Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) | Sam Harris

Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) | Sam Harris | letter to a christian nation

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Letter to a Christ...

	Letter to a Christian Nation (Vintage) Sam Harris Vintage, 2008 - 144 pages average customer review:based on 619 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Reason and hope

On the stump, Barack Obama has to stand up there, proclaim he's a Christian, and say he prays to Jesus every night. Hillary Clinton has to say her faith in God had got her through her troubles with Bill. John Edwards says, "I have a deep and abiding love for my Lord, Jesus Christ."

Politicians in the United States are at their peril to ignore the Christian Right, Bible believers, fundamentalists, religious conservatives, creationists.

In "Letter to a Christian Nation," Sam Harris laments and bravely warns against this state of affairs, that adherence to faith leads to violence and wars.

Harris equates the folly of Christians believing in God with the madness of Muslims believing in Allah, and that the two faiths murderously oppose each other.

He says Christian literalists believe the Bible was written by God, that Christ was God, that life after death depends upon accepting this, and that eternity in hell awaits those who do not.

Harris says Muslims believe the Koran is God's word, that, according to Muhammad, Jesus was not God, and eternity in hell awaits unbelievers.

"Letter to a Christian Nation" details that science demands evidence, and that religion goes against reason. Besides objecting to the alleged sources of holy writings and the divinity of any human, Harris discusses many topics:

*** That the earth and cosmos are billions of years old, not created six thousand years ago.

*** That light from the farthest stars traveled billions of years to reach us, that God did not create the light already en route.

*** That "All complex life on earth has developed from simpler life-forms over billions of years."

*** That dinosaurs were not on Noah's ark.

*** That human existence ends with death, does not persist eternally in heaven or hell.

*** That biblical morality is deficient in many ways, including the subjugation of women, and importantly in not objecting to slavery.

*** That religious prudery about consenting relations adds to human misery, and is misguided in believing that "the creator of the universe will take offense at something people do while naked."

*** That "While missionaries do many noble things at great risk to themselves, their dogmatism still spreads ignorance and death. By contrast, volunteers for secular organizations like Doctors Without Borders do not waste any time telling people about the virgin birth of Jesus."

*** "Nor do they tell people in sub-Saharan Africa--where nearly four million people die from AIDS every year--that condom use is sinful." "This kind of piety is genocidal."

*** That "If God exists, either He can do nothing to stop the most egregious calamities, or He does not care to. God, therefore, is either impotent or evil." Hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, suicide bombings, and genocides would be among the calamities.

Harris concludes that only by speaking against and divesting ourselves of the dangerous fantasies of opposing religions and by adhering to scientific demands for evidence and reason can our nation and the world survive.

He has hope.

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letter to a christian nation

Sam! The book has contibuted to my understanding the road to which the hearts and minds of men must travel! Uneasiness with the status quo of institutionalized "morality" compells thinking men to a larger more comprehensive understanding! people who love their children,their families..communities and country seek the evolution of the human condition ...the need to share the love they have in their own lives with others is a noble cause. Our life's journey should not bring judgement...or to cast the first stone but to increase our understanding of the universal moral maxims which belong to each individual ! Some of us believe in the message not neccessarily the messengers... nor' the manner of delivery! Peace and prosperity for all and especially the indefatigable vanguards who seek the perfection of the understanding of the human being and all his conditions! History belongs to you my fellow rebels.....Good job!

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Short and Sweet

Great book. Well written and to the point. Reiterates what some of us already know. Stirs the pot for everyone else.

Great Things Come in 91 Pages...

It is commonly said that great things come in small packages. This could be no truer if one reads Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation." In 91 pages, Mr. Harris refutes every Christian argument justifying things such as Intelligent Design or the Immaculate Conception. Anyone familiar with Mr. Harris' previous book should not be surprised that a lot of this work is repetitive. However, anyone willing to take on these arguments and refute them has a tall order indeed.

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