Just as I Suspected
Continuing on with Richard Dawkins book The God Delusion I took a little look at some book reviews, interviews and other commentary. Apparently, not only Dawkins, but also Sam Harris and E.O.Wilson have recently published works that some consider 'the new atheism,' a more argumentative, no-holds-barred stance that seeks actively to discredit or hold up to ridicule religion in general, not only belief in a particular concept of God. Some call this group 'evangelizing non-believers' - how is that for irony? Just as I suspected, there would be book reviews as in this one by Robert Lee Holtz of the LA Times and interesting interviews as this one by Gary Wolf
that I have printed out to read.
that I have printed out to read.
posted by mamie @ 11:21 AM
5 Comments:
At 8:22 PM,
Anonymous said…
Dawkins does write a rather proselytizing book, but, to be fair, many of the Christian/Muslim/Buddhist writings also have the intent to persuade/convert people to their particular belief system. In that sense, is he doing anything different?
At 9:00 PM,
mamie said…
Hi mulberry,
I'm always pleased when you check in with another provocative comment. From what I gather from the critiques, it is the 'tone' of Dawkins and others' discourse - arrogant, disrespectful, purposely trying to piss people off - that sets them apart as a new breed of atheist. Perhaps this doesn't come through so much in the book as it does in interviews, personal appearances and so on.
At 6:53 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Mamie,
I do agree that the tone of Dawkins is disrespectful, often ridiculing and irreverent. That aspect of his book I don't like. Some call him a fundamentalist atheist, and rightly so. One can explore one's own ideas with supporting argument without debunking every different idea.
At 10:39 AM,
mamie said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
At 10:39 AM,
mamie said…
I must try to get on with reading the book this week.
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