"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, blood thirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomanical, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." And then Dawkins states that region gets an abnormal amount of respect? Well if Dawkins wrote this book to persuade, he just lost his audience with that opening line. All who remain to read the book are those in agreement. Dawkins is at his best when he sticks to the science aspect and especially when he stays close to home on evolutionary theory.
The book inspired a number of debate opportunities for Dawkins. One debate with Francis Collins shows how intractable both positions really are. There is no way for proof of either opionion. As one reviewer stated "it is poignant that the believers in God will never know if they are wrong and the disbelievers will never know if they are correct.
NY Times Review
No comments:
Post a Comment