Hitchens's rather silly book on the same lines so disappointing that it quite took away my enthusiasm for reading the more celebrated tome. And I'm still manfully avoiding the buying of new books until I clear the backlog on my shelves. So eventually I passed on the Dawkins, for the present at least. It might be fun to read in fasting month though!
Monday, July 4, 2011
Delusional
Still reflecting on recent reading, the one that got away was Dawkins's The God Delusion. I've been meaning to read it for a while, basically to see what all the fuss was about. These New (or Gnu) Atheist chappies seem very vocal of late as if something has really rattled their cage, and the good prof appears to be prettty much their patron saint and in large part responsible for the fuss. At least two bloggers I think are generally fairly sensible hold the book in high regard. So I live in hopes of finding something genuinely stimulating and challenging when I finally get round to it.
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Eeeeee. These books are what you get when reason attempts to bootstrap itself off the material plane. Sam Harris is the third of this antitheist (it's not possible to let them get away with 'atheist') trinity. Enjoy.
Yes, picked up a little bit on Mr Harris through bits and pieces on-line. Amusingly I've read some pretty strident critiques of his latest from those within the antitheist lobby themselves.
The self-proclaimed Gnu Atheists expend quite a bit of eneregy falling out amongst themselves on the oddest issues. They get quite over-wrought about whether or not to be civil to theists. Ah, what it is to be wholly rational!
The religious camp (not any one in particularly, but as a generalisation) tend to do a good bit of internal bickering as well. In some unfortunate instances, they expend quite a bit of energy killing each other too. Of course I'm not suggesting that all theists are genocidal maniacs, but some of us atheists are quite content to leave the religious to their beliefs so long as it isn't being crammed down our throats. Just my humble two cents.
Point well made, and taken, about an unpleasantly good number of theists being more than a little prone to murder each other for not terribly good reasons (including quite a few of my co-religionists.
My take on this is that the same applies to non-theists, who, by the way, were responsible for almost all the major genocides of the last cenury. We are a remarkably stupid and wicked species regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof.
Actually the bit about 'internal bickering' is amusingly relevant to current developments in New Atheist circles wherein the Dawk himself has recently come in for a hammering from Gnu Atheist Feminists for being a bit of chauvinist. It revolves around what they call the Elevator Guy Incident and the whole thing is (unintentionally) hilarious. I can't provide a link, because I'm hopeless at that sort of thing, but google Elevator Guy and I think you'll get there. Hours of reading pleasure, trenchantly illustrating my point about the generality of stupidity.
Rather amusing read indeed. The notion of human beings suffering from chronic stupidity regardless of their deities is definitely not lost on me. Incidentally, you don't have to buy The God Delusion. I believe there is a copy floating around the library of the institution at which you are employed. Rather surprisingly, to be honest, given their passively forceful imposition of Methodist Christianity.
Funnily enough I was intending to check out said library for said tome as I decided not to buy any books at all just yet, but was still keen to give it a go during Ramadhan, assuming it's available there.
Thanks for the confirmation it made it to the shelves. (I had some doubts it would get through the doors. Heartening that they weren't confirmed.)
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