I’ve been reading The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, a professed atheist and I must say I am very disappointed. His tone is so bitter and the way he speaks of people of faith is so belittling that I find nothing compelling in his stance.
Not that I want to be compelled! However, I was under the impression that his book was an attempt to offer a logical and practical argument for atheism but it is little more than an attack on faith and religion. In other words, I find nothing in his argument that would compel me to want to follow in his footsteps. He offers nothing attractive about atheism but only bitter criticisms of religion.
I recognize his points about all of the awful things that have happened in the name of religion in human history. However, God has truly revealed himself as a God of love and justice (not justice in the sense of revenge but in the sense of living in right relationship with one another) and countless numbers of people of faith have lived according to this message, spreading mercy, charity, and compassion while working for justice.
Frankly, I’m not seeing why so many are finding his book compelling because it trashes religion but offers nothing in return which in my mind is a one-way street to despair, nihilism, and existentialism.
I guess I had hoped to read something more challenging as opposed to something easily dismissed as axe grinding.
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