By Scott Hahn
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112 of 145 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Only convincing from a cursory analysis,
The authors explicitly do not deny "that evolution is in very important ways a partial cause of human intelligence" [p 82]. However, they argue, there is "an enormous discrepancy between what is needed to survive, and the intellectual ability we've actually got" [p 50]. Human brains can figure out "what's going on inside atoms or inside black holes" which is "not at all necessary for Darwinian survival" [p. 50]. But various theories explain humans' intellectual capacities: for example, the use of language provided a significant benefit for those best able to use it, which led to more capable brains, which led to more complex language, which fueled a rapid self-sustaining upward spiral in mental capacity and language complexity. And there is no shortage of examples of evolved traits later being put to uses far different than those that provided the original benefits. There is little mystery here. Plus, human minds have great difficulty understanding and imagining quantum mechanics, for instance, because the concepts are very different than the familiar ones that we need to survive. This makes perfect sense in light of evolution. Dawkins' main argument in The God Delusion is that "a designer God cannot be used to explain organized complexity because any God capable of designing anything would have to be complex enough to demand the same kind of explanation in his own right" [p. 136]. Hahn and Wiker assert that "it is only in Dawkins' treating God as having an evolved, material intelligence that allowed him the dubious luxury of discounting His existence as very, very improbable...since God is by definition purely spiritual, then the contingency of material atom-shuffling is inapplicable" [p. 65]. But if not atom-shuffling, then what? However God came to be still needs an explanation which is entirely side-stepped by the authors. Why would non-physical intelligence need any less explanation than physical intelligence? I can understand it would be a different kind of explanation, but the authors offer none at all and utterly fail to counter Dawkins' main argument. It's like answering "why is the sky blue?" with "it's not blue, it's light blue" and then failing to offer an explanation of why the sky is light blue. Most of the authors' discussion of atheist morality is based on a simple assumption that is just false: that whatever is best for our selfish genes is by definition "moral". "Does it promote survival? If it does, it is `good'" [p. 118]. Thus, they question how Dawkins can condemn the brutal practices in the Old Testament as immoral since natural selection is equally brutal. Even granting their premise for the moment, they do not make any attempt to defend the atrocities described in the Old Testament as moral according to their own God-given standard of morality. They criticize morality based on natural selection as no better than that of the Old Testament, then go on to upbraid morality based on natural selection as repugnant. Does that mean the morality taught in the Old Testament is also repugnant? Because that was what Dawkins argued and all the authors effectively responded with was "oh yeah? Well your morality is repugnant, too!" But in doing so they assumed that what is good for our selfish genes is by definition "moral" according to the atheist. This leads to all kinds of wild conclusions that sound more like a caricature of imaginary outrageous "evil people" rather than real life atheists. Dawkins explicitly states in The Selfish Gene "I am not advocating a morality based on evolution" [p. 2]. Either Dawkins is right and there is no personal God, or he is wrong and there is one. If he is right, then all the moral principles of Christianity espoused by the authors must come from the very same sources as Dawkins' morality. That is, they are invented by humans who are the product of evolution. Evolved human beings are perfectly capable of inventing their own systems of morality. Those systems aren't right or wrong in an absolute sense, but they can be better or worse at attaining such goals as minimizing suffering and pain. The final chapter is a truly ridiculous "warning" to all the faithful of the awful perversions of society that would surely befall any country who allowed an atheist any kind of political power. It is reminiscent of the ludicrous 1930's anti-marijuana propaganda film "Reefer Madness" which depicted mild mannered citizens transforming into raving lunatics, killing each other and jumping out of windows after smoking marijuana. The atheists will take your children away! They'll shut down the churches! They'll mandate abortions and euthanasia! The authors described Hitler, not Dawkins, and not atheists in general. It would take another entire book to counter all the authors' arguments, so I have offered only a few here. But despite this books shortfalls, it is an interesting read which provides insights into Catholic philosophy and views of atheists.
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16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
review of the reviews,
I would put this a college reading level. The arguments are often involved and require some "brain juice" and mental work. This is because they deconstruct many of Dawkins' arguments which requires a piece-by-piece analysis and critique. The writers examine two general aspects of Dawkin's approach, 1) the consistency of his arguments and 2) the assumptions he makes but often does not explicitly tell the reader. They find massive holes in both aspects of his thought. At the end, they examine the implications for morality in Dawkin's system. This last part is scary, but seems very much in line with what Dawkins wants. Perhaps "orwellian" might be a better term. For those folks who are willing to read more than one book on the topic and want to see the holes in Dawkins thought, this would be an excellent choice.
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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pleased But Left Wanting...,
This book did present a few compelling arguments but I felt that they fell short in too many places. Maybe they were trying to keep down the wordcount, however, I believe the intellect was there but not really used at all times. One thing that distracts from the books by both Dawkins and Hitchens is their obvious hatred of God even though they claim that He does not exist. Same thing with this book. The authors hatred of Dawkins I believe should have been mellowed out with less direct attacks and comments and more on the general stupidity of atheists. The flow of the book and the footnotes were excellent. In addition, I support anyone willing to invest the time and effort to battle this growing crisis of faith. I feel the Dawkins of the world are winning. I certainly hope I am wrong. I hope you find this review helpful. Michael L. Gooch - Author of Wingtips with Spurs
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