Reference Links The God Delusion   by Richard Dawkins Return to Study IndexPage
"It is often said that there is a God-shaped gap in the brain which needs to be filled: we have a psychological need for God - imaginary friend, father, big brother, confessor, confidant - and the need has to be satisfied whether God really exists or not. But could it be that God clutters up a gap that we'd be better off filling with something else?"

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MAIN PAGE GENERAL REVIEWS PART 1 PART 2

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DATE
GENERAL
JAN
10
RichardDawkins.net is the author's principle official site and this link is the page for his latest book, The God Delusion. Richard Dawkins is the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford, Dawkins is not merely replaying the old tapes of atheist criticism, but challenging us on the regressive consequence of supernatualism in today's world. There is a broad resource here including the Christmas messages of the Archbishop of Cantebury William Rowan, and other clerics.
Wikipedia
Summary
JAN
10
Here are a summary of the book's points, the sales, the controversy, and expanded points of comment and reference - the typical wikipedia excellent starter overview.
REVIEWS
London
Review
of Books
JAN
16
Lunging, Flailing, Mispunching - by Terry Eagleton "Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology. Card-carrying rationalists like Dawkins, who is the nearest thing to a professional atheist we have had since Bertrand Russell, are in one sense the least well-equipped to understand what they castigate, since they don’t believe there is anything there to be understood, or at least anything worth understanding. This is why they invariably come up with vulgar caricatures of religious faith that would make a first-year theology student wince. "
Globe & Mail
Review - Watson
JAN
10
"There is no God sayeth Dawkins" - by Patrick Watson. "This book is a closely argued essay and a polemic all at once, centred on his thesis that the idea of God is irrefutably wrong and dangerous. He is especially wrathful about the Bible ... exposing the fallacy of every God-arguer he can find, from Aristotle through Dietrich Bonhoeffer to the contemporary theologians he comes up against (fairly frequently, it seems) on BBC television." Curiously, this somewhat critical review is published on the Dawkins site and more readily found there than at the G&M.
London Book Review JAN
10
A positive review. "Aside from the intellectual content, the book is also well-written, engaging and passionate. Dawkins writes vividly and with a style that is approachable, making even complex ideas and theories accessible to the general reader. As an antidote to the religious ideas which increasingly permeate public discourse, Dawkins has provided us with an exemplary piece of work."
Kenan Malik
Daily Telegraph
Review
JAN
10
A cautious review. "Dawkins is Britain's most famous atheist and in The God Delusion he gives eloquent vent to his uncompromising views. ... Part of the problem is Dawkins's view that religion is not so much a set of beliefs as a mental illness. ... The moral of the story is that if you want an understanding of evolution or an argument for atheism, there are few better guides than Richard Dawkins. But treat with extreme caution the pronouncements of any one who takes his political cue from an ex-Beatle."
Christianity Today - Books & Culture
Review
JAN
10
The Dawkins Confusion - Naturalism ad absurdum. by Alvin Plantinga. "Richard Dawkins is not pleased with God. ... If Dawkins ever gets tired of his day job, a promising future awaits him as a writer of political attack ads. ... Now despite the fact that this book is mainly philosophy, Dawkins is not a philosopher (he's a biologist). Even taking this into account, however, much of the philosophy he purveys is at best jejune ..." A Christian philosopher's retort.
Marilynne
Robinson
Harper's
Review
JAN
10
A delightful Review. "There is no doubt in Dawkins's mind that the evils of the world are to be laid at the doorstep of the church, mosque, and synagogue, and that science must be our salvation. It is the "God delusion," which has afflicted almost everyone almost anywhere through the whole of recorded time, that has made us behave so badly. And Science (by which he really means his version of Darwinism) is our potential rescuer from this vale of tears. We need only to become more Dawkins-like in our thinking. This is a fairly cheery view of things beside others on offer, at least as regards the ongoing life of the planet, which he seems to assume."
PART ONE: DISAGREEABLE GODS - POLEMICS AND APOLOGIA
GoogleVideo

