by atypical 10 Replies latest jw friends
Has anyone read this book: The End of Faith. Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason, by Sam Harris?
I just bought it and I can't put it down. I heard about it on CNN, he was giving a press conference and I was really impressed with him.
Add: www.samharris.org
Sounds interesting and I am looking for a new read, shall check this out, appreciate the lead!!
I own it and have read it. I greatly enjoyed the first part; the second boggs down a bit. He comes to some interesting conclusions:
1) Religion is the root cause of the world's problems.
2) We need a world organization to control religion; he recommends the UN.
3) We need to give that world organization (UN) a military force and the authority to quelch religious disturbances.
Sound familiar?
LoL, of course it sounds familiar but it doesn't change the fact that the Watchtower is blood guilty, erroneous and Devil Possessed (maybe this one isnt a fact LoL).
Joff of the "dont try to frighten me" classe ;-)
I, too, have read The End of Faith, and I highly recommend it (though I agree it does bog down somewhat towards the end). I also agree with Mr. Harris that religious faith is to blame for most if not all of the problems in the world today. Unless we give up our faith and replace it with reason, we are doomed. In other words (mine not Mr. Harris'), we are doomed.
I wrote this on the forum last November 21st.
Sam Harris' book "The End of Faith, (Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason)" is out in paper back. It had been on "The New York Times Bestseller" list for some time, and I just picked up a copy yesterday. Has anyone else on the JWD read this book?
He points out that in a 1996 Gallup, 35 % of Americans believe the Bible is the literal and inerrant word of God, and another 48% believe it's inspired though certain passages must be interpreted symbolically. Which means only 17% of Americans doubt that the Bible is the word of God in 1996. He believe that a survey of Hindus, Muslims, and Jews around the world would yield similar results. Harris says the following on pages 16 and 17:
"The idea that any one of our religions (he is speaking about world religions here) represents the infallible word of the One True God requires an encyclopedic ignorance of history, mythology, and art even to be entertained . . . we, as a species, have grown almost perfectly intoxicated by our myths. How is it that, in this one area of our lives, we have convinced ourselves that our beliefs about the world can float entirely free of reason and evidence?"
It looks like an interesting read, and I wondered if some here have already read it?
I agree with others; the first part is outstanding, and gets a little slow towards the end. It's an excellent book--well worth reading.
I recently purchased this book and it is sitting on my desk waiting to be read.
Thanks for the comments on it!
Here's a link of Sam Harris being interviewed about his book.
http://www.slumdance.com/blogs/brian_flemming/archives/001324.html
Thanks, Java. I guess I missed that thread. I was flipping channels one night and saw him on the CNN book channel being interviewed. I was floored by his ability to answer questions logically. I had been thinking about buying the book ever since, and I finally got it yesterday.
Here's some quotes from the book to give you a taste:
I've been wanting to read the book after I saw him on "The God who wasnt there", but he would have to get in line behind the other 5 books I have waiting.
