Although Dawkins presents a perspective critical to understand in the 20th century, he is not only ineffective at advocating for it but actually circulating destructive misconceptions. Dawkins himself admitted to his lack of expertise in rhetoric, which is painfully evident in the work for which his conviction and shaky sources are no substitute. At the end of the day, Dawkins was annoying and abrasive throughout the text. Nevertheless, the critical issue he points out is paramount to modern society: Religion is not only not to be believed, but is an active force of objective evil upon society.
My biggest gripe with Richard Dawkins's book is his failure to conduct proper research for a plethora of his comparisons and examples. For example, he equates the struggles of advocates for the queer community to the community's struggles themselves. There are also certain disgust I feel when he attempts to cite the foundation of the United States as anything other than an overwhelmingly Christian country, or when he overlooks the virulent racism of Gandhi in a defense of Hinduism, when compared to the Abrahamic religions. Quite frankly, a lot of these comparisons and case studies are pointless to begin with, as I do not understand the fascination with historical figures of note which Dawkins spends so much time talking about. [cw child abuse: (view spoiler)] The discussion of IQ was almost laughable. I wonder sometimes too if there are many scientific explanations for sociological phenomena beyond just "natural selection" too, which Dawkins likely could have stumbled upon with a little bit more consideration. I suppose Richard Dawkins would be the sort of person who would claim learn from their mistakes and the factual inaccuracies, amending them in future publications of the book (including digital editions). However, I doubt that his personal arrogance would permit him to make such dramatically needed corrections.
All of these glaring flaws together make it impossible for me to recommend The God Delusion in good faith, but at the same time I am torn by this because this book has also been essential to me in understanding the horrific injustice committed upon human society by the perpetuation of Abrahamic religious practices. All of the supposed charity religion exerted, I realized, was either done to hold vulnerable communities as hostage for the benefit of the religious institution or motivated by a human moral compass entirely independent of holy scriptures. Even not believing in them myself, I feel as if I have been complicit in a terrible abuse upon women and minorities in the face of religious, institutionalized oppression. I had been deeply encoded with the core value that if somebody believes in something, no matter how evil, that I must respect it. This meant that the Abrahamic faiths of the world, with their rampant warmongering, hatred, oppression of out-groups, misogyny, and other abuses were to be "respected" and unchallenged. Reading this story has helped me to realize in the true sense that in order to be a tolerant human being, I must not tolerate intolerance. It is important to stand up for people who are oppressed by religion. And lastly, it is critical not to provide anything but active resistance to religion whenever possible, otherwise the horrific beliefs and practices will be perpetuated. I just wish there was a way to recommend literature which didn't involve such a frustrating author as Dawkins.
My biggest gripe with Richard Dawkins's book is his failure to conduct proper research for a plethora of his comparisons and examples. For example, he equates the struggles of advocates for the queer community to the community's struggles themselves. There are also certain disgust I feel when he attempts to cite the foundation of the United States as anything other than an overwhelmingly Christian country, or when he overlooks the virulent racism of Gandhi in a defense of Hinduism, when compared to the Abrahamic religions. Quite frankly, a lot of these comparisons and case studies are pointless to begin with, as I do not understand the fascination with historical figures of note which Dawkins spends so much time talking about. [cw child abuse: (view spoiler)] The discussion of IQ was almost laughable. I wonder sometimes too if there are many scientific explanations for sociological phenomena beyond just "natural selection" too, which Dawkins likely could have stumbled upon with a little bit more consideration. I suppose Richard Dawkins would be the sort of person who would claim learn from their mistakes and the factual inaccuracies, amending them in future publications of the book (including digital editions). However, I doubt that his personal arrogance would permit him to make such dramatically needed corrections.
All of these glaring flaws together make it impossible for me to recommend The God Delusion in good faith, but at the same time I am torn by this because this book has also been essential to me in understanding the horrific injustice committed upon human society by the perpetuation of Abrahamic religious practices. All of the supposed charity religion exerted, I realized, was either done to hold vulnerable communities as hostage for the benefit of the religious institution or motivated by a human moral compass entirely independent of holy scriptures. Even not believing in them myself, I feel as if I have been complicit in a terrible abuse upon women and minorities in the face of religious, institutionalized oppression. I had been deeply encoded with the core value that if somebody believes in something, no matter how evil, that I must respect it. This meant that the Abrahamic faiths of the world, with their rampant warmongering, hatred, oppression of out-groups, misogyny, and other abuses were to be "respected" and unchallenged. Reading this story has helped me to realize in the true sense that in order to be a tolerant human being, I must not tolerate intolerance. It is important to stand up for people who are oppressed by religion. And lastly, it is critical not to provide anything but active resistance to religion whenever possible, otherwise the horrific beliefs and practices will be perpetuated. I just wish there was a way to recommend literature which didn't involve such a frustrating author as Dawkins.