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The God Delusion  By  cover art

The God Delusion

By: Richard Dawkins
Narrated by: Richard Dawkins,Lalla Ward
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Editorial reviews

Why You Should Download This Audiobook: Richard Dawkins invites you to imagine a world where New York's Twin Towers still stand, where Arabs and Israelis live in peace, where the Crusades—events directly responsible for the deaths of an estimated 1.2 million persons—never happened. In short, he invites you to imagine a world that would have been, and could be, without religion. That is not to say that he wishes to discard religion only because of its historical relationship to violence. This extensive, powerfully argued examination of why we believe, and the imperative of turning from Faith to Reason, has become an international best seller. It could change your life.

Publisher's summary

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.

©2006 Richard Dawkins (P)2006 Tantor Media, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Richard Dawkins is the leading soothsayer of our time....The God Delusion continues his thought-provoking tradition." (J. Craig Venter, decoder of the human genome)
"The God Delusion is smart, compassionate, and true....If this book doesn't change the world, we're all screwed." (Penn & Teller)
"The world needs...passionate rationalists....Richard Dawkins so stands out through the cutting intelligence of The God Delusion." (James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, author of The Double Helix)

What listeners say about The God Delusion

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Dry and Pedantic

Not a particularly enjoyable or insightful listen.

It seems to me that Dawkins is more concerned with flaunting his obscure intellectual wit and questionably relevant jabs at opponents than to make the content focused and accessible.

I’d only sarcastically recommend to those who take pride in feeling and demonstrating their intellectual elitism.

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The Dawkins Delusion

Richard Dawkins is a brilliant thinker, scientist and philosopher. I’ve enjoyed reading his other works and seeing him in various interviews/debates. I respect anyone who can form cogent arguments in favor or against a position / belief, even when it runs contrary or in direct opposition to my own. Unfortunately Dawkins is so intent on disparaging theism as a preposterous, even egregious construct, that he fails to communicate even a modicum of epistemic humility.

His biases are so blatant that if this book was a representation of the scientific method, his conclusions would have no need for evidence to support his hypothesis because the conclusion is obvious. The addition of his co-narrators annoying epitaphs adds gasoline to the dumpster fire of his poor communication that is pretentious, whiny, and frankly dogmatic. Which is ironic given the position he’s trying to argue against.

I’m not supporting a contrary position, but if the purpose of this book was to convince me that atheism is the obvious answer to a worldview that is awful for all the reasons he contends, then Dawkins fails miserably.

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A Must Read for Everyone

Enjoyed listening. Bought multiple copies of the book as well so I can lend it out.

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Grating Narration

I suppose this is much better being read than listened to. The dripping pretentiousness of Dawkins and Lalla made it so hard to focus. I felt like I was being lectured to by the headmaster in Matilda.

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Great

Fantastic work by a wonderful fantastic human. Really puts thing’s into perspective from a genuine viewpoint.

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  • 02-10-23

Great Book

Better than reading a bible for sure. Richard’s voice makes listening so easy. Incredible mind.

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Not relatable

Author acted as if they knew my Christian religion, however all they knew where lies, and the things discussed to down talk God was not evidence based. They did not disprove God but actually strengthened my faith in God with their misinterpretation. The Bible discuss both God the Father and God the Mother and they only focused on the male aspect like most of the world, and religious groups that do not follow true God Elohim.

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Interesting arguments

Solid performance. Lots of cool tidbits of knowledge in here. Feels a bit abrasive at times, but this is addressed a few times throughout the book. I thought many of the arguments were solid, but a few could use some more investigation. Overall, very enjoyable.

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Best book to recommend to a devout friend.

The God Delusion was my first introduction to Richard Dawkins and I am so glad that I found this book. As someone who was raised in a religious (LDS) background I always had questions regarding the idea of God and the truth of the scriptures that I was taught as far back as my earliest memories. This book opened my eyes as to how and why fervent believers like my mom think the way they do, as well as eloquently and concisely articulating my own problems and concerns with organized religion. I am able to proudly announce that I am an atheist and secular humanist who is powerfully defend my position. Any lover of logic and reason will find this book stimulating and enjoyable, regardless of their faith. I'm so glad that the author himself took the time to help narrarate this passion project.

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So many good points!

I love this! I will no doubt listen to this again and again. Astounding work.

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