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Loading... Religie voor atheïsten een heidense gebruikersgids (original 2012; edition 2011)by Alain De Botton
Work InformationReligion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain De Botton (2012)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. I think it is only a sense of loyalty to Alain de Botton that prevents me from giving this book one star. It's a loyalty that comes from the enjoyment I got reading [b:The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work|5293573|The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work|Alain de Botton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320538807s/5293573.jpg|14280293] and [b:The Consolations of Philosophy|23419|The Consolations of Philosophy|Alain de Botton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320528869s/23419.jpg|14280291] (apart from the first chapter - Socrates was a bore). The great difference is the book's theatre of engagement. In his best books de Botton deals with our inner lives and makes recommendations about how we can best think or feel about things, whereas in Religion for Atheists he deals with the world around us and how we should change it. In other words, he addresses topics for which hard evidence is required. There are none of those warm moments of self-recognition when you find out that you're not the only one who wants this, or wonders that. Instead, I just kept thinking "who says?' angrily as another point was made that sounded nice but which I didn't quite believe. The writing has also lost a bit, I suspect because the author is a bit lost at sea among the world of facts he has accidentally engaged with. The biggest omissions are those whimsical moments of description that de Botton used in his other books to create just the kind of cozy environment for a bit of light philosophy. He would describe a man sitting at a table in a cheap cafe and wonder if he has just finished work and will shortly go home to a house left empty by the recent cancer death of his wife. Let's hope that he returns to that mix of whimsy, melancholy and gentle hope in his next book, as it's missing from this effort. This is the kind of book that will provide lots of material for criticism for those disposed to dislike it. Alain de Botton does not shy away from mixing creative, even outlandish, ideas with a sounds and fascinating analysis of what secular culture loses without religion. He does not treat religions or the religious with kid gloves nor does he give into the denigration of religion common among the "New Atheist" flag bearers. To give an idea of the tone of the book, we can start with the opening: The most boring and unproductive question one can ask of any religion is whether or not it is true ... To save time, and at the risk of losing readers painfully early on in this project, let us bluntly state that of course no religions are true in any God-given sense. ...If this excerpt is intriguing, you may well like the book. If it puts you on the defensive, be warned that it continues in this style. Yes, some of the ideas seem impractical; others are delightful. What matters is not so much the specific ideas as the overarching message that humans are multifaceted creatures, and the current secular society ignores many of those facets. I greatly enjoyed the book.
"…Religion for Atheists might be said to be our default state. We even have a name for it: we call it the Church of England. De Botton’s inspiring book manages to condemn this compromise while offering a glimpse of a more enlightened path." "One wonders how this impeccably liberal author would react to being told that free speech and civil rights were all bunkum, but that they had their social uses and so shouldn't be knocked. Perhaps he might have the faintest sense of being patronised." DistinctionsNotable Lists
What if religions are neither all true nor all nonsense? The long-running and often boring debate between believers and non-believers is finally moved forward by Alain de Botton's inspiring book, which boldly argues that the supernatural claims of religion are entirely false--but that it still has some very important things to teach the secular world. Religion for Atheists suggests that rather than mocking religion, agnostics and atheists should instead steal from it--because the world's religions are packed with good ideas on how we might live and arrange our societies. Blending deep respect with total impiety, de Botton (a non-believer himself) proposes that we look to religion for insights into how to, among other concerns, build a sense of community, make our relationships last, overcome feelings of envy and inadequacy, inspire travel and reconnect with the natural world.--From publisher description. No library descriptions found. |
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I know the author gets a lot of criticism for over-simplifying some complex ideas, but I disagree that this is what he is doing in this book. First he describes how religion can address spiritual needs, but that addressing these needs don’t necessarily require faith in an unseen deity. He then offers ways that secular society has ignored these needs. Finally, he offers ways that secular “temples” could be built that would address them.
Overall a really interesting book filled with compelling ideas, and a great conversation starter ( )