Amazon #21: The God Delusion (aka Dickie Dawkins Does Deities)

3 stars - link.

Many reviews have been written here, but none of them really encapsulate this book in a reasonable way.

Seeing that my father is an atheist and my mother is a catholic, I believe I am more qualified than most to make a judgement on the arguments contained in this overly long and dense book - I was brought up amidst a hotbed of theological debate for most of my life, and I am sympathetic towards every argument given for and against Richard Hawkins's case (or Dickie Dawkins as he's known by my four year old!).

Until their acrimonious divorce when I was aged 6, my parents got along fine - then the constant bickering over their belief systems took over. I was too young to remember any specific arguments of worth, but I remember such words as 'godless, incredulous, heretic, foolish', and 'do you want the child to be banished to hell' seemed to be exchanged. Somehow, I still have a healthy relationship with both parents, but the point I am trying to make is that all these discussions are fruitless - no one can prove there is a god, just as you can't prove there isn't one (although in honesty, the former argument has picked up quite a lot of eyewitness testimony over the years!!!). While I refuse to take sides on this issue, because I'm an open and honest man that doesn't belittle any viewpoint, Richard Dawkins does tend to come across as a godless troublemaker - I think, if the good samaritan had a choice between saving Jesus and Richard Dawkins, he would've gone for the gentler and more tolerant Jesus every time!

This book has it's place, but it really can't take the place of 'Religion for Dummies'.

In summary then, I am hedging my bets - I am proud to be raising my children as devout catholics, and am hoping that they will not be too damaged by the experience when they reach the age where they make up their own minds.