link - Pt 1

link - Pt 2
JAN
10
The Root of All Evil? is a television documentary, written and presented by Richard Dawkins, in which he argues that the world would be better off without religion. The documentary was first broadcast in January 2006, in the form of two 45-minute episodes (excluding advertisement breaks), on Channel 4 in the UK. This considers the same themes as this study: Part 1 is "The God Delusion", and Part 2 is "The Virus of Faith".
JAN
10
The Four Horsemen. On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen. All four authors have recently received a large amount of media attention for their writings against religion - some positive, and some negative. In this conversation the group trades stories of the public's reaction to their recent books, their unexpected successes, criticisms and common misrepresentations. They discuss the tough questions about religion that face to world today, and propose new strategies for going forward. GoogleVideo  link-hour1  link-hour2
JAN
10
Daniel Clement Dennett (one of the 4) is a prominent American philosopher whose research centers on philosophy of mind, philosophy of science and philosophy of biology, particularly as those fields relate to evolutionary biology and cognitive science. Dennett is currently the Director of the Center for Cognitive Studies and the Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. Dennett is also a noted atheist. Wikipedia Biography
JAN
10
Sam Harris - (one of the 4) The End of Faith - Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason. This also is a current best seller. Wayne is currently leading a con-ed study at the University of Calgary on Harris. Wikipedia Summary
JAN
10
Christopher Hitchens (one of the 4)- Wikipedia biography.
God is Not Great - How Religion Poisons Everything
a current best seller. Click on pic left for wikipedia summary of book. A slight variation on the very same anti-religious themes. "God did not make us, we made God", says he. Hitchens is an British-American journalist, newly a citizen of the US. While at Wikipedia, you can of course click on Hitchens for a bio. . FORA TV has a good 54 minute Prose and Politics Bookstore talk on his book. Click HERE. For an iconoclastic list of links on his favourite themes - hitchensweb.com . Here is a good little excerpt from his Portable Atheist on the notion that only religious do good.
JAN
10
A reading from "God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins (the last of the 4)at Randolph-Macon Woman's College. His Q&A interchange with the more liberal students of RMWC and some interloping students from Jerry Falwell's Liberty University is well worth the watching. More polite and sensitive than you might think. 1hr45min FORA also provide indexing of their videos to facilitate spot viewing.
GoogleVideoLink-small FORAVideo
JAN
10
With a voice that could move a mountain, orator Eloma Simpson Barnes practically channels Martin Luther King, Jr., as she performs one of his speeches. She emulates King’s cadence, intonation and enunciation in this inspirational reminder to stand up for what you believe in. Martin Luther King Jr was as fine example of good religion and belief in God making a difference as ever there has been. Barnes will restart your heart with his words. Pop!Tech
JAN
20
Recipe for the Universe - Just Six Numbers (2004) By Sir Martin Rees, "Our whole Universe is governed by just six numbers, set at the time of the Big Bang. Alter any one of them at your peril, for stars, planets and humans would then not exist." Dawkins illustrates the anthropic principle with Rees. Here are his own words.
JAN
20
The Selfish Gene by Dawkins on-line as an e-book. This was the book that began his reputation as a world class biologist, and in which he proposed the idea of the "meme".
JAN
20
Metanexus Institute is concerned about the interface of Science and Religion. The papers of their conferences of the last few years are on line. Here is a link to the papers on the 2003 conference Works of Love - Perspectives on Altruism, which backgrounds Chapter 6 on morality. Metanexus audio/powerpoints are available for subscription only on MIRO, and includes "Why Good Things Happen to Good People".
FEB
3
LOVE THY NEIGHBOR: The evolution of in-group morality - by John Hartung. This is the paper Dawkins comments on in Ch 7 on the roots of morality. Abstract: The world's major religions espouse a moral code that includes injunctions against murder, theft, and lying — or so conventional 19th- and 20th-century Western wisdom would have it. Evidence put forth here argues that this convention is a conceit which does not apply to the West's own religious foundations.
FEB
3
From the Dictionary of Philosophy of Mind at Waterloo, a piece on Dennett's classifications of behaviour cited in Ch 5 on the roots of religion.
"According to Daniel Dennett, there are three different strategies that we might use when confronted with objects or systems: the physical stance, the design stance, and the intentional stance. Each of these strategies is predictive. ...
JAN
10
The Awesome Power of Memes - Here's one of those talks that can change your view of the world forever. Dan Dennett explains about "memes" -- a term coined by Richard Dawkins for mental concepts that are literally alive and capable of spreading from brain to brain. 2002. 16 min. TEDTalks Memes are what separate the parties in the present discussions of atheism. A most useful concept.
FEB
14
The Clash Between Faith and Reason Aspen Institute - Aspen, CO
Believing the Unbelievable: The Clash Between Faith and Reason in the Modern World with Sam Harris speaking at the 2007 Aspen Ideas Festival.
FEB
14
The View From The End Of The World - The Long Now Foundation - San Francisco, CA. With gentle demeanor and tight argument, Sam Harris carried an overflow audience into the core of one of the crucial issues of our time: What makes some religions lethal? How do they employ aggressive irrationality to justify threatening and controlling non-believers as well as believers? What should be our response?
FEB
14
A Brief History of Disbelief - Johnathan Miller - bbc 4. Atheism began with the Greeks and Romans. The "gods" were understood as metaphor, and were not actually "believed in" as moderns would use language. The rise of montheism came as a form of atheism, a blending of the various aspects of the spiritual that earlier had been characterized by the qualities of a given "god". References to Epicurus and Lucretious
To The Source FEB
11
Good, Not Great - the Meaning of Lent. Comments on Neitzche's anti-god sentiments. To The Source is an ecuemenical conservative website and newsletter. Their motto "Challenging Hardcore Secularism with Principled Pluralism".
FEB
3
Poison or Cure? Religious Belief in the Modern World - Christopher Hitchens Debates Alister McGrath. Georgetown University and Ethics and Public Policy Center - Washington, D.C. FORA.tv.
This debate is rather long 1 hr 41 min. So the FORA folks distilled it to smaller parts.   Part 1 (9:30) McGrath's Points.   Part 2 (4:38) Hitchens Points.   Part 3 (8:29) Audience Q & A.
Times On Line FEB
11
The London Times is blogging different threads of conversations. This is the link to the present Dawkins debate, replete with comments, links and videos.
FEB
11
The Burke lecture on religion. University of California Television. San Diego. John Shelby Spong. 1:23 "The Terrible Texts of the Bible" In this lecture Spong introduces the ideas in his then new book "The Sins of Scripture". He is as convinced as Dawkins that there are terrible things in the Bible. Yet he speaks softly and movingly about the evolving spiritual awareness of what "god" means with an excellent romp through the bible. Starting with the tribal yahweh to the god of the prophets to the god as demonstrated by Jesus. As brief and moving an example of the "progressive" christian church.
FEB
11
Sermon - The Sins of Scripture.

