The God Virus

How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture

By: Darrel Ray

Narrated by: Darrel Ray

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith? What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see those of others? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture.

For thousands of years, religion has woven its way through societies and people as if it were part and parcel to that society or person. In large measure it was left unexplained and unchallenged, it simply existed. Those who attempted to challenge and expose religion were often persecuted, excommunicated, shunned, or even executed. It could be fatal to explain that which the church, priest, or imam said was unexplainable. Before the germ, viral, and parasite theory of disease, physicians had no tools to understand disease and its propagation. Priests told people disease was a result of sin, Satan, evil spirits, etc.

With the discovery of microbial actors, scientists gained new tools to study how it spreads. They could study infection strategies, immunity, epidemiology and much more. Suddenly the terrible diseases of the past were understandable. The plagues of Europe, yellow fever, small pox, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc. were now removed from the divine and placed squarely in the natural world.

This book owes a great deal to Richard Dawkins' concept of viruses of the mind, but it seeks to go a step further to personalize the concept of religion as a virus and show how these revolutionary ideas work in everyday life. The paradigm can explain the fundamentalism of your Uncle Ned, the sexual behavior of a fallen megachurch minister, the child rearing practices of a Pentecostal neighbor, why 19 men flew planes into the World Trade Center, or what motivates a woman to blow herself up in the crowded markets of Baghdad. Learn how religion influences sexuality for its own purposes, how and why it protects pedofile priests and wayward ministers and how it uses survivor guilt to propagate and influence and how it might influence a person's IQ.

©2009 Darrel W. Ray, Ed.D. (P)2012 Darrel W. Ray, Ed.D.

Great way to look at the religion problem.

Loved this book. Listened to it in two days, couldn't put it down. It allows one to look at religion and the infected religious folks out there in a new way. Highly recommended.

Very interesting!

Where does The God Virus rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is a very interesting concept about the inception and present proliferation of religion on the world's population. This book has been very interesting and I just wanted to listen every waking minute.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The God Virus?

Comparing my own background in religion with the authors. I thought I was agnostic, but after listening to this book, I would have to say that I am more atheist.

Have you listened to any of Darrel Ray’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to this author before

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Very interesting theory about how God is a virus. So true!! This audio book is worth listening to more than once.

A really good way of looking at what religion is

I'm a huge fan of Dr Ray's work, virus is a spot on description. The only way the book could be better is by having David Smalley or Seth Andrews narrate it. I don't mean that as a slam against Dr Ray.

Insightful

A majority of the book explained how religion is like a virus, the God Virus. At times I thought it was overkill, but it actually worked well to tie everything together throughout the book. I shook my head a few times relating to my past when I was also infected with the God Virus. I’m so happy to have shed that virus.

One part of the book went over how to interact with people infected by the God Virus and this was the most insightful and beneficial for me. Essentially the message was not to focus on the virus but on the person. I appreciate that the author gave examples of responses during conversations.

The author was also the narrator for the book. I have enjoyed listening to him on shows such as The Atheist Experience and Talk Heathen. For this narration of the book, the only thing I didn’t like was that I could tell many times where he had stopped recording and started recording again, meaning that it wasn’t a smooth and seamless narration.

Great book for the non-believer.

This book will give you an interesting view and insight on how religion works. It won't directly help you convert anybody, but it will add a context in which you can visualize religion. This way it helps you reflect on your own religious upbringing and on the religious motivations of the believers in your life. I recommend this book!

Well Written, Adequately Read, & Attn Grabbing

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would recommend this book to a friend because it offers insightful commentary into how religion as a homogenous almost sentient hive mind functions in the modern world, and why it effects so many people's lives so much. I would at the very least give this book a once over listen.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The narrator has a very pleasant southernly voice.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me reconsider my worldview on religion by giving new spins of perspective on the topic.

Any additional comments?

There are points in the reading where he stutters, or has to reread certain sentences, but these are far and few between and don't take the listener out of the book too much. The beginning of the book makes the premise that religion is a virus, and begins to compare biological viruses with mental viruses. This premise was shaky for me at first, but once the ball got rolling, he carried his points well and thoroughly. The personal stories and interesting side facts (especially about the airfields that islanders built to attract cargo planes) made this book much more gripping. I give it an overall 4.5/5

Glad I got this one

Some kind of irony, I had it sitting in my library and just remembered it. As of now the covid-19 virus is going about and preacher's and the like (#notall) are @ thier game.

That aside, this book is accurate and insightful in its depictions of the state of how the god belief functions and suggestions on how to move forward.

For some it may be redundant, besides that and a few audible hiccups, I'm really glad I got this one.

Great book

This book was amazing! I come from a Catholic family, luckily not too orthodox. I have a sister that is highly infected with the god virus, although she is extremely good-hearted she believes in the second coming and can be very tiresome. This book has helped me understand her and deal better with her without getting frustrated. Recommend strongly.

Fascinating topic, and yet...

It is possible that the author has a sharp scientific mind. He acknowledges that this work expands on ideas put forth by Dawkins and Dennett. As a formerly trying-to-be-religious person raised by fundamentalists I can say anecdotally that the comparison of religion to virus has merit. In this book the hypothesis was presented more as a metaphor; I expected it to be more science-based than it was. The author uses sciency language, but without meaty philosophical or scientific treatment the idea is reduced to hours and hours of "it spreads...just like virus," "it affects decision-making...just like a virus."

Very Enlightening

well structured and very unbiased for the sensitive topics it covers. If you're a very religious person this book may be very difficult to read or listen to but I encourage all to give this book a fair chance. it's a great opportunity for enlightenment. The only minor complaint is at times the author sits a little farther away from the microphone which changes the volume levels for some chapters.