A Devils Chaplain : Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love

Common sense, beautiful prose, striking contrasts between science and other so-called belief systems, and sterling examples of weighty evidence favoring clear-cut science and critical thinking over pseudo-sciences like astrology (as science is the only general school of thought that actually delivers) all serve to make this, like all of Dawkinss other books, brilliant and inspiring from cover to cover. In a culture in which it hasnt been "okay" to be SMART in many decades (this is no coincidence, folks), Dawkins tries to get the reader to remember that (s)he has a brain, and that that brain is more than capable of perceiving hoaxes and ulterior motives.

It becomes obvious after reading Dawkinss prose that ones natural sense of wonder can be fulfilled quite well by science
-- better than all other disciplines, in fact -- because scientific discoveries far outweigh any creation myth or new-age con job in regards to having the ability to strike the reader with eye-popping awe (and make one feel "special" as a living being on this planet).

BUY THIS BOOK. Buy one for your best friend. Its quite necessary, in this world of ever-shrinking sensibilities. Its a good thing we still have a few good guys left. Dawkins is one of them. Lets hope he inspires enough people to champion the individual brain over the mass hallucination -- before there ARE no good guys left.

But as chaplain, Dawkins notes that while wasps and caterpillars can do nothing about such amorality, we can. "At the same time as I support Darwinism as a scientist, I am a passionate anti-Darwinian when it comes to politics and how we should conduct our human affairs." There is no inconsistency here any more than in the physician who studies cancer, but is bent on eliminating it. And as devils chaplain, Dawkins urges us to use our evolution-given brains, reject the pacifiers of faith in immortality, and rejoice in our short lives because they are all we have. Dawkins, you see, besides being an eminent Darwinian whose books like The Blind Watchmaker have wonderfully well laid out what evolution means, is also possibly the worlds most famous atheist. You will find here his views on religious beliefs and creationists (or their newest incarnation as advocates of Intelligent Design), of course, but on "alternative medicine," crystal healing, homeopathy, and so on. Besides the rants, there is good humor and some warm tributes to friendship, especially in his memorials to his friends Douglas Adams and Stephen Jay Gould. The final chapter, "A Prayer for My Daughter," is a letter he wrote to her when she turned ten, to let her know how he thought she should select what to believe. The great question to ask in all disputes: "What kind of evidence is there for that?"

Readers will be reminded of the belligerence of Thomas Henry Huxley, "Darwins Bulldog," but evolution is only one theme here. Included is his hilarious review of the book by the hoaxer Alan Sokal who submitted a nonsense paper to a postmodern journal and had it accepted. He rages against postmodernism, with its "all views are equal" stance making his scientific view equivalent to a voodoo view. He expresses his doubts about the jury system, and in a wonderful chapter ("Genes Arent Us") discounts just how important genes are for personality. Another chapter makes us wonder at just how close we are to our ape cousins. Throughout, he is witty, and above all informative on a wide-range of subjects, not just on his refusal to accept what he sees as the diverse delusions of most of the world. Anyone who has admired his previous writings of science popularization will find these personal essays to be very appealing sermons from an accomplished chaplain.