Quote:
Originally Posted by ardeegee
Nothing is going to change the views of most people that are "deeply entrenched" in their views. The target of books like The God Delusion isn't to convert strong believers-- they are pretty much written off as a lost cause-- the target is people who have yet to make up their minds. Let those entrenched stay in their trenches-- but the more you can point out how silly they look, the harder their job at proselytizing.
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I enjoyed the "The God Delusion"; I'm in general, possibly total, agreement with Dawkins; but even as someone solidly on his side of the argument, the book came across as unnecessarily contentious. I'm not convinced that the tone used would help convince those on the fence.
What it does do is stir up the entrenched crowd and raise awareness of the book, so, yes, perhaps a greater proportion of fence-sitters would read it, and yes, perhaps that would lead to a greater conversion of views towards atheism overall. But surely the same publicity could be achieved in a different way?
If an argument is put in a contentious way it provides a target that can be used by those who disagree in lieu of engaging with the underlying reasoning.
Graham