4.0 out of 5 based on 4 reviews. – Customer review on 24/08/2009

I would argue that anybody unhappy with the quality of the arguments in this book obviously hasn't been exposed to enough pro-religion propaganda to appreciate how bad it can get. Yes, this book is a bit rough around the edges, but it has shaken the boat enough to be worth reading. The fact that countless insecure Christian authors have decided to write whole books as character assassinations of Dawkins just shows the pandora's box that this book has opened.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anybody who isn't already considering atheism though, as they would instinctively go on to reassure their weak beliefs with any one of a handful of Christian rebuttals. Unfortunately, most people are just beyond help...

As mentioned above though, this book isn't a fully solid book to base your atheism on. I higly recommend Stenger's "God the Failed Hypothesis", Hitchens' "God is not Great", Park's "Superstition", and Martin's "Atheism" if you want a solid grounding, and Harris' "The End of Faith" if you're looking for a bit more of a coherent thesis.

5.0 out of 5 based on 4 reviews. – Customer review on 30/05/2009

Richard Dawkin’s book The God Delusion brilliantly draws criticism of organised religion and the belief in God and explores the highly detrimental effect it has had on civilisation and humanity.
This book comprehensively and rationally explores the perpetual nature of religion and the psychological predisposition towards it and does so in an excellently researched and factual nature resulting in solid and irrefutable arguments that lay bare the absurdity that is the need to be religious.
Dawkins is an elite scientist whose works are highest calibre and this book will not disappoint as the intellectual tone of the book is nicely complemented by sophisticated wit making it an enjoyable read while exuding harsh but fair condemnation.
The God Delusion can only be highly recommended to any fence sitter, agnostic, or atheist in order to allow them to either reach a personal conclusion or consolidate their arguments for use in the real world. It is also a must read by anyone of strong faith willing to “raise their consciousness” so that it may illuminate the irrational reasoning that underpins the belief in God as it is arguably the best book available on the subject.

5.0 out of 5 based on 4 reviews. – Customer review on 20/09/2008

63 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
Dawkins Lays Out the Case for Atheism, Oct 7 2006


Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary theorist and holds the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is also a best seller author of science books, and quite easy to read.

In this book, Dawkins tackles the problem of religion -- and he does see it as a problem. Dawkins begins by pointing out that there is no evidence whatsoever of god. True, he cannot prove that god does not exist, but the same is true of all possible gods, including Zeus and Wotan. The fact that something cannot be proven false is no evidence whatsoever that is true.

Dawkins further points out how religion (or, more precisely, faith) is so damaging. Faith is, quite simply, the enemy of reason. If one believes something on faith then, by definition, it does not matter what the evidence shows, one will still believe. It is a matter of faith. No matter how strong the evidence of evolution, for example, many faithful simply refuse to believe. With faith, there is no argument, no evidence good enough. With reason, one will still make mistakes, but at least one is trying to get it right.

Dawkins believes very strongly in what he says, but that does not make him just another fundamentalist. Dawkins came to his beliefs by looking at evidence, considering all arguments and applying reason. If, tomorrow, one presented him with evidence that he was wrong, he would change his mind.

This book will offend many readers, but that is not what Dawkins intends and it only proves his point: readers who are offended have been so blinded by religion that they are unable to consider that they might be wrong without suffering pain.

For an explanation of how evolution works, read Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker. For a small sample of the evidence behind the theory (and a brief history of life on earth), read The Ancestor's Tale. These books are written in a less strident manner, and would only offend the those who take the Bible completely literally, and cannot tolerate the thought that they are mistaken.

3.0 out of 5 based on 4 reviews. – Customer review on 18/06/2007

The book is enjoyable and very interesting, some parts are even amusing. However, I had been hoping that Dawkins would go more in depth with the scientific issues of how religion evolved in people's brains and is useful function as a survival mechanism. I was somewhat disappointed that the book was brief and didn't go in depth on many subjects, is just a brief outline of many areas. I still recommend it to anyone interested though, all agnostics should read/listen to it for some food for thought. At the end, however, I was still agnostic rather than atheist.