richard_dawkins_-_the_god_delusion
PREFACE 5herding cats, because they tend to think independently and will notconform to authority. But a good first step would be to build up acritical mass of those willing to 'come out', thereby encouragingothers to do so. Even if they can't be herded, cats in sufficientnumbers can make a lot of noise and they cannot be ignored.The word 'delusion' in my title has disquieted some psychiatristswho regard it as a technical term, not to be bandied about. Threeof them wrote to me to propose a special technical term forreligious delusion: 'relusion'. 2 Maybe it'll catch on. But for now Iam going to stick with 'delusion', and I need to justify my use of it.The Penguin English Dictionary defines a delusion as 'a false beliefor impression'. Surprisingly, the illustrative quotation the dictionarygives is from Phillip E. Johnson: 'Darwinism is the story ofhumanity's liberation from the delusion that its destiny is controlledby a power higher than itself.' Can that be the same Phillip E.Johnson who leads the creationist charge against Darwinism inAmerica today? Indeed it is, and the quotation is, as we mightguess, taken out of context. I hope the fact that I have stated asmuch will be noted, since the same courtesy has not been extendedto me in numerous creationist quotations of my works, deliberatelyand misleadingly taken out of context. Whatever Johnson's ownmeaning, his sentence as it stands is one that I would be happy toendorse. The dictionary supplied with Microsoft Word defines adelusion as 'a persistent false belief held in the face of strongcontradictory evidence, especially as a symptom of psychiatric disorder'.The first part captures religious faith perfectly. As towhether it is a symptom of a psychiatric disorder, I am inclined tofollow Robert M. Pirsig, author of Zen and the Art of MotorcycleMaintenance, when he said, 'When one person suffers from adelusion, it is called insanity. When many people suffer froma delusion it is called Religion.'If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it willbe atheists when they put it down. What presumptuous optimism!Of course, dyed-in-the-wool faith-heads are immune to argument,their resistance built up over years of childhood indoctrinationusing methods that took centuries to mature (whether by evolutionor design). Among the more effective immunological devices is adire warning to avoid even opening a book like this, which is surely
6 T H E GOD DELUSIONa work of Satan. But I believe there are plenty of open-mindedpeople out there: people whose childhood indoctrination was nottoo insidious, or for other reasons didn't 'take', or whose nativeintelligence is strong enough to overcome it. Such free spirits shouldneed only a little encouragement to break free of the vice of religionaltogether. At very least, I hope that nobody who reads this bookwill be able to say, 'I didn't know I could.'For help in the preparation of this book, I am grateful to manyfriends and colleagues. I cannot mention them all, but they includemy literary agent John Brockman, and my editors, Sally Gaminara(for Transworld) and Eamon Dolan (for Houghton Mifflin), bothof whom read the book with sensitivity and intelligent understanding,and gave me a helpful mixture of criticism and advice. Theirwhole-hearted and enthusiastic belief in the book was very encouragingto me. Gillian Somerscales has been an exemplary copyeditor, as constructive with her suggestions as she was meticulouswith her corrections. Others who criticized various drafts, and towhom I am very grateful, are Jerry Coyne, J. Anderson Thomson,R. Elisabeth Cornwell, Ursula Goodenough, Latha Menon andespecially Karen Owens, critic extraordinaire, whose acquaintancewith the stitching and unstitching of every draft of the book hasbeen almost as detailed as my own.The book owes something (and vice versa) to the two-parttelevision documentary Root of All Evil?, which I presented onBritish television (Channel Four) in January 2006. I am grateful toall who were involved in the production, including Deborah Kidd,Russell Barnes, Tim Cragg, Adam Prescod, Alan Clements andHamish Mykura. For permission to use quotations from the documentaryI thank IWC Media and Channel Four. Root of All Evil?achieved excellent ratings in Britain, and it has also been taken bythe Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It remains to be seenwhether any US television channel will dare to show it. *This book has been developing in my mind for some years.During that time, some of the ideas inevitably found their way intolectures, for example my Tanner Lectures at Harvard, and articlesin newspapers and magazines. Readers of my regular column in*Bootleg copies are being downloaded from numerous US websites.Negotiations are under way for legitimate DVDs to be marketed. At the time ofgoing to press these negotiations are incomplete - updates will be posted atwww.richarddawkins.net.
