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Loading... The End of Faith (2004)by Sam Harris
Wow. Brilliant inquiry into the nature of religion, and the cultures which nurture it and resolutely refuse to allow any sort of rigorous inquiry into faith-based motives. Condemns the big three (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) with the same brush of cold, deadly reason. Harris doesn't see any way the world can find peace while still embracing religion, and after reading this book, neither can I. It's a deeply disturbing book that's very well-written. It was probably easier for me, an avowed atheist, to read and agree with than it might be for a believer. Harris presents cogent arguments that deserve as wide an audience as possible. Highly recommended. ( )We are at war with Islam. Sam Harris. There are no atheists in foxholes. William J. Clear. Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum. Vegetius. Screw you guys I'm going home. Eric Cartman. An effective philosophical account on why religions are intrinsically bad. Here explained lucidly, clearly and effectively. Books about, or rather, arguing against, religion have become very popular in the last couple of years; Dawkins led the charge, followed closely by Hitchens's more erudite analysis. It would be easy to lose Sam Harris in the mix, assuming that he retreads the same ground, makes the same arguments, and generally carries the same tone. None of that is true - Harris's book is worth reading for the very simple reason that it is original. In short, it is a fine addition to the atheist's bookshelf - or the spiritualist's, if you're looking for another approach. At first I had some difficulty with this book, because I had to get beyond the small voice that kept whispering that we shouldn't talk bad about Islam. Once I began to set aside my own prejudices and let the book speak for itself, I found it a very readable contributor to the topic of religious violence. The book does get a bit clunky in the final chapter as the author begins to make a case for Buddhism that I found somewhat off putting, with a slightly self righteous tone.
It's not often that I see my florid strain of atheism expressed in any document this side of the Seine, but ''The End of Faith'' articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood. Sam Harris presents major religious systems like Judaism, Christianity and Islam as forms of socially sanctioned lunacy, their fundamental tenets and rituals irrational, archaic and, important when it comes to matters of humanity's long-term survival, mutually incompatible.
References to this work on external resources.
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