Richard Dawkins is right to attack facile God-talk, says Simon Barrow. Misidentifying the divine as a 'thing' attached to or manipulative of the world is disastrously to misunderstand who and what God might be.

While much US media attention is focused on Tropical Storm Ernesto (currently pounding the Caribbean) which could hit Florida and Cuba with force later this week, churches and development agencies are assessing the impact of a year of destruction, chaos and despair on the Gulf Coast.