The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of
Reason (2004)
by Sam Harris
by Sam Harris
In this book Sam Harris
(one of the very vocal atheists today together with Richard Dawkins in which
his book The God Delusion I have
read) makes the compelling argument that "human beings can no longer afford the luxury of major religious belief
systems." In a world in which we now have the capacity to kill
millions of humans at one time, belief systems that are intolerant of
non-believers and emphasised life in the hereafter over the present are simply "too dangerous," said Harris.
Harris claims that even
moderate members of a religion are to blame for extreme acts committed in the
name of their faith, because the
moderates help to legitimise the acceptance of beliefs that can be easily used
to support violence.
His arguments cut to the
heart of the concept of faith itself, and will be unpalatable to many. But
Harris does not seem to be advocating a switch to an atheist or even agnostic
view (at least in my reading). He is primarily against subscribing to
unexamined beliefs. As an alternative, he offers a discussion of a rational,
experience-based spirituality.
This is a highly
provocative book that offers many important ideas to the debate about the role
of religion in modern life.
As Christian, I encourage
you to read something else unless you are willing to be challenge by
intellectual atheist like Sam Harris. This is a heavy stuff... I recommend you
listen/watch his talks on YouTube to begin with.
THINK BIG.
START SMALL. GO DEEP.
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