Debunking Dawkins: The God Delusion
by Rich Deem

Introduction

The God Delusion, Richard DawkinsRichard Dawkins has stepped out of his usual area of expertise, biological evolution, and has attempted to become atheism's greatest apologist. Unfortunately, like so many other atheists, he picks out the easy targets with blinders fully engaged, to avoid having to deal with any serious challenges to his beliefs. Yes, I did use the "b" word, since Dawkins actively promotes the belief that there is no God (hence the title) and that atheists should "come out" of the closet and exhibit abundant "atheist pride." Dawkins seems to be "preaching to the choir," since the vast majority of his apologetics is either old and refuted or strawman in nature. This is a series of articles debunking the atheistic apologetics of The God Delusion. Click on each chapter link for more details.

  1. A Deeply Religious Non-Believer
  2. The Irrational Atheist by Vox DayThe God Hypothesis
  3. The Dawkins DelusionArguments For God's Existence
    • Thomas Aquinas' 'proofs'
    • The ontological argument and other a priori arguments
    • The argument from beauty
    • The argument from personal 'experience'
    • The argument from scripture
    • The argument from admired religious scientists
    • Pascal's Wager
    • Bayesian arguments
  4. What's So Great About ChristianityWhy There Almost Certainly Is No God
    • The Ultimate Boeing 747
    • Natural selection as a consciousness-raiser
    • Irreducible complexity
    • The worship of gaps
    • The anthropic principle: planetary version
    • The anthropic principle: cosmological version
    • An interlude at Cambridge
  5. The Roots Of Religion
    • The Darwinian imperative
    • Direct advantages of religion
    • Group selection
    • Religion as a by-product of something else
    • Psychologically primed for religion
    • Tread softly, because you tread on my memes
    • Cargo cults
  6. The Roots Of Morality: Why Are We Good?
    • Does our moral sense have a Darwinian origin?
    • A case study in the roots of morality
    • If there is no God, why be good?
  7. The 'Good' Book And The Changing Moral Zeitgeist
    • The Old Testament
    • Is the New Testament any better?
    • Love thy neighbour
    • The moral Zeitgeist
    • What about Hitler and Stalin? Weren't they atheists?
  8. What's Wrong With Religion? Why Be So Hostile?
    • Fundamentalism and the subversion of science
    • The dark side of absolutism
    • Faith and homosexuality
    • Faith and the sanctity of human life
    • The Great Beethoven Fallacy
    • How 'moderation' in faith fosters fanaticism
  9. Childhood, Abuse And The Escape From Religion - See Is the Teaching of Religion Really a Form of Child Abuse?
    • Physical and mental abuse
    • In defence of children
    • An educational scandal
    • Consciousness-raising again
    • Religious education as a part of literary culture
  10. A Much Needed Gap?
    • Binker
    • Consolation
    • Inspiration
    • The mother of all burkas

Last Modified July 20, 2008

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