The God Delusion

I heard about a #1 seller on the book-list titled "The God Delusion"

Anyone else heard about it? Read it? If you haven't, you can catch a glimpse here:

http://richarddawkins.net/godDelusion where you can get a glimpse of chapter 1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_God_Delusion where you can see other reviews and summaries.

Share your thoughts.

Here are mine:

My initial observation witnesses a stronger case against religion versus God, although I'm lead to believe through additional reading of summaries that he does state a stronger case against God as the book progresses.

A strong element of his ideology would then suggest that natural selection is a significant factor in the evolution of life and the world. Were this true, then that would mean that some of us on this planet are useless to the progression of the human race. And yet, in our world we care for and support what we judge as lesser beings who may be afflicted with illness and/or handicaps. In doing so, those of us closest to the experience with these supposed lesser beings discover immense value in lessons of life, humanity, and the intrinsic value present.

In the same way that the existence of God cannot be proven, so too can the existence of God not be proven. Proving God is a personal journey, a personal relationship, and non-denominational. It is not something to be scientifically debated, and nor can it be empirically proven; it must be experienced. Yet the struggle remains: How to prove or experience God?

Before unequivocally discounting or disproving God, I believe any person would be best served to first question and seek an experience of God before making any determination. Seeking that experience of God would also be best served time and again, much in the same way a scientist will devote a lifetime researching a particular field of study. How many times is a scientific study met with failure after failure before a breakthrough is experienced?

Time and time again, in my own journey, I have denied God, found God, railed against God, wrestled with God, doubted religion, hated religion, loved religion, and every possible variation. Test and prove, test and prove, test and prove and why, time and time again? Could this not be a simple aspect of human design, left unexplainable in the same way science cannot specifically pinpoint consciousness, emotions, etc?

In the times I came close to God, were times when I would suggest I've been at my most vulnerable. Ironically, many of those times were also the most vocal against God as I lamented my circumstances. And yet, there was something there, even so far as to have an actual experience of an otherwise unexplainable event that included a presence in my room, embracing my body, touching my own spirit, consciousness, emotions, and physical body. I've never been able to forget that experience that occurred at about the age of 33 or 34.

Religion on the other hand has also been my biggest enemy at coming closer to God. Our history books offer enough evidence, as I'm sure many experiences some of us may have had with religious fanatics. These instances would eventually drive me away from religion, and on more than one occasion, away from the pursuit of God; or any sort of spirituality for that matter. And yet, something would always draw me back -- not to religion necessarily, but certainly toward an idea that God is real.

I can also assure you that I didn't always seek this out. Yes, sometimes I did, though on many occasions I railed against the possibility and insisted that whatever this internal disturbance was to please just go away and leave me alone! Let me get on with my life. Yet, this thing persisted. Does this then make me weak as part of the evolutionary process of natural selection? Given the book, it might be concluded that this is so.

This world, this creation, this universe, etc., is pretty magnificent and amazing, of that there is no doubt. Can everything be explained from this context alone? I'm not so certain, and given my field of study, I'm not likely to find that out. People like Richard Dawkins, the author of "The God Delusion" spend a great deal of time in the scientific world, as do many other scientists, and they may find a good many answers. And yet, even so I will experience questions that go beyond the answers provided. So who is right and who is wrong? Where some science tries to disprove God, I've got to tell you, it was science that brought me back to a belief in God.

I'd like to suggest that each individual embark upon their own satisfactory quest to have their own questions answered. In time, those answers may come. There may be periods of absence, periods of discovery, periods of doubt, and periods of certainty. But seriously, do you really want to take someone else's word for it? If you do, then let me sell you some land just West of Vancouver Island right on the Pacific Ocean. The scenery is gorgeous.