I saw his talk on C-Span. Very impressive. He and Sam Harris, whom he mentions in a positive light, are two important voices in a wilderness of delusion.
-Joel ----- Original Message ----- From: "phanero" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 15, 2006 12:44 AM Subject: The God Delusion Signed 1st Edition The God Delusion Signed 1st Edition by Richard Dawkins http://www.powells.com/biblio?show=hardcover:new:1135674620:27.00 $27.00 Synopses & Reviews Publisher Comments: Discover magazine recently called Richard Dawkins "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution. Prospect magazine voted him among the top three public intellectuals in the world (along with Umberto Eco and Noam Chomsky). Now Dawkins turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes. He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly. Dawkins has fashioned an impassioned, rigorous rebuttal to religion, to be embraced by anyone who sputters at the inconsistencies and cruelties that riddle the Bible, bristles at the inanity of "intelligent design," or agonizes over fundamentalism in the Middle East - or Middle America. Review: "Dawkins focuses heavily on the monotheistic religions with quotations from the Bible and Koran that sanction genocide, rape and the killing of unbelievers....Bible-thumpers doubtless will declare they've found their Satan incarnate." Kirkus Reviews Review: "This is a brave and important book." Desmond Morris, author of The Naked Ape and The Human Animal Review: "A resounding trumpet blast for truth....It feels like coming up for air." Matt Ridley, author of Genome and Francis Crick Review: "At last, one of the best nonfiction writers alive today has assembled his thoughts on religion into a characteristically elegant book." Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor, Harvard University, author of The Language Instinct, How the Mind Works, and The Blank Slate Review: "To those readers tired of being told that they must bow respectfully before every absurd or bizarre superstition they encounter, and who worry about the effects of this atmosphere of hyper-tolerance on the health of our society, Dawkins' irreverent and penetrating work will seem a breath of fresh air." San Francisco Chronicle
