The God Virus
How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture
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The God Virus
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Narrated by:
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Darrel Ray
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By:
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Darrel Ray
About this listen
What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith? What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see those of others? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture. For thousands of years, religion has woven its way through societies and people as if it were part and parcel to that society or person. In large measure it was left unexplained and unchallenged, it simply existed. Those who attempted to challenge and expose religion were often persecuted, excommunicated, shunned, or even executed. It could be fatal to explain that which the church, priest or imam said was unexplainable. Before the germ, viral and parasite theory of disease, physicians had no tools to understand disease and its propagation. Priests told people disease was a result of sin, Satan, evil spirits, etc. With the discovery of microbial actors, scientists gained new tools to study how it spreads. They could study infection strategies, immunity, epidemiology and much more. Suddenly the terrible diseases of the past were understandable. The plagues of Europe, yellow fever, small pox, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc. were now removed from the divine and placed squarely in the natural world. This book owes a great deal to Richard Dawkins concept of viruses of the mind, but it seeks to go a step further to personalize the concept of religion as a virus and show how these revolutionary ideas work in everyday life. The paradigm can explain the fundamentalism of your Uncle Ned, the sexual behavior of a fallen mega church minister, the child rearing practices of a Pentecostal neighbor, why 19 men flew planes into the World Trade Center or what motivates a woman to blow herself up in the crowded markets of Baghdad. Learn how religion influences sexuality for its own purposes, how and why it protects pedofile priests and wayward ministers and how it uses survivor guilt to propagate and influence and how it might influence a person's IQ.
©2009 Darrel W. Ray, Ed.D. (P)2012 Darrel W. Ray, Ed.D.Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The God Virus
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ron
- 04-08-15
a book everyone should read
it is a shame about the recording. at points it is painfully loud others it can barely be heard, at times recorded in a bathroom others in a padded room. and the gap between chapters is ridiculous. but the content and message is right on point. audible? please rerecord this with a professional reader and editor. the book is too important
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Linisar
- 23-12-22
Great concept
I enjoyed the concept of the book having been excited to listen to it, however, sadly, I had to return it after listening for a while as I found the narration extremely irritating to listen to. This is in no way intended to downgrade the material and I usually very much enjoy the author reading their own book - but not so much this time. This is of course personal preference and I do not wish to deter anyone else on this basis alone, especially since the material therein is definitely interesting and worth a listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Ms. S. Iliffe
- 09-04-13
A different approach to the case for atheism
I found this book very engaging and interesting. Rather than focus on the texts of different religions as many books putting the atheist case do, this book looks at the way religion acts on individuals and on societies. The case is well put together and the author humanises it with real life examples. The author narrates the book himself, which can sometimes be problematic. It works in this case though, as you can hear his conviction and thoughtfulness in his narration and he has a narration style that is conversational and easy to listen to. Definitely recommend.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 20-04-21
Must listen as an ex fundamentalist
The recording is indeed quite bad, but the book definitely deserves 5 stars. So many things make sense after listening to it.
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