November 25, 2006

In all fiction

There are times I read something, and I think: "Wish I had written those words." Happened today with these lines.
    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, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully. Those of us schooled from infancy in his ways can become desensitized to their horror.
- Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion

Have to admire the careful choice of words, down to that "fiction".

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Good stuff! This excerpt makes me kick myself for having passed up buying this book at the Strand Festival yesterday ...