Over the last few days, tens of thousands of British people have come together to protest against the Pope and the string of atrocities for which he is responsible. In honour of this movement again Joseph Ratzinger, I have decided to remind the world of the existence of Richard Dawkins’ fantastic book, The God Delusion.
“My earlier books did not set out to convert anyone…this book does” declares Dawkins – and you better believe it’s true. The God Delusion is an attack – an assault on theism in all its forms, in favour of the Darwinist theory of natural selection. Condemning the Bible as “a chaotically cobbled together anthology of disjointed documents”, Dawkins goes on to rip apart a staggering number of the most well-respected arguments for the existence of God, from Aquinas to Unwin, before unloading furiously on the subject of the religious community claiming scientific geniuses as their own. Baffled by how religion continues to survive – indeed, to grow – in modern society, Dawkins compares our tendency towards religion to a moth being attracted to and burnt by a flame.
Of course, some readers may not understand why a difference in belief systems is such a big deal and will consider this book a waste of time. However, in The God Delusion, Dawkins explains exactly why this difference is so important, pointing out the unforgivable ways in which religion continues to impact social policy, adding more fuelling his secularist fire.
Of course, Dawkins is not the only person alarmed by religion, in all its grotesque forms. A mere glance in the news is enough to remind atheists what they are up against; a woman has been stoned to death under Sharia law in Somalia and the UK has just paid £12 million for a visit from a man who, amongst other things, is involved in the institutionalised concealment of child rape. In The God Delusion, Dawkins finally lays down why belief systems that support this type f behaviour simply this cannot be allowed to continue.
