The Devil's Delusion

Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions

David Berlinski

Berlinski's writing is sharp, confrontational, articulate and often humorous. One surprise to me was Berlinski's familiarity with the whole gamut of modern physics and astronomy. I was also surprised with the sensitivity and depth of his treatment of human consciousness.

Preface

p xiii Starts with some sharp jabs at Sam Harris and his Letter to a Christian Nation. Notes that Harris "writes that his fiercest and most 'disturbed' critics are Christians who are 'deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism'. It would seem that a good many of these intolerant critics have been sending Harris biblical verses supporting their intolerance. Now, I count myself among Harris's warmest detractors. When he remarks that he has been dumbstruck by Christian and Moslem intellectual commitments, I believe the word has met the man."

p xiii So right away, you get an idea of Berlinski's style and sense of humor in this strongly confrontational polemic. He identifies himself as a secular Jew an then says "the book that follows is in some sense a defense of religious thought and sentiment." "A defense is needed because none has been forthcoming. The discussion has been ceded to men who regard religious belief with frivolous contempt. Their books have in recent years poured from every press ..." "they are identical in their message: Because scientific theories are true, religious beliefs must be false. Harris ...essay 'Science Must Destroy Religion'. His call to jihad cannot be long delayed."

p xiii

p21

"Just who has imposed on the suffering human race poison gas, barbed wire, high explosives, experiments in eugenics, the formula for Zykkon B, heavy artillery, pseudoscientific justifications for mass murder, cluster bombs, attack submarines, napalm, intercontinental ballistic missles, military space platforms, and nuclear weapons? If memory serves, it was not the Vatican."

Audio/Video Reference

R Nave