RE: No rational case for God = increasingly desperate attacks on atheists
July 10, 2014 at 9:58 am
I just finished The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, by Alister McGrath and Joanna Collicutt McGrath, 2007. I included the copyright date, because the McGraths make essentially all of the same arguments.
1. Dawkins doesn't understand the nounced view of most Christians. Therefore Dawkin's book is really an attack on a strawman.
2. Since he hasn't taken the time to read theology, he has no business talking with any authority about whether god exists or not.
3. Some scientists believe in god (including himself--he's a neurophysiology who went on to study theology), therefore, belief in god is rational.
4. Science is not really at odds with religion, because religion and science answer such very different questions.
5. Dawkins fails to see that religion and god are not the same thing. God exists, but religions change.
6. Dawkins has failed to account for religion. Yet religion exists. Therefore god exists. ----In other words you have a god sized hole in your head.
7. If religion is evil, so is atheism, just look at the former Soviet.
8. Jesus was very moral.
9. Properly followed, religion is very good for you.
10. Religion is making a comeback.
And the finale? Atheism is a faith.
He tells this little anecdote in the first chapter:
I'm not sure I believe in this angry young man.
1. Dawkins doesn't understand the nounced view of most Christians. Therefore Dawkin's book is really an attack on a strawman.
2. Since he hasn't taken the time to read theology, he has no business talking with any authority about whether god exists or not.
3. Some scientists believe in god (including himself--he's a neurophysiology who went on to study theology), therefore, belief in god is rational.
4. Science is not really at odds with religion, because religion and science answer such very different questions.
5. Dawkins fails to see that religion and god are not the same thing. God exists, but religions change.
6. Dawkins has failed to account for religion. Yet religion exists. Therefore god exists. ----In other words you have a god sized hole in your head.
7. If religion is evil, so is atheism, just look at the former Soviet.
8. Jesus was very moral.
9. Properly followed, religion is very good for you.
10. Religion is making a comeback.
And the finale? Atheism is a faith.
He tells this little anecdote in the first chapter:
Quote:After [a lecture]. I was confronted by a very angry young man. The lecture had not been particularly remarkable. I had simply demonstrated, by rigorous use of scientific, historical and philosophical arguments, that Dawkins's intellectual case against God didn't stand up to critical examination. But this man was angry--in fact, I would say he was furious. Why? Because, he told me, I had "destroyed his faith." His atheism rested on the authority of Richard Dawkins, and I had totally undermined his faith. He would have to go away and rethink everything. How dare I do such a thing!(Italics in the original)
I'm not sure I believe in this angry young man.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.