are you religious and have you read 'The God Delusion'?

Question

It is a fairly intellectual book so wouldn't expect many, particularly the religious to have read it

I'm interested in views on the book too

Lion of Judah: I suggest you check these links out:
http://kspark.kaist.ac.kr/Jesus/Intelligence%20&%20religion.htm
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/nov/article270.html
http://www.halfsigma.com/2006/06/religious_peopl.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religiosity_and_intelligence
http://www.answers.com/topic/religiosity-and-intelligence

it is not bigoted, but a fact.

Answer 1

I am an atheist. I read Dawkins' book and loved it. It is clear, concise, and thought-provoking. If mankind put one tenth of the mental exertion and emotional investment that goes into religion, into positive action and thought untainted by supernatural obsessions, what a future our children might have!

Answer 2

Haven't read it yet, but it is in "The Pile" next to the bed. Busy with Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" at the moment.

To answer the question. I reject religion, but I'm not quite an atheist, simply because Science has not yet provided all the answers, so while the existence of a 'Higher Order' cannot be proven, it cannot yet be disproven either.

I believe though that modern physics points at a definate underlying reality that we know little about that might be classified as 'supernatural' by the definitions we hold to at present.

Answer 3

I am not religious: I am a Christian
What an arrogant stement to suggest that 'religious people' are unable to read intellectual material.
Would you include Newton, Kepler, etc in that category?
I have not ploughed through the God delusion as yet (on order from Library) but have read a synopsis.
Dawkins has his prejudices, too, remeber.

Answer 4

I am religious and I haven't read it, mainly because I am familiar with Dawkins' arguments and they don't really speak to my condition.

The intellectual weightiness is not an issue I am educated to masters degree level in physics.

Answer 5

I am not religious and I read it with some trepidation because I had heard how intolerant he was toward religious people. Although I myself am not a religious person I do believe people have the right to follow their own beliefs. I was actually surprised to find that to me the book wasn't really that intolerant. Unless you find questioning the literal veracity of religion itself intolerant. I actually see it as a plea for reason and increased tolerance. After all if your claims are based on faith and unverifiable should you have the right to force others to bend to your views? Should legislation and policy be determined by faith based belief that all don't share? As for him saying that raising children as believers is child abuse I think that was blown out of proportion. What he suggests is that we should provide children the means to make up their own minds when they grow up by instilling critical thinking skills and a giving them a good education. Its the religious people not atheists I see trying to dictate school curriculums, put up their icons in public, and legislate Biblical beliefs onto a diverse culture.

Answer 6

Well, in order to read it you would have to use the Brain that God created for you to use. How do I know that God created the Human brain?

Studies, like that done by the University of Michigan, and features in the Discovery Channel program, The Amazing Life of the Human Brain, shows just how amazing the human brain is.

Every second while awake, we are absorbing 40MBs of data per second. That’s 144 gigabytes per hour and about 2 terabytes per day. That’s a lot of data even for the largest computer. When we sleep at night, and only at night or under nighttime conditions, all that data is sorted and stored through the creation of synaptic connectors and biochemical bounds. The brain has enough volume to allow for the creation of these storage connectors to last over 10,000 years.

Without the need of a creator, what evolutionary pressure could cause the need for this much volume that would take that long to fill? Clearly, man was either created by God to live that long, but if man evolved, than he must have once lived that long, and has since de-evolved to what we are today. Which do you think it is?

This is why I believe in God. I use the brain he gave me, and designed for me, to determine something beyond imagining.

Answer 7

Try listening to your self for a moment. You are just reeking with arrogance. The only thing I don't understand is why anyone with the kind of intellect you obviously think you have would want to ask about anything on YA. I'm sure you think you already "know it all".

Answer 8

Yes, and yes. Next question.
And Jesus, aren't you the snob, not expecting religious people to have read something just because it's intellectual.

Answer 9

not religious have not read book but no god is a delusion

Answer 10

You're going to get a lot of "The Case for Christ" rebuttals here, but Lee Strobel a horrible apologist. He uses so many debunked arguments in his books, it's sad.