John F. Schumaker

The author took 165 mind-numbing pages to say something I can sum up in one sentence: We create religion to distract ourselves from the reality of our mortality, a diversion that endangers our existence as a species. What's more, he could have saved everyone time on the first page by just recommending us to Ernest Becker and Erich Fromm, both of whom he quotes extensively and both of whom said the same thing many times better. Finally, he doesn't even attempt to offer solutions or hope, but instead tells us over the last several pages how doomed we are as a species. A stupid, poorly-written, lazy, irresponsible book. It did have an interesting discussion on anorexia and western therapy. Did I mention that it's unscientific? I like Thornton Wilder and William Blake more than a lot of people, but that doesn't mean that one of their quotes corroborates your "theory." Also, someone should explain to Shumaker the difference between a hypothesis and a theory. In conclusion, I did not like this book.… (more)