Archive for the ‘Non-Fiction: Atheism’ Category

Atheism: A Very Short Introduction by Julian Baggini

ISBN: 0192804243
136 pages
published in 1995.

There isn’t really much to say about this book. That shouldn’t be taken to mean it was a bad book, or anything like that — I can see it serving its purpose in an introductory function very well. I’ve been seeing these Oxford UP “Very Short Introduction” books lying around bookstores here and there, and so of course I decided to pick up the one on atheism. It was pretty good. It had all of the basic framework for books about atheism (the curt reminder that we’re not immoral Satan worshippers, etc.) The book’s only real downfall is the risk that any book about a widely held philosophy runs the risk of — and that’s overgeneralizing. Baggini does a pretty commendable job controlling that, but there are still many points in the book that I got a bit frustrated because he seemed pretty willing to specify on his own behalf for opinion’s sake but seemed to shrug off slightly more positive (that whole atheism with a capital A nonsense that you hear a lot) as fundamentalist and undesirable.

But his explanations and descriptions are spot on, and he is always very focused and organized in his approach. I can see myself recommending this book to someone who asked for a good introduction to the subject.

Why Darwin Matters by Michael Shermer

ISBN: 0805081216
224 pages
published in 2006.

I picked this up from my university library last week to have something quick on the subject to read since I’ve been really hungry lately for more information on the subject. There were some good and bad things about this. In my particular case, this book didn’t really present anything to me that I didn’t already know as it was sort of an introductory book on the topic. However, Shermer’s writing is clear, concise and easy to understand, and I probably would recommend this book to someone that was just starting to have questions on the topic.

The book is very anti-Intelligent Design, as is clear from the subtitle on the cover (“The Case Against Intelligent Design”) and it’s good at refuting the standard points that ID proponents tend to launch at evolutionists. Shermer lines them up and knocks them down, and his logic is very neatly fleshed out and easy to grasp. However, this is all regurgitated knowledge from other writers and he presents very little of his own ideas into the text. Once again, though, this is a useful way to approach the subject for a beginner, so I can understand his reasoning.

The only other thing that bothered me was, despite the fact that he is very against teaching ID in schools, he is a little too apologetic towards religion as institution. There was something very Gould about his approach towards science and religion as separate spheres, and while I’m not sure that’s the impression Shermer wanted to give, there was something about his writing that suggested he was not entirely comfortable flat-out dismissing spirituality. I have mixed feelings about this myself, but I don’t think this is something you can sort of hem-haw around about (to borrow an expression from my father).

All-in-all, though, however redundant the book can be when lined up against all of the other Evolution vs. Intelligent Design books on the shelf, it is a decent title in its genre and a gentle approach to the topic for new readers.

Letter To A Christian Nation by Sam Harris

ISBN: 0307278778
115 pages
published in 2006.

I’m too tired to post a big review on this right now, because I’ve been up all night – but this book is AMAZING and I agree with him almost 100 percent. I realize that the viewpoint written of in this book is extremely controversial, but it was really relieving to have someone write a book explicitly addressing the concerns I have in regards to religion and its effects on society. I don’t have anything against religious people themselves unless they do something terrible to me specifically, but I have a problem with the institution.

I thought the way that Harris wrote was intelligent and precise, though necessarily brutal in some places and unforgiving, which was probably entirely necessary. I especially liked the point he made about the word “atheist” itself:

Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a few of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious. In fact, “atheism” is a term that should not even exist. No one ever needs to identify himself as a non-astrologer” or a “non-alchemist.” We do not have words for people who doubt that Elvis is still alive or that aliens have traversed the galaxy only to molest ranchers and their cattle. Atheism is nothing mor ethan the noises reasonable people make in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs.