About this title: From the author of the "New York Times" bestseller "The End of Faith" comes a new, hard-hitting, and impassioned book that continues Harriss fight against the rigid adherence to Christian religious literalism that is altering the face of this nation.
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780307265777ISBN:0307265773
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Description: Good. Only lightly used. Book has minimal wear to cover and binding. A few pages may have small creases and minimal underlining. Book selection as BIG as Texas. read more
Description: Good. Dust Cover Missing. Light shelving wear with minimal damage to cover and bindings. Pages show minor use. Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read. Recycle and Reuse! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2006
ISBN-13:9780307265777ISBN:0307265773
Description: NF/NF. 0307265773. 0.7 x 7.4 x 4.7 Inches; 96 pages; “Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe ... read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Knopf
Date Published: 2006-09-19
ISBN-13:9780307265777ISBN:0307265773
Description: New. Book is Brand New, Gift condition. Free tracking # included! International buyers are welcome. We ship every business day. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed! read more
Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardback
Publisher: TRANSWORLD PUBLISHERS LTD Country = UNITED KINGDOM
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780593058978ISBN:0593058976
Description: BRAND NEW HARDBACK. 112 pages. Presenting a rebuttal of religious fundamentalism and blind belief, the author demolishes the myths on which christianity was built, challenges believers to open their eyes to the contradictions of their faith and warns us of the dangers of america's ever increasing unification of church and state. (Hardback) read more
"Just about everything Harris says in this book, he also says in various articles, speeches, and debates available on his website; so if you're familiar with any of Harris's work beside his books, you'll likely recognize material in this book.
None of that makes this book any less valuable.
It's an easy read, just over one hundred pages and written in clear, concise, extremely readable prose. Anyone daunted by the size of Harris's first book, The End of Faith, might want to consider picking up this one first.
Letter to a Christian Nation is Harris's pointed argument that religious faith is unnecessary and dangerous. Some believers will complain that the religious faith he attacks is not what their faith really is; keep reading. Harris does not ignore the presence of liberal and moderate Christians, and he addresses them as well.
The book is short, I think necessarily so; most of its points would benefit from elaboration and further examples, but this would make the book longer than The End of Faith, and reduce its audience as well as its clarity.
At the time of reading this book, I am already an atheist, so I can't speak to its efficacy to convert readers; however, as a former Christian, I do recommend this book to Christians. It may not change your mind, but it will give you a clear set of points to consider. Whatever your beliefs, you owe it to yourself to know the arguments against them. In that spirit, I am interested in reading any counterarguments that readers may recommend."
"This book is very quickly read as it is pithy and direct. In it Sam Harris responds to the many comments and views addressed to him by believers in the United States. The idea of reason versus religion is not new and has been expounded as well by other scholars. However, Sam's approach is still valuable. I think such a "letter" to the Christians is needed as Christianity has, in many minds, taken on the veneer of civilization by being the major religion of the developed, modern, western world. I don't expect too many were converted by this book. But the nature of fundamentalist religion is dogmatic and those who are dogmatic are never easily swayed. But that doesn't make the work any less meaningful.
Many of the criticisms in reviews written here state that atheists and authors like Harris are as fundamentalist in their conviction as those they are criticizing. This is a strange accusation. I don't find atheistic thought to be fundamentalist. Atheists do not go around knocking on people's doors or evangelizing. Not believing in a supernatural being is not fundamentalist. Telling those who proselytize to you to show cause is not fundamentalist. To use reason as a guide to moral behavior is not fundamentalist. To write a book about it is not fundamentalist. After all, it has not been required reading for all and no one, has yet been forced to purchase it. On the other hand, every hotel room I have stayed in had a religious treatise and I cannot even tell you how many bibles I have received as presents from well-wishers.
The latest drivel I hear from people is that they are not religious but they are spiritual. When pressed I can't get a clear definition of spirituality which is distinct from a belief in the paranormal. One thing is clear, some of them cannot defend against the ills and violence caused in the name of god and thus, they are chary of being seen as religious. Which makes me think that spiritual is to religious what ID is to creationism. Just my two cents."
"Letter to a Christian Nation is the kind of work that leaves me giddy in its ability to beat down the sometimes inane beliefs of the religious. Written in response to the feedback he received after his first book, The End of Faith, was published, Sam Harris does a great job of picking apart the arguments brought forth by a certain section of the American (Christian) population.
Quick and easy and, if you are anything like me, totally entertaining. Even better if you have someone else to giggle about it with when you're done.
"While you believe that bringing an end to religion is an impossible goal, it is important to realize that much of the developed world has nearly accomplished it. Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on earth. According to the United Nations' Human Development Report (2005) they are also the healthiest, as indicated by life expectancy, adult literacy, per capita income, educational attainment, gender equality, homicide rate, and infant mortality.""
"Wow! Concentrated essence of critique. This book is passionate, and tightly reasoned and put together. It catalogues some of the problems organized religions have inflicted on humanity, past and present, ranging from causing division, hatred and war to putting the brakes on truly free scientific and intellectual inquiry.
Harris takes a number of common arguments in favor of the existence of God and/or the validity of various bodies or tenets of dogma, and shows that under logical consideration they just don't stand up. As in his book The End of Faith, he argues that even though liberal and moderate religious communities may not advocate actions that hurt society or other individuals, by providing religiosity with a cloak of respectability they create a niche, immune to logic, where fundamentalists can operate, whereas if all human movements were expected to meet the test of providing some objective evidence to support their beliefs, they'd have nowhere to go. For that matter, he classes totalitarian political systems that aren't overtly religious, such as fascism or communism, as being similar to religion in that dogma is held higher than rational questioning and following the rules is more important than relieving human (or animal) suffering.
For myself, I differ with Harris in that although I do not subscribe to any organized religion I am not an atheist; but I believe his criticisms of religion are valid and agree that spiritual belief systems should be able to stand up to the same kind of analysis as any other belief systems.
Together with his other book, The End of Faith, this is must reading for anyone exploring spiritual questions."
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