clrturquoise *.*

richard dawkins' the god delusion

The time has come to write about a book that has certainly changed my life in the short-term and perhaps forever. It certainly feels that way at the moment and to say that determining how to react has been an obsession for me this last month would not be an overstatement.

For the first couple of chapters, I was quite unimpressed and found myself thinking that this book would be easily dismissed as the diatribes of a fanatic. Perhaps this lured me into a sense of false security but, for whatever reason, beginning with the third or fourth chapter, I found myself blind-sided with well-reasoned, compelling arguments that have forced me to re-examine my entire belief structure.I will admit that there have always been underlying doubts. What height of arrogance to imagine that a supreme being of this vast universe (over 100 billion billion visible solar systems as a friend of mine has pointed out) would take an interest in a single, solitary planet and more than that, a single solitary human being such as myself. Even assuming that God exists, how can we really know that we have the correct version of worship. Who is to say whether it is Christianity, Islam, or Hinduism that is correct? I admit, my first instinct is to think "But isn't is more practical to continue to ascribe to Christianity since if it is true, it is the only way to avoid eternal damnation and if it is false, it won't matter anyway." Somehow I doubt that a "safety net" belief system would count for much in the final analysis. Besides, without that belief at the core, I cannot go back to that innocent faith anyway. I must figure out what I believe because until I do, everything feels like a lie.