Atheist Literature

[naomi24]

Do any of the religious people here ever read books written by atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris? If ‘yes’, what have you read and what are your thoughts - and if ‘no’ why not?

[RATTER15]

(even though its not a religion it is a belief) actually Atheism is a non-belief!

[jomifl]

Ratter,I have come to the conclusion having read various posts by theists on the subject of atheism, that many of them are incapable of comprehending what non-belief is. It is as if belief so pervades their brains that they cannot conceive (even if they try) of not having belief. That is why some of them can only understand atheism as a form of religion and why some feel obliged to believe in some kind of religion.

[RATTER15]

I know what you're saying jomifl, it actually amuses me somewhat but also helps me understand why they believe in such things.

[naomi24]

Sith, I think you misunderstand. I’m sure Birdie hasn’t concluded that you haven’t read the books because you’re Muslim.

So what did you think of ‘The God Delusion’, ‘The Blind Watchmaker’, and ‘The Selfish Gene’?

And you say you’ve researched every religion. What were your findings?

[sith123]

its a belief that there is no god. You can say that it is a non belief but that is technically still a belief. You dont BELIEVE in god.

[sith123]

no birdie. i got your point entirely:

//Have you really? Do you mean 'read' in a Keyplusian kind of way? That is to say, you haven't read any of Dawkins' books but simply claim to have done so in order to make blasé statements along the lines of, “I've read his book(s) but I do not agree with his conclusions”, or “He has nothing new to say in this debate”? //

there you go. You say i did not read it and that i only pretend to to make biased opinions?

Naomi, i understood the books and some of the key concepts but when i tried to apply it to practicallity it didnt work. thats just my opinion. i researched islam and found it for myself more convincing.

[naomi24]

Sith, non-belief cannot be belief. It’s a contradiction.

I still don’t know what your research into 'all religions' involved or what you found wrong with the others – and as for the books, I seriously suggest you read them again.

[RATTER15]

Sith >>>its a belief that there is no god. You can say that it is a non belief but that is technically still a belief. You dont BELIEVE in god. <<<

lol I cant believe you wrote that :)

[sith123]

birdie, i find it quite silly that you can say what i am saying is true or false over a computer on a debate thorum. Unless you have super human powers which i highly doubt than you cannot say i am a lyer or a fraud or not entirely truthful just because i do not agree with any of your points.

so just to get your point. youre saying that you do not believe in a god but however you believe in nothing else. In my eyes that is quite silly. you believe in nothing???

[sith123]

ok, what i thought about the god dellusion. I read it, some things seemed to make sence, a lot did not. However than i read the dawkins dellusion and i have to say that that put the god dellusion into perspective for me. So no, that book did not convince me.

The blind watchmaker. read that. It made again, some sence than when i read more into it nothing in it seemed to really answer any questions and even though it did answer some, it was what we muslims already believe as, although many of you may find it unlikely, we do believe that animals do evolve however with the help of god.

The selfish gene. A good book. However did not convince me at all. Although, again, we muslims do believe in genes.

There you go, i answered your questions but now i have something to ask? Birdie you have not answered my question.

When you stated i did not read it than i put this. You seemed very quite after this lol.

//Have you really? Do you mean 'read' in a Keyplusian kind of way? That is to say, you haven't read any of Dawkins' books but simply claim to have done so in order to make blasé statements along the lines of, “I've read his book(s) but I do not agree with his conclusions”, or “He has nothing new to say in this debate”? //

[sith123]

can you answer that now??? or are you going to come up with another contradiction???

[RATTER15]

birdie. head, wall, brick, banging! :)

[sith123]

ratter, i actually find your attitude, pathetic. i answered the question and now you are writing all these weird things. You may find it funny but i do not. as io said, its really rather pathetic.

[sith123]

back to birdie. //read in a keyplusian kind of way//

whats a keyplusian kind of way???

[naomi24]

Sith, I also have ‘The Dawkins Delusion’ on my shelf. It claims its authors evaluate Dawkins’ ideas and subject his ‘critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny’. In fact it does neither. It is a skinny scrap of a book that, in the main, does not address the issues, but simply attempts to inflict a personal assassination upon Richard Dawkins. When read in conjunction with Dawkins’ own work, it fails dismally.

//we muslims do believe in genes.//

If you have read these books, you haven’t understood them.

//whats a keyplusian kind of way???//

I was initially surprised that Keyplus, who is usually very keen to gender support, hadn’t joined you in your efforts on here – but on second thoughts, I’m not.

[sandyRoe]

^ This is much too deep for me.

[RATTER15]

Thank you Sith, how very Muslim of you :)