Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) | 
 enlarge | Author: Sam Harris
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  610 reviews
Sales Rank: 2606
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 144
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.5
ISBN: 0307278778
Dewey Decimal Number: 277.3083
EAN: 9780307278777
ASIN: 0307278778
Publication Date: January 8, 2008
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Product 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. . .
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| Customer Reviews: Read 605 more reviews...
 Read this book and open your mind. July 14, 2008
A well-prepared little book with a well-rounded overlook at some fallacies behind religion. Harris tackles issues surrounding religions in the format of a letter. It is a slight book that is quickly read, but don't underestimate the power behind these few words. Harris says, "While believing strongly, without evidence, is considered a mark of madness or stupidity in any other area of our lives, faith in God still holds immense prestige in our society. Religion is the one area of our discourse where it is considered noble to pretend to be certain about things no human being could possibly be certain about." Everyone should read this book. Christians, Muslims, and others should at least be open to considering other ideas before rejecting them. Harris has rejected religion, but he has not done so without great thought. In his summary, he states, "Clearly, it is time we learned to meet our emotional needs without embracing the preposterous."
Very good - Lets hope its read by the people who need to July 7, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Very well written, though I think Richard Dawkins is a level above Sam Harris.
I think ultimately for me will this book be read by the people who should read it, i.e. the religious moderates and liberals, the fanatical will of course dismiss it.
I think its pleasing the increased level of discussion, with Bill Maher's documentary coming out later this year, there is hope for the reasonable and rationale.
I want freedom from religion too! July 1, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I read this book in about two days because it was so good, yes, I know some can read it in one sitting, but I'm fairly busy. Anyway, it was nice to read something that mirrors my sentiments on this topic almost exactly. Sam Harris isn't apologetic in his critique of religion and I think this is a breath of fresh air to simply call hypocrisy for hypocrisy. One thing I did like is that Harris didn't single out just Christianity, but he actually goes over religion in general. I think this is because he didn't want to give out any illusions that Christianity is the sole problem religion out there, it's not, it's all religious conceptions.
One point that I hadn't really given much thought was the financial perspective. Which is funny because I have a degree in finance and economics. Anyway he brought up the concept about the untold millions of dollars that are going into these Christian organizations. Most of this goes to support the infrastructure of the church, you'd be surprised how little goes to charitable organizations. I used to look at Church accounts in an old job and it shocked me how their balance continued to grow versus how much was actually leaving. Some non-profit organization that is? Another point is that there's a drastic opportunity cost. Could you imagine if people took the money they normally give to the church and either saved it on their own, or donated it to medical research to cure something like cancer or come up with a vaccine for AIDS. It's such a crazy notion to think that people willingly give a portion of their income to an organization that is bent on informing them that they are all sinners and none of them are good enough for God, but, hey, he loves you anyway, so give us your money. That's just asking to be beaten down on a regular basis and happily give them your money. Doesn't this fall into a notion of a possible pathological disorder?
One aspect I'm sort of surprised at is that Harris didn't attack the Biblical history. Frankly it doesn't really matter if Christians follow a creationist policy, the fact is most of those stories are borrowed from ancient societies. The Sumerian tale of the flood greatly predates the Bible and Noah's real name was Ziusudra. You'd be surprised at the parallels. Even the Garden of Eden parallel story can be found in a tale about Inanna. Most Christians don't care to acknowledge this cherry picking of other religious stories, but they are happy to cherry pick the "good" quotes out of their Bible to justify that their God is actually only loving and perfect... but we'll ignore that thing about slavery now won't we? Further on the historical note it's pretty clear cut that Moses didn't write the first five books. Aside from blatant borrowing, the Bible was written down in 600 B.C. during the Israelites captivity in Babylon. Yes, the Torah was written in Babylon. Historians figure the Exodus with Moses happened in the vicinity of 1300 B.C. and it's pretty clear he died during that book, so how he wrote it in 600 B.C. is beyond me. I've listened to many Christian preachers and they all purport that Moses wrote the Torah. Did it ever occur to anyone he died before it was finished? In fact it recounts his death and keeps going, it doesn't just abruptly end. This is a very strange literary technique, the dead continuing to write a book...
Another point I'm surprised he didn't attack is the blatant proof that God is an unjust deity. If you read through this text it's made abundantly clear in the New Testament that if you don't follow Jesus you will not be saved. In fact you are doomed to suffer eternal death. This doesn't matter if you are actually a good person, a wonderful and loving father to your children; if you don't follow Jesus you are done. I can't physically think of any concept or proof more unjust than this. Naturally people will quote Pascal, but it's an aberrant proof. Harris blatantly points out that people DO have something to lose and that religion is detrimental to others on a global scale. Maybe it's not God, maybe it's the followers, because they simply can't deal with religion responsibly. It must be imposed on others. I just don't understand this mindset and if God truly is a loving and caring being then the actions of his followers should be making him weep constantly and not an atheist that doesn't rape, murder, and honors his neighbor. But the faithful don't look at it this way, it's the atheist that is the problem, not the child molester who believes and can have his sins forgiven despite his problems.
This book is an outcry to a nation that sorely needs it. Where science is constantly on trial and regardless if science doesn't have a ready answer means God did it. This is a huge problem, more people need to read this book and understand it. Do NOT cherry pick this text like so many love to do with their religious texts. It must be taken in as a whole, much like the Bible should be read, but most people don't read the Bible so they don't understand the hypocritical concepts Harris brings up on a textual level. I know the Christian militant front will decry this review, but I urge you to read about intellectual honesty when it comes to this topic.
Simple Brilliant Courageous June 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the calm rational, well thought out response to the rhetoric of the American Fundamentalist movement, and all it's grinning pernicious absurdity.
A "Good Book" June 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sam Harris has written a wonderful little book. It is short and to the point! His arguments are clearly stated and he includes numerous concrete examples to illustrate his points.
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