Letter to a Christian Nation
by Sam Harris
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Book Reviews of Letter to a Christian Nation
Book Review: Same old tired atheist arguments
Summary: 1 Stars
Just as so much Christian rhetoric is merely preaching to the choir, so too is Harris' little letter. The new wave of atheists, and not the most intellectual of the bunch, will rate this 5 stars and applaud just as blindfolded Christians will do the same for so many of "their" books.
Get out your google and you will find critical reviews not only from the religious but from the most sophisticated atheists, just as you will for the work of Hitchens, Dawkins and the rest of the new crew. I couldn't help but laugh when I read The God Delusion, and many atheists couldn't help but wince.
But I digress. I am Christian. Let's get that out of the way. I am not the stereotypical "moral majority," "right-wing," Bush lover or anything. Just a Christian who tries to be like and follow Christ. So, now that that is out of the way, I will just say this: I have been challenged by many atheist books (and books of other faiths) and have consequently been forced to wrestle with a variety of issues. This book was not challenging, threatening (except for the overtly communist and liberty threatening tones), or in any other way discomforting to me as a Christian. For one, there is absolutely nothing new in here. Besides that, the logical fallacies, misuse (knowingly or unknowingly) of references and statistics as well as the amateurish treatment of history are all uninspiring.
For the most part, this book will be railed against by Christians just being defensive (and probably fearful that their faith won't stand up to these tired rhetorical arguments) and staunchly defended by atheist who are so ignorant as to think that anything in here constitutes a death knell for faith. Oh well.
I'm giving it one star, not because I am a Christian who hates atheists or is afraid of science or some other stupid notion. It gets one star because, even as an atheist I would not think this book accomplishes much other than to preach to the choir with the same type of rhetoric and device that I abhor preachers using in churches. The scholarship is lazy and relies too much on the laziness and trust of the reader.
While they are not perfect either, for a critical look from a more consistently Christian perspective, one might check out Letter From a Christian Citizen by Doug Wilson and The Return of the Village Atheist by Joel McDurmon. Again, I know they are not perfect either, but they do help to demonstrate some of the misconceptions, logical flaws, and slight of hand attempted by Harris.
Book Review: A Polemic Made Small, But Packs Big....
Summary: 4 Stars
I just finished reading my copy of Letter To A Christian Nation, and just have to say, this short read just blew me away!
Although it does not have a Table of Contents, it does have subheadings which I found are really helpful because it prevents the reader from getting confused, and prepares you for the next section.
In just about 114 pages, this book is all about rigorous polemic quality, not quantity. I was surprised by the elegant, engaging, and witty arguments Sam Harris is able to come up with against Christian Fundamentalism. The most particular arguments range from: Stem cell research, the theory of evolution, intelligent design(and its problems), the ten commandments, biblical prophecy, and although this book is suppose to be written to a Christian, it seems Sam couldn't help but discuss the evils of Islam also.
What I found most interesting is the boldness of Sam Harris' discourse when he wrote an excellent argument for Atheism I have ever read in a long time:
"Atheism is a term that should not even exist. We don't have names for non-alchemists, or people who don't believe that aliens traversed across the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle."
-Page 51, LOL.
"Atheism is nothing more but the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustifiable religious beliefs/claims." -Page 51.
Although Abortion is an ugly reality, Harris also speaks out about the contradictory nature of Christian pro-life beliefs:
"20 percent of all recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage. There is an obvious truth here that cries out for acknowledgment: If God exists, he is the most prolific abortionist of all." -Page 38.
Also in this book, you will learn why Adolf Hitler WAS NOT an atheist, but a Christian with distorted beliefs(proof from his own speech in 1922).
I am just tempted to give out more freebies from the book, but I don't want to ruin it for you, as a future reader.
Nonetheless, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars for the simple reason that although Sam Harris mentions the First Cause Argument, he does not go into argumentative depth with regards to the Cosmological arguments. If he wanted to be more persuasive to the Christian audience, he could have written more on the topic of physics, as there could have been so much great points for him to argue with....
Just my opinion.
Book Review: Well-founded arguments but unpersuasive
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with Mr. Harrs on all his points. I have read these points before, and I still stand by them.
Regardless of how correct Mr. Harris is, his book misses the mark. As a letter to Christians, it fails miserably. I would be surprised to learn of any Christian reading this book and saying, "Oh, I've been doing it all wrong then."