Bishop John Shelby Spong at Unity Church in The Rockies.
This is short version and more gentle and passionate of the themes above.
34 min.
PART TWO - THE FUTURE OF THE DEBATE
FEB
11
Lee Strobel maintains a website "Resources for Apologetics" from the conservative perspective. Here is a link from Sherry Vera on a short video where Dr. WL Craig gives the philosophical arguments against atheism.
JAN
10
Rick Warren - Living a Purpose Driven Life. Pastor, philanthropist and author Rick Warren reflects on how the success of his book triggered his own crisis of purpose. What should he do with this unanticipated wealth and attention? Warren uses his own story to explain the central tenet of his teaching: that the antidote to spiritual emptiness is recognizing what we have been given -- wealth, creativity, talent -- and using those gifts to make the world a better place. Pastor Rick Warren is the author of "The Purpose-Driven Life", which has sold more than 30 million copies. 21:14. A modern conservative religious voice. TEDTalks
JAN
10
Tom Honey - "How Could God Have Allowed the Tsunami". The Canon Pastor of Exeter Cathedral, in the UK, is unafraid to take on some of religion's tougher subjects. For years he was the vicar of the church in Oxford attended decades earlier by the Christian thinker C.S. Lewis. The devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami of late 2004 in which some 300,000 people died, made it one of the worst natural disasters in human history. Honey concludes that certain traditional concepts of God just won't do ... and calls for believers and nonbelievers alike to dig deeper in their quest for truth. 19:44 This is the sort of gentle progressive voice Dawkins is unaware of. TEDTalks
JAN
10
Martin Marty - Marty is of course the world's expert on fundamentalisms. Click the pic for the wikipedia bio.

