The God Delusion Puns

This is a lengthy summary and critique of Dawkins' argument in The God Delusion that I submit to you. It is perhaps a screed, but it is not trolling.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ESkSv65VQykcePB4nOb4ZdsfualrBN3IqmzyWB229NE/edit?usp=sharing

Here is the TLDR version. Here is my summary of Dawkins' argument:

1. It’s more improbable that God performed any act than the act was the result of a blind natural process.
2. If you are positing a God, you must also account for God's origin.
   TF,
   C. There is “almost certainly” no God of any description.

My critique is that both 1 and 2 (above) can both be used with equal severity against any positive account of what lies beyond this universe (e.g. the "multiverse") and do not work uniquely against God. In addition, I argue that premise 1 (above) basically assumes what he is trying to prove and his argument is circular.

How does a believer rationalize this? Knowing that there are so many gods that people have believed in before (and currently), is it easy to brush this off and just say they were wrong? Wouldn’t an argument against another god go somewhat against their own?

Edit: Thank you to those who have given thoughtful answers. I believe that I understand the counterpoints to this quote and would agree that this is more of a “gotcha” than a logical argument against the existence of a god.

Just bought the book "The god delusion". In Scandinavian version, for those of you who have read it, what do you think?

Why do we treat religious delusions as if they are normal?

I get that most people who claim that God is "speaking" to them are lying for money and followers, but the problem lies with the FOLLOWERS, who may have pre-existing mental health conditions, who are being told in church every Sunday that it's perfectly normal for God to "speak" to them.

/rant

EDIT: I also get that people are not hospitalized solely because they hear voices, unless those voices are telling/causing the individual to cause harm to others or his or herself. My point is this: What's the difference between voices telling a mentally ill person that certain people/groups need to be rid from the Earth and a Christian standing on a pulpit and telling people God wants them to bathe in faggot blood?

Kahit hindi Hard Bound basta good quality for a gift.

Which A Night In Texas album is better in your opinion?

You know, it might be one of those days where you didn't sleep as well the night before, and your mood is a little off. And then a coworker or some stranger says something to you that triggers a memory from your past. And then before you realize it, you have spiraled down into a place of feeling small, or filled with shame. The idea of manifesting a reality feels so far away in that moment.

What are some ways that you "bounce back" after days like this? How do you remind yourself that you DO have complete control over your reality?

I am a bot! Please send /u/NotListeningItsABook a private message with any comments or feedback on how I work.

EDIT: As of Thu Apr 09 21:37:47 UTC 2020, the post is at [737pts|3c]

#About Post:

#Post Body:

This happened maybe about a year ago. I'm thinking about it again because my aunt brought it up the other day.

The title pretty much explains it. I (24m) have a cousin (16f at the time, now 17f) who had recently gotten really heavily into Christianity, despite her parents not being religious at all. They don't seem to have any problem with it, but as a staunch atheist I thought it was my duty to keep her from going down this misguided path, so I got her a copy of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion for her 16th birthday.

She seemed less than enthusiastic, but did say thanks and nothing else came of it at the time. Then a few days ago I was talking to my aunt, and asked about my cousin. She said something about her bible study group having moved to using Zoom, and when I expressed surprise that she was still into that garbage my aunt just said, "I know you thought she'd read that book you got her and just immediately realize how much smarter you are than her, but no such luck."

I ended the conversation pretty quickly after that. I don't think my aunt's snark was really warranted. I honestly just did what I thought was right, but now I'm having second thoughts. AITA?

ETA: I accept that I was an asshole, and I'll apologize to my cousin next time I talk to her. Thank you everyone for your feedback.

#Related Comments (3):

^^^^AUTOMOD ***The following is a copy of the above post. This c

I’m especially curious of those of you who still believe in the existence of God and/or those of you who used to be TBMs. But please let me know all of your opinions!!

I'll admit to being one of the reddit atheists who thinks philosophical arguments for gods are just logic without substantive premises. So far I'm aware of the Ontological Proof, which seems to be a nearly platonic example of logic without substantive premises, Aquinas' Five Proofs which seem to be the same, and the Kalam Cosmological Argument which appears to be repackaged Aquinas (or vice versa).

So my question is, what am I missing?

Am I just unaware of arguments for gods that are more substantive than logic unattached to any empirical grounding, or am I misunderstanding the arguments, or misunderstanding what is meant by "substantive premises", or what?

I mean, don't get me wrong. Logic is wonderful stuff, helpful and useful. But I tend to see logic as a means of processing empirical data rather than something that can produce actual results in isolation.

Otherwise you run into stuff like Ludwig von Mises and his decision that empiricism doesn't matter and because he's so smart he can just sit down in isolation and derive a complete and perfect system of economics.

Anyone have resources they're willing to link to that can help me understand what I'm missing here?

For years now, I have told myself I wanted to read this book but never got around to it, I'm thinking about reading it now, and just wanted to ask, for those who have read it, did it have a big impact on you as everyone makes it sound to do? Would really love to hear ex-muslims thought on it

"The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniac, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully."

While not all of this fits, don't "capriciously malevolent bully, petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak, misogynistic, homophobic, racist" all kind of ring true to some church we know?

I recently re-read Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and wrote up a recap I thought might be useful or interesting for some of you here. Hope you like it.

DISCLAIMER: This links to my personal site!

http://37g.tv/main/2013/11/15/the-god-delusion-a-37g-book-report

I tell them I bought the book, and my dad says "The problem right now is that people just find an outlook on life and simply subscribe to other things that further promote that ideal instead of looking at the other side."

Normally I always can give a counterpoint to anything he says but that one stumped me. I don't consider myself one track minded liberal who has no clue about conservative/religious views, as I have many friends who are conservative and religious. I was raised religious.

His comment didn't convince me of anything, but the way he put it, I have no idea how to come back at it. Any thoughts?

Should I even open my mind to this nonsense? I mean, it is Dawkins. My Sunday School teacher told me that he doesn't have any real accreditation from an actual Christian institution. Please give me advice on how to burn mock read this book properly!