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the complete review - religion

The End of Faith

by
Sam Harris

general information | review summaries | our review | links | about the author

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Our Assessment:

B : engaging in its willingness to engage religion, but tries to do too much (and treats too many issues too superficially)

See our review for fuller assessment.

  Review Consensus:

  Some reservations, but generally like his enthusiasm

  From the Reviews:

• "Mr Harris disagrees: tolerance on the part of moderates is precisely the attitude that allows extremists to flourish. (...) But is the argument ultimately convincing ? Presumably not to true believers, though even Mr Harris's critics will have to concede the force of an analysis which roams so far and wide (.....) By contrast, Mr Harris's supporters may be disappointed by his efforts to reconcile spirituality (...) with reason and ethics." - The Economist
  
  
• "Harris makes his case pugnaciously and for long stretches compellingly. But his central case, that a chain of beliefs can lead one to strange and dangerous conclusions, might apply equally to his own book." - David Honigmann, Financial Times
  
  
• "It's a bold and oddly exhilarating thesis, and for the first 50 pages Harris runs with it. (...) But The End of Faith then takes a strange and disturbing turn. (...) So ultimately, this provocative, occasionally brilliant book did not persuade me. (...) Once he begins to digress from already-long digressions, you wonder if he is padding the book." - Johann Hari, The Independent
  
  
• "Harris is well informed in some areas, but embarrassingly bereft in others. While he knows a fair amount about religion and philosophy, he has little feel for politics and even less for the ironies of historical development. (...) Like the Ayn Randians, The End of Faith is an example of how atheism can as easily propel one to the right as to the left." - Daniel Lazare, The Nation
  
  
• "This is one of those books where the endnotes are at least as rewarding as the main text. (...) What is wrong with Mr. Harris’ prescriptions is what was wrong with them in Russell’s time, and Spinoza’s, and Erasmus’s too, for that matter: They go against the grain of human nature." - John Derbyshire, The New York Sun
  
  
• "The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood. Sam Harris presents major religious systems like Judaism, Christianity and Islam as forms of socially sanctioned lunacy, their fundamental tenets and rituals irrational, archaic and, important when it comes to matters of humanity's long-term survival, mutually incompatible. (...) The End of Faith is far from perfect. (...) Still, this is an important book, on a topic that, for all its inherent difficulty and divisiveness, should not be shielded from the crucible of human reason." - Natalie Angier, The New York Times Book Review
  
  
• "Unfortunately, Harris too often allows his anger at this continued deference to unreason to colour his tone, slipping into an incredulous sarcasm which might appeal to readers who agree with him, but could only succeed in alienating those who need to be persuaded. Yet his central argument in The End of Faith is sound (.....) While this book is considerably longer than it needed to be -- Harris has a tendency to over-explain his case -- it is an eminently sensible rallying cry for a more ruthless secularisation of society." - Stephanie Merritt, The Observer
  
  
• "The point for Harris is that religious people mean exactly what they say, and this does not bode well for the rest of us. (...) The End of Faith offers something to offend everyone and is certainly not for those who read only what they agree with. Yet, despite its polemic edge, this is a happy book -- Harris is obviously tickled by his own intelligence -- and he writes with such verve and frequent insight that even skeptical readers will find it hard to put down." - Daniel Blue, San Francisco Chronicle

Please note that these ratings solely represent the complete review's biased interpretation and subjective opinion of the actual reviews and do not claim to accurately reflect or represent the views of the reviewers. Similarly the illustrative quotes chosen here are merely those the complete review subjectively believes represent the tenor and judgment of the review as a whole. We acknowledge (and remind and warn you) that they may, in fact, be entirely unrepresentative of the actual reviews by any other measure.

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The complete review's Review:

       In The End of Faith Sam Harris argues that it's time that mankind finally accepted the fact that god-belief -- and the religions organised around it, especially the monotheistic ones -- are just too dangerous to tolerate any longer. The existence of weapons of mass destruction, coupled with ideologies (i.e. religions) focussed on the rewards of the afterlife, not the current life make for a mix that will inevitably lead -- sooner rather than later -- to mass carnage.
       There's no question that religion -- and especially the monotheistic-trio of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam -- have been incredibly destructive dead-ends, intellectually and morally. Other ideologies -- communism ! Nazism ! -- have led great numbers down terrible wrong paths, but none have had the staying power (or wrought such incredible and lasting damage) as organised religion.
       If nothing else, Harris book is a welcome tonic to the usual kid-glove treatment religion receives: he's willing to say that god-belief is simply foolishness. He likens it to alchemy and similar nonsense, and argues:

Faith-based religion must suffer the same slide into obsolescence.

while religious people are not generally mad, their core beliefs absolutely are. This is not surprising, since most religions have merely canonized a few products of ancient ignorance and derangement and passed them down to us as though they were primordial truths.

     To see the role faith plays in propagating Muslim violence, we need only ask why so many Muslims are eager to turn themselves into bombs these days. The answer: because the Koran makes this activity seem like a career opportunity.

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Links:

• W.W.Norton publicity page

• America
• Anglican Media Sydney
• Ben Casnocha
• Christianity Today
• The Economist
• The Elegant Variation
• The Independent
• Inspire Seattle
• The Los Angeles Times
• The Nation
• The New York Times Book Review
• nth position
• The Observer
• Reason
• The Secular Web
• San Francisco Chronicle
• The Uncredible Hallq
• gus van horn
• The Zone

• Official website

• Letter to A Christian Nation

• Alan Sokal's Beyond the Hoax, which includes a lengthy review of The End of Faith
• Daniel C. Dennett on Breaking the Spell
• See Index of books dealing with Religion

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About the Author:

       Sam Harris is a neuroscience student.

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© 2005-2011 the complete review

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