The State of Religion - 5:20. Short piece Florida TV interview. Marty says religion is blooming in the world, not fading.
JAN
10
Martin Marty - Faith and Science - A foremost interpreter of religion and culture says we're missing a rest-of-world perspective about faith. Martin Marty invites a broader definition of religion as well as a closer look at its meaning for the majority of the world.  - 21 min GoogleVideo (larger)   Pop!Tech (smaller)
JAN
10
Richard Dawkins - Faith and Science - Richard Dawkins believes science's ability to admit ignorance is one of its greatest strengths. On the flip side, he proposes that faith remains arrogant and all too certain of its validity without any rational set of proofs. - 24 min - This talk followed the one above from Martin Marty to whom he showed respect. Pop!Tech  GoogleVideo
FEB
14
Mysticism and Resistance, Empowerment and Advocacy featuring keynote speaker, Marcus J. Borg, author of the bestseller The Heart of Christianity. Borg at progressive christian conference "Progressive Christians Uniting" Pasadena, CA Feb 19th, 2007
PBS
Speaking of Faith
Podcast
- Bonhoeffer
JAN
15
Ethics and the Will of God - The Legacy of Deitrich Bonhoeffer. Archive material and 1 hr audio program with Krista Tippett of PBS Series "Speaking of Faith". Bonhoeffer was a Lutheran Theologian who confronted the Nazis and died for it. He coined the phrase "religionless christianity" partly as a way to understand when religion goes astray, but spiritual ethic rings clearly. This program honours him and introduces him afresh.
Christianity
Today
FEB
3
"Is Christianity Good for the World?" Christopher Hitchens and Douglas Wilson debate. A series of 5 repostes between an evangelical and atheist.
Thinking Faith
(a Jesuit Journal)
FEB
11
Kirsty Hunter sends this link along. "Dawkins: what he, and we, need to learn" - Gerard J Hughes SJ "How do you react to Professor Richard Dawkins' views on the pernicious nature of all religion and of Christianity in particular? A mixture of outrage, a certain sneaking sympathy, and a desire to hear what might be said by way of serious reply?"
JAN
16
Council on Foreign Relations - USA - a non-partisan resource. Here is a short video with Q&A, in the context of others from Nov '07 "Evangelicals and the Middle East - Session III" discussing differences between evangelicals in their support of Isreal, and their faith based political activity.
JAN
10
Richard Dawkins - "Queerer Than We Suppose: The strangeness of science." He suggests that the true nature of the universe eludes us, because the human mind evolved only to understand the "middle-sized" world we can observe. (Recorded July 2005 in Oxford, UK. Duration: 22:42). This is rather a good expression of what he calls "Einsteinian Religion" - the sense of wonder and awe. TEDTalks  GoogleVideo
FEB
14
The Last Western Heretic - A documentary in 10 parts about the New Zealand theologian Lloyd Geering. Broadcast on TVNZ 12 Jan 2008. Geering is Emeritus Professor of Religious Studies at Victoria University, Wellington. He holds a D.D. from the University of Otago, a Masters Degree in Mathematics and was a minister in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand and turned to theological teaching in 1956. He was tried and found not guilty of heresy in 1967 by the PCANZ. Geering is a controversial commentator on theological issues and considers Christian and Muslim fundamentalism to be a social evil. He is a member of the Jesus Seminar.
FEB
18
Richard Holloway - Ret. Bishop of Edinburgh. A progressive voice that Dawkins expressed respect for. "..now regarded as one of the most outspoken and controversial figures in the Church, commenting widely on issues concerning religious belief in the modern world." from Wikipedia bio. This has included bioethics. He's written 2 dozen books. He is a member of the Jesus Seminar. Westar bio. Check out Larry Fisk's essay “On Critiquing Richard Dawkins: A Mole’s Eye View” where he applauds Holloway's review of Dawkin's "The Devil's Chaplain"
FEB
18
Doubts and Loves - a lecture at Grace Cathedral, SF. Listen to the most outspoken and best-loved figure in the Anglican Church today. Richard Holloway offers a new, unconventional understanding of the Christian faith. For those who question the relevance of 2,000 year old teachings, Holloway offers an irreverent and refreshing view on modern day Christianity.
JAN
15
The God Debate. MSNBC set up one of the world’s foremost Athiests up against one of the world’s foremost Christian Pastors. They conversed, debated, and argued for four hours. The results are a fascinating read, a short transcript of which can be found HERE. Mutual soapboxing and mutual respect.
JAN
15
Functional Neuroimaging of Belief, Disbelief, and Uncertainty by Sam Harris, Sameer A. Sheth, Mark S. Cohen. A fascinating paper mapping the brains of 14 adults to find patterns with some interesting preliminary observations about the nature of belief, disbelief and uncertainty. If anything should declare the difference between methods of science and philosophical inquiry this could be it. Discover then something of why we believe.
OnFaith Blog
Atheist Theme
JAN
15
WashingtonPost/Newsweek have a topical blog (about 20 topical discussions underway) with a long list (about 100) astonishingly qualified panelists (list of contributors.) guiding the public discussions. Check it out. Join the discussions. The panelists post a little op-ed piece and then everyone comments. Can search out themes and persons easily. Good resource. Many voices you know and respect are found here.
Counterpoints
Dawkin Ch 1
JAN
15
Power of Suggestion. Here's a toughtful blog of a young conservative Lutheran Youth Minister poking at Dawkin's argument. Here's what he thinks of progressives: "This is what I see in liberal/progressive/emergent theologians. They create this mashup of their favorite parts from Christianity and other religions, philosophy, social ethics, natural theology, and secular humanism and sell it as the “best stuff in the universe”. But the truth is, the ingredients cancel each other out." Nonetheless, he is curious and thorough and honest.

Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. ... Proverbs 23:12 (NIV)