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.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Dawkins critiques the Old Testament God as a fictional character with severe moral flaws. He lists negative traits to argue against viewing this deity as morally exemplary.
- In plain terms
- The Old Testament God has many bad moral traits in fiction.
- What can you take from it?
- Fictional deities should not be models for real morality.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can a story character be a reliable moral guide?
Another view
Readers may see this as taking metaphor too literally.
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