GOD IS A DELUSION—A "PSYCHOTIC DELINQUENT"
i n v e n t e d by m a d , d e luded people.
That's the take-home message of The God Delusion.
Although Dawkins does not offer a rigorous definition of a delusion,
he clearly means a belief that is not grounded in evidence—
or, worse, that flies in the face of the evidence. Faith is "blind trust,
in the absence of evidence, even in the teeth of evidence." It is a
"process of non-thinking." It is "evil precisely because it requires
no justification, and brooks no argument." These core definitions
of faith are hardwired into Dawkins's worldview and are obsessively
repeated throughout his writings. It is not a Christian definition
of faith but one that Dawkins has invented to suit his own
polemical purposes. It immediately defines those who believe in
God as people who have lost touch with reality—as those who are
deluded.
(Richard Dawkins)
Dawkins rightly notes how important faith is to people. What
you believe has a very significant impact on life and thought. That
makes it all the more important, we are told, to subject faith to
critical, rigorous examination. Delusions need to be exposed—
and then removed. I agree entirely. Since the publication of my
book Dawkins' God in 2004, I am regularly asked to speak on its
themes throughout the world. In these lectures, I set out Dawkins's
views on religion and then give an evidence-based rebuttal, point
by point.
After one such 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, wagging his finger agitatedly at 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 1 do such a thing!
As I reflected on this event while driving home afterward, I
found myself in two minds about this. Part of me regretted the
enormous inconvenience that I had clearly caused this person. I
had thrown the settled assumptions of his life into turmoil. Yet I
consoled myself with the thought that if he was unwise enough to
base his life on the clearly inadequate worldview set out by Dawkins,
then he would have to realize someday that it rested on de
cidedly shaky foundations. The dispelling of the delusion had to
happen sometime. I just happened to be the historical accident
that made it happen at that time and place.
Yet another part of me began to realize how deeply we hold our
beliefs, and the impact that they make on everything. Dawkins is
right—beliefs are critical. We base our lives on them; they shape
our decisions about the most fundamental things. I can still remember
the turbulence that I found myself experiencing on making
the intellectually painful (yet rewarding) transition from atheism
to Christianity. Every part of my mental furniture had to be
rearranged. Dawkins is correct—unquestionably correct—when
he demands that we should not base our lives on delusions. We all
need to examine our beliefs—especially if we are naive enough to
think that we don't have any in the first place. But who, I wonder,
is really deluded about God?
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