First in an occasional series of responses to Richard Dawkins' assault on God, religion, and people of faith.
Bestselling author and atheist scientist Richard Dawkins says that if you believe in God, you are deluded. I don't feel deluded, but according to Dawkins, that's because of my "childhood indoctrination" and closed-mindedness. If only I liberate my mind to reason, I will see the light and God won't be there.
Over the last few months, I've read bits and pieces of Richard Dawkins' bestselling The God Delusion. Finally, I decided to pick up a copy and read it straight-through. As I read it (along with about 3 other books, including the previously mentioned Growing Disciples by George Barna), I will periodically make blog responses to its content.
One thing I respect about Dawkins is that he makes his intentions clear at the outset: "If this book works as I intend, religious leaders who open it will be atheists when they put it down."
Knowing that this will not always be the result, Dawkins cleverly frames the issue in such a way that he still wins. Check it out...
Of course, dyed-in-the-wool faith-heads are immune to argument, their resistance built up over years of childhood indoctrination using methods that took centuries to mature (whether by evolution or design). Among the more effective immunological devices is a dire warning to avoid even opening a book like this, which is surely a work of Satan. But I believe there are plenty of open-minded people out there: people whose childhood indoctrination was not too insidious, or for other reasons didn't 'take', or whose native intelligence is strong enough to overcome it.
Well, now, ain't that lovely?? If you persist in your belief in God after reading Dawkins' book, that probably means you were too heavily "indoctrinated" as a child or you simply don't have that much "native intelligence" working on your behalf. Too bad for you. The truly enlightened ones, though - they will understand.
It's interesting that Dawkins claims to want people of faith to FREELY question and be skeptical of their faith (which is, by the way, fair enough). He spends his entire book lambasting religious people for their dogma, and it doesn't seem to strike him that he is practicing an audacious double-standard with his own dogma for atheism - and his hostility toward religion. If you think I'm being too harsh, read the book.
This is just my opening commentary. As John Paul Jones famously said: "I have not yet begun to fight." We're just getting started. This series is going to be fun.
