This pure commitment to skepticism, seemingly unadulterated by curiosity, religion, or indeed any other convictions, has seduced some freethinking Americans. This is his book-jacket promise: to “turn the scientific community’s cherished skepticism back on itself.” In short, he assesses the evidence for the death of God and reports back with reasonable doubt. He considers the evidence for the Big Bang and learns nothing about the origins of the universe. Like the theorists of intelligent design, he sees little in the fossil record that would account for sudden leaps in biological complexity. The scientists speak of incontrovertible fact, but Berlinski wants to show otherwise he subjects scientific belief to his own rigorous investigation and finds it riddled with uncertainty. According to The Devil’s Delusion, the emergence of the New Atheists-i.e., Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and the others who have lately ridiculed the belief in God-marks the consolidation of science as its own religion, a hateful “militant church” that demands strict adherence to the First Commandment. He’s a zealous skeptic, more concerned with false gods than real ones. Berlinski is a critic, a contrarian, and-by his own admission-a crank.
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