The reason for this is Mr. Harris's tone. As an atheist, even I cringed at tactlessness. I would imagine that a Christian--often someone who holds his belief near and dear to his heart--would overlook the good points Mr. Harris made and simply see, "Dumb Christian, dumb Christian, dumb Christian." This book will not persuade anyone. The only people who would see Mr. Harris's wisdom are those who already recognize it. Ironically, Mr. Harris is "preaching to the choir." The book does succeed in cataloguing the many flaws of religion; what took me several months of discussion forums and web surfing can be found concisely packaged in "Letter to a Christian Nation."
Although, I must concede that perhaps Mr. Harris was not trying to convince Christians of anything. In his conclusion, Mr. Harris states that this book is "the product of failure." As a society, we have failed to prevent superstition and mysticism from governing our lives. In that regard, this book boils down to simply being a rant. There is nothing in this book that you can't find in the discussion forums. But then, little in the forums achieve the eloquence of Mr. Harris, so that is in the book's favor.
In summary, this is a great book for non-Christians, who can seek affirmation from someone who has been in their shoes. It is a good book for Christians too, but not many Christians will realize this fact over the distracting cries of "dumb Christians". I can only suggest that a Christian try to read it from another point of view. As Mr. Harris points out, a Christian can easily see why Islam is clearly a false religion. It doesn't take a very large step to view Christianity in the same light.
At the very least, any Christian who succeeds in not throwing the book away in disgust may have something new to ponder over--something that could either eliminate his false faith or make his true faith even stronger.
Book Review: Manifesto of New Atheism
Summary: 2 Stars
Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation is a broadside that offers a soundbite summary of the primary criticisms of theism offered by the so-called ("Wired" magazine's coinage) New Atheists. The undisputed leaders of this new wave of free thought are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens, and Harris himself.
The New Atheists (even the professional philosopher Dennett) tend to deny the truth value of religious claims more on scientific and moral grounds than philosophical ones. (Indeed, Dawkins and Hitchens seem especially innocent of much of the philosophical literature in the debate.) They argue that naturalism in general and Darwinism in particular demonstrate the absurdity of theistic belief, and that the rise of fundamentalist violence reveals religion as a moral danger. Religious sensibilities, like all others, are evolutionary products that were once useful but no longer have survival value. We would do well to jettison them.
Harris' Letter summarizes all the conclusions but little of the arguments that the New Atheists endorse. Perhaps this is as it should be in a manifesto, but the overall effect is dissatisfying. He's at his best when he argues that religious ethics ought to spend more energy on suffering and less on sexual norms (pp. 25-38). But he's unconvincing when he insists that liberal religionists are as bad as fundamentalist ones because they give the latter credibility (a claim that Dawkins also ceaselessly makes), and he lapses into downright silliness when he criticizes scripture for not conveying mathematical truths about the universe. Both criticisms display an inability--or unwillingness--to appreciate distinctions. Liberal religionists are often exacting and telling critics of fundamentalists, and to criticize the Bible for not being scientific is to conflate genres.
Harris' book is worth reading as an introduction to the New Atheism, and it's certainly less redundant and wordy than his The End of Faith. But as a compelling argument against God-belief, it falls short. One would be much better served by taking a look at (for example) Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion.
Two and a half stars.
Book Review: A simply wonderful read (as long as one gives credence to logic)
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a small concentrated dose of the all too potent and pertinent rationale of Dr. Harris. In it he manages to condense some of the most important logical arguments against religion into clear concise (if a little too finite) articles; either it being objective manifest truth in all probability, or that it is even good. It does not go into as much detail as "End of Faith" but this book is not without its merit. A plethora of grievances and religious incongruities are addressed, and any religious reader who is still compelled to critically analyze the very foundation for their beliefs has to give it to Harris that his points are largely not-easily countered, if indeed un-counterable.
But this is largely due to the position Harris takes i.e the easy one. It is easy to argue why a document so self-contradictory, archaic, barbaric, and xenophobic as the bible is easily caste aside as literature from a darker past and why God is probably not real and belief in Him does not foster good morals or good logic in our children. But this book does wonders as reading material for any believer who is willing to read it with a mindset that leaves them open to criticism. My one slight disappointment is Harris' not elaborating on a few points that would make it even more compelling. This is mostly due to the size of the book which in turn makes it more approachable for the audience for which it was intended. An audience that will likely be shocked, appalled, moved, incited to anger, or... all the more likely ignoring Harris' best points altogether (which is just too bad.) I don't think a large number of believing readers will even actually approach reading this book so academically, as to address Harris' uncompromising view, but many others will, and will probably (as rationality will inevitably command) emphatically change the way they look at their own religion.
I would also recommend "End of Faith" which in making fewer points, goes into the very detail of belief as creation of the human brain itself.