- Page 2 and 3: Also by Richard DawkinsThe Selfish
- Page 4 and 5: TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS61-63 Uxbridge
- Page 6 and 7: ContentsPrefaceChapter 1Chapter 2Ch
- Page 8 and 9: Tread softly, because you tread onm
- Page 10 and 11: PrefaceAs a child, my wife hated he
- Page 12 and 13: PREFACE 3If you feel trapped in the
- Page 16 and 17: PREFACE 7Free Inquiry, especially,
- Page 18 and 19: A D E E P L Y R E L I G I O U S N O
- Page 20 and 21: A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS N O N - B E L I
- Page 22 and 23: A D E E P L Y R E L I G I O U S N O
- Page 24 and 25: A D E E PLY R E L I G I O U S N O N
- Page 26 and 27: A D E E P L Y R E L I G I O U S N O
- Page 28 and 29: A D E E P L Y RE L 1 G I O U S N O
- Page 30 and 31: A D E E P L Y R E L I G I O U S N O
- Page 32 and 33: A DEEPLY R E L I G I O U S N O N -
- Page 34 and 35: A D E E P L Y R E L I G I O U S N O
- Page 36 and 37: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 31The God of the
- Page 38 and 39: T H E G O D H Y P O T II E S I S 33
- Page 40 and 41: T II E G O D H Y P O T H E S 1 S 35
- Page 42 and 43: T H E G O D H Y P O T H E S I S 37M
- Page 44 and 45: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 39although it ha
- Page 46 and 47: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 41enterprise. Ri
- Page 48 and 49: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 43God; because,
- Page 50 and 51: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 45Anecdotes of s
- Page 52 and 53: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 47Carl Sagan was
- Page 54 and 55: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 49Huxley was not
- Page 56 and 57: T H E G O D H Y P O T H E SIS 51can
- Page 58 and 59: T H E G O D H Y P O T H E SIS 53in
- Page 60 and 61: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 55McGrath goes o
- Page 62 and 63: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS 57the Cambridge
6 T H E GOD DELUSION
a work of Satan. But I believe there are plenty of open-minded
people out there: people whose childhood indoctrination was not
too insidious, or for other reasons didn't 'take', or whose native
intelligence is strong enough to overcome it. Such free spirits should
need only a little encouragement to break free of the vice of religion
altogether. At very least, I hope that nobody who reads this book
will be able to say, 'I didn't know I could.'
For help in the preparation of this book, I am grateful to many
friends and colleagues. I cannot mention them all, but they include
my literary agent John Brockman, and my editors, Sally Gaminara
(for Transworld) and Eamon Dolan (for Houghton Mifflin), both
of whom read the book with sensitivity and intelligent understanding,
and gave me a helpful mixture of criticism and advice. Their
whole-hearted and enthusiastic belief in the book was very encouraging
to me. Gillian Somerscales has been an exemplary copy
editor, as constructive with her suggestions as she was meticulous
with her corrections. Others who criticized various drafts, and to
whom I am very grateful, are Jerry Coyne, J. Anderson Thomson,
R. Elisabeth Cornwell, Ursula Goodenough, Latha Menon and
especially Karen Owens, critic extraordinaire, whose acquaintance
with the stitching and unstitching of every draft of the book has
been almost as detailed as my own.
The book owes something (and vice versa) to the two-part
television documentary Root of All Evil?, which I presented on
British television (Channel Four) in January 2006. I am grateful to
all who were involved in the production, including Deborah Kidd,
Russell Barnes, Tim Cragg, Adam Prescod, Alan Clements and
Hamish Mykura. For permission to use quotations from the documentary
I thank IWC Media and Channel Four. Root of All Evil?
achieved excellent ratings in Britain, and it has also been taken by
the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. It remains to be seen
whether any US television channel will dare to show it. *
This book has been developing in my mind for some years.
During that time, some of the ideas inevitably found their way into
lectures, for example my Tanner Lectures at Harvard, and articles
in newspapers and magazines. Readers of my regular column in
*Bootleg copies are being downloaded from numerous US websites.
Negotiations are under way for legitimate DVDs to be marketed. At the time of
going to press these negotiations are incomplete - updates will be posted at
www.richarddawkins.net.
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