I just finished reading, "The God Delusion", by Richard Dawkins. Well, that's not quite correct, I just finished listening to the audio book. My preferred reading method these days is text in an ebook format, but audio books have unique abilities as well - I go into detail about that here, at my so called blog.

As I mentioned there, listening to a book takes longer than reading one, and this case was no exception, but it did allow me to do household drudge work and be entertained at the same time. There is some added production value in this version as well. Dawkins has a voice perfectly suited to this kind of thing, being a powerful orator with a clear, distinct, crisp voice and confident, yet emotionally diverse, demeanor. For impact, he alternates with a female British co-narrator. The duo make a wonderful team, usually switching back and forth to highlight something important.

As for the content itself, I can't recommend it enough and I'll probably write about it more in the future. It's a very modern bit, referencing current websites related to atheism, humanism, Christianity and the like, as well as current world events. It feels timely, like this was just the perfect moment for its release.

It's also setup somewhat like a reference book in that each chapter stands on its own and in those cases where previous knowledge is required, Dawkins refers the reader to the proper chapter and doesn't assume that someone has read it cover to cover. The very start of the book gives a detailed explanation of just which chapter covers what, almost in an Internet FAQ like manner. He asks that if the reader wants to know more about subject x, then see chapter y, and so on.

Dawkins covers atheism rather completely. He defines atheism, agnosticism and theism on a seven point scale, with theism at number one. He places himself about where most atheists place themselves, at number 6 - (weak atheism, in other words).

He also covers Intelligent Design, American Christian politics, evolution, Islamic moderates, the biological foundation of morality, Christian moderates, discusses several theories on the origin of religion including one of his own (meme theory - yes, he is the chap that came up with "mind genes"), Biblical morality, absolute morality, secularism, arguments for and against gods, the pariah like status of those who are openly atheistic, racism and the changing moral zeitgeist, the "Hitler and Stalin as atheists" argument, abortion, homosexuality, and many other topics, both timely and related to current hot button issues, as well as those purely academic and philosophical.

Often times, the book is genuinely funny. For example, he mentioned the first time he heard about Ann Coulter, thinking that she was an invention of the Onion or some other online political satire. He had to be persuaded that she was real from an American friend of his! Here's a quote from Ann about Dawkins:

"I defy any of my coreligionists to tell me they do not laugh at the idea of Dawkins burning in hell." -- Ann Coulter

I feel like I know Rich to some small extent now. I haven't read any of his other books and only occasionally saw him in interviews and documentaries and such, where I too got the impression that he was a staunch anti-theistic in-your-face kind of attack hound. "Darwin's Rottweiler" is one of his monikers, after all. But I was wrong.

He has a great sense of humility and humor, and he apologizes for part of the negative impression that he seems to emanate. Carl Sagan, someone referred too several times by Dawkins in this book, used to do the same thing, apologizing for what was often interpreted as an arrogant demeanor. Dawkins also concretely spells out that for which he doesn't apologize, along with sound and sensible reasons for his reactions and manner.

The book is also very sad at times. It's a ride, and would be enjoyable even for non-atheists. His mentioned target audience, besides obviously atheists, are those who have doubts and just play along with religious ceremonies or those who are agnostic but lack the tools to express their views, or their misgivings, precisely. We both, my dish-washing partner and I, think that everyone should read this book, however, especially non-fundamentalist theists of all stripes. While it might be funny for a fundamentalist theist to read this book, he/she likely wouldn't get much out of it. If you, the reader of this article, think you just might be a fundy but aren't sure, give the book a try anyway, it will at least clear that up for you...

Using the scientific method as the foundation for how the book presents its views, he loads it up with specific theories, counter theories, detailed accounts of research studies, along with quips and quotes from scores of other books, philosophers, ethicists, theologians, scientists and even comedians. He doesn't shy away from territory that we don't know much about and doesn't attempt any hucksterism along these lines. The material isn't presented in a religious way, in other words.

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