Description: From the new afterword by the author:
Humanity has had a long fascination with blood sacrifice. In fact, it has been by no means uncommon for a child to be born into this world only to be patiently and lovingly reared by religious maniacs, who believe that the best way to keep the sun on its course or to ensure a rich harvest is to lead him by tender hand into a field or to a mountaintop and bury, butcher, or burn him alive as offering to an invisible God. The notion that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that his death constitutes a successful propitiation of a “loving” God is a direct and undisguised inheritance of the superstitious bloodletting that has plagued bewildered people throughout history. . .
Details: Great concise essay written in letter format. Summarizes the main points of several of today's prime thinkers including Sam Harris himself and Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.
Review Summary: Awesome Read
Date: 2008-12-26
Details: One of the best-written books on modern Atheism that I have ever read. Short, but succinct and beautifully written. This is a must-have book for any Freethought library.
Review Summary: loved it!!
Date: 2008-12-22
Details: this book is great!! it's a quick, easy read, very effective, and says everything it needs to say. i couldn't put it down from the moment i picked it up. i love reading books that actually quote scripture line for line and point out how dispicable it is!! ...encouraging slavery, murder, intolerance, you name it... most of the religions of the world seem to suggest the exact opposite of what everybody thinks they stand for, so why are those that follow them literally seen as extremists? isn't it the religions that are extreme? and if we can so clearly see the faults in them, why can't we come up with a new system and begin a dialogue that doesn't presume so much respect and credit to these systems that were imposed by barbaric, stupid people??
anyways, atheists and agnostics, by all means, buy this book right now! everybody else, i'd say don't...unless you intend to truly answer the questions and truly think about what he is saying. so many are quick to get defensive when the book already contains sufficient arguments for why he is lumping religious moderates and liberals in with extremists and why he is attacking biblical passages that are currently disregarded as outdated or nonsense. read it all before getting defensive, and see if you can give honest answers rather than just doing what you're programmed to do.
Review Summary: Sounds good to the religiously unred
Date: 2008-12-21
Details: This book easily attracts those with preconceived beliefs and/or no beliefs. But for those who know the Scriptures it comes across as a very pathetic attempt to sound knowledgeable on a subject the author has trouble even identifying. One cannot merge the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Christianity and condemn them as one when their beliefs differ so. Example:
His criticism of the RC church and its struggle to define limbo could be shared by any fundamentalist Baptist, etc. The problem with Harris is he can't even define or name--out of all the varioius denominations--which one might be the right one. So he swats at the weak spot of anything that flies by.
The book "If The Bible Is Really True...You Could Be In Big Trouble" is an excellent defense against Harris and his scissors and paste arguments.
Review Summary: It is good to see someone with logic and sanity
Date: 2008-12-18
Details: After reading the book I was actually most interested in the individuals who for obvious reasons bash such a book. Being an atheist already the book wasn't geared towards changing my views but I found it superbly well formatted and chop full of important FACTS. Emphasis on the facts because many narrow-minded members of the christian community truly believe in such drivel from an ordinary book passed down by racist, sexist, and homophobic men with a bunch of off-the-wall ideas. Sam Harris truly points out the most significant of these flaws that surround our ignorant country everyday. The bottom line is it is ever so important to create such a book to at least try and present real information to stubborn people who are stuck in this sort of fantasy as it were. As presented on the atheists.org this idea of strong christianity is purely subjective not objective.
out of 630 Reviews
