01.22.07
Required reading
I just finished reading The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins (who has earned himself a spot on my short list of personal heroes.)
In the book, Dawkins not only presents and defeats all the reasoning used by theists in arguing for (or at least apologizing for) their fantastic fairy tale beliefs, but he also makes a convincing case for not apologizing for and excusing moderate theism.
The book has absolutley moved me from the “soft atheist/agnostic” to the “militant atheist” camp. And by militant I simply mean that I will no longer agree with people who claim that religion is a force for good in this world. I don’t mean that I will ever do violence, or that I will purposefully accost people like an evangelist would.
But I plan to study and practice the arguments in the book until I can wield them in my own right. I always feel bad when I say something like that, but any given argument is a skill that is increased and solidified by practice and study.
Anyway, even if you aren’t an atheist or other variety of skeptic, you would be well advised to read this book. It gives you a very fresh perspective, one that I have never seen or heard articulated in this way before.
And next time I read it, I’ll be sure to toss in a bunch of quotes to the ol’ quote machine.
Gaia gardener said,
January 24, 2007 at 10:58 am
Healthy skepticism is good. Evangelistic atheism, however, is no more pleasant to be around than evangelistic religion. In fact, I have seen it argued that atheism is a form of religion in and of itself.
Trying to get others to believe as you do is very tempting, because it is strong validation. I would rather see you, though, work to make this a better, more hope-filled world without trying to convert others to your way of religious or non-religious thinking. Show others by your actions that you don’t have to be traditionally religious to be a “good” person or to make the world a better place to be in.
franksparrow said,
January 28, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Will you bring that book when you come visit?
qkslvrwolf said,
January 29, 2007 at 11:09 am
To gaia: I’m not going to take a door to door salesmanship approach. But when people make comments with the gist of “faith is good, faith is a virtue”, I’m going to disagree with them. When people say they think I should go to church, I’m going to tell me that I think they should stop. And in public conversations, I will provide the skeptic’s point of view. I will not be a silent minority anymore.
sparrow: remind me when I’m packing, but I’ll talk to you when I pack so we can cover all that.