Richard Dawkins - Outgrowing God (Penguin, 2020) ***

 If anything, biologist Richard Dawkins has managed to bring the debate about religion to a different level, and often even instigating a debate that most intellectuals shy away from with the simple pretext that they respect other people's opinion and that religion is not really their area of interest: science is, knowledge is. 

It is to Dawkins' credit that he leads the debate to the observation that religion stands in the way of true knowledge, and that its stories, narratives, beliefs and moral teachings are more a handy self-delusion than a useful instrument to live your life by. 

In "Outgrowing God", he continues his in the same vein as in all his other books. His approach now is to lead believers step by step and with the tools of reason and science to an aspired concession that indeed, any religious belief is actually silly and more grounded in cultural and social frameworks than in actual reality. 

Of course, the risk of such an effort is that the only people reading the book are already convinced before reading the book, and not many believers will even touch his texts, let alone be persuaded by them. 

Despite this fact of potential ineffectiveness, it remains a worthwhile read, if only for the non-believer to wonder again at the fascinating world we live in, and to have some more arguments and insights when discussing this directly with believers - but of course in a friendly and respectful manner.