November: The God Delusion (1)

It was an interesting read from a number of perspectives. I grew up attending our local Uniting Church and so I guess one might say I am a Christian. However, I have not really been to church since then (the odd wedding and funeral aside) and would be inclined to say that I am probably agnostic. In this regard, one might think that I would concur with Dawkins arguments - as potentially one of the choir - but throughout the book, I was continually finding ways to negate his arguments.

Does this mean that I am actually more religious than I thought? Or was it just that the way he expressed his arguments were in a way bating for a response? Indeed Dawkins' writing style struck me as arrogant and patronising, which did nothing to endear me to him. This also gave me the impression that he was no better (and potentially worse?) than the people he was referring to in the book. I also watched the BBC documentary that is based on 'The God Delusion', and one pastor even made such a comment after having been railroaded by Dawkins. This is the first of such books that I have read, so I have nothing to compare it to, but I can say that I was put off a lot by the tone.

In terms of what he was saying in his arguments, for the most part I agree. I recall even when I was attending church that I would often question (to myself) statements from the bible or the minister's sermon, and I think this played a big part in me moving away from religion. In my mind, evolution seems more rational, and that alone is enough to raise doubts about the presence of God. However, I believe that Dawkins fails to realise that not everyone thinks alike. Not everyone reasons in the same way, not everyone applies the same logic, and this results in a difference of opinion, whether it be of God and religion or another subject. Even when both sides present rational, logical arguments, sometimes one just has to agree to disagree.

OK, so I know that the 'facts' are in his favour here, and I do agree that there often seems to be more harm than good coming from religion, but there is a small part of me that thinks that the God idea is somewhat romantic (but not the fire and brimstone God). I used to have a similar fascination with ghosts in general - I just like the thought that there is more to life than what we have on earth. And I so like the idea of a teapot orbiting the sun. Being reduced to a statistic (as Dawkins kindly showed) is not romantic at all.

But something I was also wondering is if there is no God, would people find something/someone else to worship? I see how some people fixate on celebrities (singers, actors) and to some extent politicians and wonder if these are alternative idols. In such cases, the worship is often limited (until the person is no longer famous, or someone else comes along) but are we just looking for a hero (role model?) of sorts? In this regard, I do think that religion goes beyond the bible, and feel that in order to understand why people believe in God, we need to know why we worship idols.