The God Delusion: Notions About Religion

Name
Course
Instructor
Date
The God Delusion (Introduction)
It is almost impossible to talk about religion without attracting some form of criticism. Various religions enjoy love and hate almost in equal measure. Antony (8) argues that religion has the power to infiltrate people’s lives to dimensions that are puzzling to imagine. Criticizing a religion may invoke varied emotions depending on the person to whom the criticism is presented. A close investigation of the known human history shows faith-based activities played a crucial role in forming the social norms of individuals. Even the greatest empires such Roman one had some aspects of invoking a higher power in some of their activities. This deity is often regarded as supreme, and in most cases, it is believed that this deity brought that particular community into existence. Some religions are widespread, such as Christianity and Islam, while others are domiciled within respective communities or people groups (Simpson and Kimberly, 759). Whatever the case, most religions have a few aspects in common. The first one has been identified above, that is, the concept of a deity or a higher power. The second is the concept of faith. In almost all religions, there is no way to verify the existence of the deity. Instead, the belief in the existence of the deity is based on faith.
Most religions depend on some ancient manuscript. These manuscripts are believed to have been inspired by a higher power. Consequently, whatever the manuscripts suggest should be followed without question. In cases where manuscripts are not in existence, there are practices that have been passed down through many generations. Most interestingly, followers of any particular religion are not encouraged or allowed to ask questions regarding the beliefs and practices (Antony, 9). Rather, they are encouraged to have faith and beliefs. Probably, the reason why religions have persisted for generations is the aspect of being handed down from one generation to the next. When a person has known the religion all their life, it is most likely that they will live by its provisions and then influence their offspring towards the same religion. Historically, various people and people groups have attempted to ask themselves about the validity of faith and beliefs as a basis for subscribing to a particular religion. It would not be far from the truth to claim that it is such individuals that invented science.
One of the individuals who has critiqued the concept of religion is Richard Dawkins. In this work, ‘The God Delusion’, Dawkins attempts to provide an alternative to religion. He argues that the best approach to determine whether a religion is worth following or not is using evidence-based reasoning and logical thinking. If the provisions of a religion are not verifiable scientifically, Dawkins suggests that it is not worth following that particular religion. He offers an alternative, which is atheism. This paper will focus on the major things learned from deep research and reading into the work of Dawkins. The paper will also discuss how the lessons learned have influenced my pre-existing notions on religion and the role it plays in society.
Topic and Research Process
As noted above, the topic to be discussed is ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins. I researched the topic by reading two books. One of the books is ‘Atheism, Naturalism, and Morality’ by Antony Louise. The other book is ‘The God Delusion’ by Dawkins, Richard, and Lalla Ward. I read each of the two books comprehensively with the aim of understanding the concepts of the authors and the reasoning behind the reasoning. The choice for the two books was motivated by the fact that they both provide criticism of religion and provide an alternative. To a less extent, I also borrowed some ideas from Simpson and Kimberly’s work. After comprehensively reading the books and drawing the connection between varied themes, I came up with the major things I learned from the primary book (the one by Dawkins). Further, I investigated the notions and ideas that I had about religion before doing an extensive reading/ analysis of these books. I compared these notions to the new ones formed after doing the reading. I noted how the notions and ideas had been changed. After noting down the changed notions, I was ready to start writing on the topic.
Major Things Learned
While analyzing the topic, I learned about the importance of using scientific method and applying evidence-based reasoning in most life aspects. Using these concepts enables one to believe with certainty. Dawkins suggest that science should be applied when deciding whether God exists or not. If science is used, then the conclusion made would be supported by evidence. The following is a discussion of what I learned concerning using the science and evidence-based reasoning when considering the question of the existence of God. Since the industrial revolution, the scientific method has been instrumental in helping humans solve challenges that they face. Using the scientific method and evidence-based reasoning has helped make conclusions with a high degree of certainty. A good example would be in the medical field. Medical professionals apply evidence-based practices to maximize positive health outcomes in their patients. They apply techniques that have been proven to work and that are supported by evidence. When asking the question of the existence of God, Dawkins suggests that it is important to apply the scientific method and evidence-based reasoning (Dawkins, 7). To this end, he suggests that the existence of God is primarily based on faith and beliefs. He argues that there is no empirical evidence or scientific proof that God does exist.
Most people who believe in God depend on what they read in religious books. Some also depend on subjective information from other people. Some of the subjective information include sermons from religious leaders and personal testimony from other believers. When considering subjective information, Dawkins argues that such information cannot be relied upon to make a conclusion about the existence of God. The reason for rejecting such information as the basis for believing in the existence of God is that there is no way to test or verify the information. Any information arrived at on the basis of the scientific method, or evidence-based reasoning can be tested by others (Dawkins, 9). In fact, it is argued that if a different set of researchers apply the scientific method to test a scientifically based phenomenon, they should achieve relatively the same results. To this end, Dawkins suggests that it is important to gauge the validity of religious claims through logical reasoning and empirical evidence.
Dawkins also uses the existence of evil in the world as a valid point to prove the inexistence of a benevolent God. He doubts how a God who is presented as all loving can tolerate evil in the world. Dawkins argues that such a God would not allow evil to exist in the world. Since evil does exist, Dawkins is persuaded to believe that God does not exist (Dawkins, 42). It is evident that Dawkins attempts to use scientific reasoning and logical arguments to arrive at the conclusion of the inexistence of God. This methodology by Dawkins underpins one of my major learnings, which is the importance of applying the scientific method and evidence-based reasoning in order to believe with certainty.
I also learned that the theory of evolution of species extensively helps address the question of where life came from. This realization is the second major thing that I learned from the authors. The main point that I derived from the work of Dawkins regarding this aspect regards how the evolutionary theory undermines the traditional religious beliefs. This theory particularly challenges the notion that human beings were created by God. Dawkins is a great advocate of the theory of evolution and natural selection, as advanced by Darwin. He argues that human beings and all other species have undergone evolution throughout the years (Dawkins, 49). Due to this evolution, he concludes that it is not logical to conclude that human beings (especially in their contemporary form) were created by God. He further argues that there is no evidence to show that human beings were created by God.
Concerning creation and how life started on earth, Dawkins is quite skeptical about the theory of creation as advanced in various religious books. He further strongly opposes the idea that it is God who gave intelligence to human beings while limiting it in other forms of life (Dawkins, 55). Dawkins views these assertions as an attempt to impose religious beliefs on scientific inquiry. As with most of these other observations, the problem with the theory of creation and human intelligence is that there is a lack of proper empirical evidence to prove the claims.
To further point out why the theory of creation is flawed, Dawkins observes that most aspects of human sociology and psychology can be linked to evolution. The process of human evolution has greatly shaped the human social aspects as well as their psychology. Consequently, there is no need to invoke the concept of religion when describing the existence of human beings and aspects synonymous with them, such as psychological wellbeing (Dawkins, 67). Since evolutionary theories can effectively and sufficiently describe the social and psychological nature of human beings, there is no need to rely on a creation theory that is neither backed by empirical evidence nor any other form of proof.
I learned from the book by Dawkins is that religious beliefs can often do more harm than good. This aspect of religion beliefs is the third major thing I learned. He argues t...