The God Delusion summary

Did you know that the Bible is the best-selling and most distributed book in the world? Surely this widely read piece of literature must contain evidence of God’s existence. But are the scriptures a trustworthy source on this subject?

Not necessarily. The Bible has changed over time and is loaded with contradictions.

OK, so the Bible is fallible. But something as complex as all the species on earth must have had a creator, right?

Well, actually, the opposite is true.

Maybe you’re wondering, “If there’s no God, then where did religion come from?” Since worshipping God doesn’t offer a direct evolutionary benefit, how can religion have been created during the process of evolution?

Well, evolution sometimes leads to undesired and unhelpful by-products. While the behavior of living beings doesn’t always appear logical at first glance, evolution can explain such irrational actions.

Now you know how religion can be chalked up to evolution; but did you know that our predisposition to do good is also a product of natural selection?

While the compulsion to survive can easily explain hunger or lust, uncovering the evolutionary roots of sympathy and altruism actually requires a bit of digging.

Would you consider it ethical to hand a woman over to an angry mob so they can rape and kill her? Obviously not. But this act, committed by a Levite religious man, is portrayed in the Bible as an commendable deed.

If the “good book” praises behavior like this, what else does its moral code justify?

If our morals can’t come from the Bible, then how do we decide what’s right and wrong? Well, every society actually maintains a broad consensus about morality that has developed over decades.

In fact, our morals shift all the time, but these changes are only apparent with the hindsight of history. People living at different times have viewed morality differently, and changes in morals have been influenced by the shifting zeitgeist.

Turn on the news on any given day and you’ll hear about religious fundamentalists in one country or another. There are still many people who take the scriptures literally, leading to morally questionable ideas and actions.

Just think of attitudes toward homosexuality, something that, as a direct result of scriptural decrees, is still not fully accepted. When Afghanistan was under Taliban rule, for example, the country’s official punishment for homosexuality was to be buried alive. The justification for this extreme sentence was the fact that God and the scriptures condemn homosexuality.

Would it be reasonable for someone to register their infant as a member of a political party? The question seems silly, but why then does it seem justifiable to enlist newborns into a belief system as domineering as religion?

It’s a fact that parents choose religions for their children before the kids are old enough to make such decisions themselves. And it’s easy for parents to do so.

Everyone should be free to practice their religion, and many countries have entrenched this freedom in the law. But how does society view religious beliefs relative to others?

Generally, religious ideas are given more respect and protection than other beliefs, since many people consider religion particularly vulnerable to attack and worthy of protection. A great example of the weight given to religious freedoms are the exemptions offered for military service.

Regardless of whether you believe in God, religion at least gives inspiration for great works of art and offers a respite from our harsh world, right?

Well, science has actually proven to be more inspirational than religion. For instance, while many of the great works of art and architecture were inspired by God or religion, the Church was a major employer and often represented the only means by which artists could pursue their passions while making a living. As a result, much of the religiously themed art that exists today is nothing more than commissioned work.