The God delusion by Katz, Sandor Ellix -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Preface to the paperback edition Preface 1 A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS NON-BELIEVER

Deserved respect Undeserved respect

2 THE GOD HYPOTHESIS

Polytheism Monotheism Secularism, the Founding Fathers and the religion of America The poverty of agnosticism NOMA The Great Prayer Experiment The Neville Chamberlain school of evolutionists Little green men

3 ARGUMENTS FOR GOD’S EXISTENCE

Thomas Aquinas’ ‘proofs’ The ontological argument and other a priori arguments The argument from beauty The argument from personal ‘experience’ The argument from scripture The argument from admired religious scientists Pascal’s Wager Bayesian arguments

4 WHY THERE ALMOST CERTAINLY IS NO GOD

The Ultimate Boeing 747 Natural selection as a consciousness-raiser Irreducible complexity The worship of gaps The anthropic principle: planetary version The anthropic principle: cosmological version An interlude at Cambridge

5 THE ROOTS OF RELIGION

The Darwinian imperative Direct advantages of religion Group selection Religion as a by-product of something else Psychologically primed for religion Tread softly, because you tread on my memes Cargo cults

6 THE ROOTS OF MORALITY: WHY ARE WE GOOD?

Does our moral sense have a Darwinian origin? A case study in the roots of morality If there is no God, why be good?

7 THE ‘GOOD’ BOOK AND THE CHANGING MORAL ZEITGEIST

The Old Testament Is the New Testament any better? Love thy neighbour The moral Zeitgeist What about Hitler and Stalin? Weren’t they atheists?

8 WHAT’S WRONG WITH RELIGION? WHY BE SO HOSTILE?

Fundamentalism and the subversion of science The dark side of absolutism Faith and homosexuality Faith and the sanctity of human life The Great Beethoven Fallacy How ‘moderation’ in faith fosters fanaticism

9 CHILDHOOD, ABUSE AND THE ESCAPE FROM RELIGION

Physical and mental abuse In defence of children An educational scandal Consciousness-raising again Religious education as a part of literary culture

10 A MUCH NEEDED GAP?

Binker Consolation Inspiration The mother of all burkas

Appendix: a partial list of friendly addresses, for individuals needing support in escaping from religion Books cited or recommended Notes