Author:Sam Harris,Richard Dawkins
"A hard-hitting polemic against religious fundamentalism" - Foreword by Richard Dawkins
' Thousands of people have written to tell me that I am wrong not to believe in God. The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.'
So begins Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris's hard-hitting rebuttal of religious fundamentalism and blind belief . With deceptively simple arguments, he demolishes the myths on which Christianity was built, challenges believers to open their eyes to the contradictions of their faith and warns us of the dangers of America's ever increasing unification of Church and State.
Sam Harris is the author of the New York Times bestseller The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason and winner of the 2005 PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Non-fiction. He is a graduate in philosophy from Stanford University and is now completing a doctorate in neuroscience. He lives in New York.
I dare you to read this book... it will not leave you unchanged. Read it if it is the last thing you do
—— Richard DawkinsSam Harris's elegant little book is the most refreshing and wonderful source of ammunition for those who, like me, hold to no religious doctrine... Read it and form your own view, but do not ignore its message
—— Roger PenroseSam Harris is a brave, intelligent, clear-sighted author whose brilliant essay should be read by every adult who has ever believed that a religious faith can solve the world's problems
—— Desmond MorrisHarris and (Richard) Dawkins both share a wonderfully refreshing refusal to parse their language into more saccharine statements... Guaranteed to enrage all but the most delusional theist
—— Irish IndependentHarris picks apart the very seams of Christian belief in such a convincing fashion that any shred of belief I had has now been obliterated. This is a good thing. We only get one life - why waste one minute of it on mumbo jumbo
—— London Lite"Insightful, well-argued...tracks the history of antiestablishment thinking
in the Islamic world"
intelligent...a thought provoking book and the chapter on the radicalisation of Europe's young is particularly useful...Aslan opens up many fruitful areas of enquiry
—— Jason Burke , ObserverWise and passionate . . . an incisive, scholarly primer in Muslim history and an engaging personal exploration
—— The New York Times Book ReviewAcutely perceptive . . . For many troubled Muslims, this book will feel like a revelation, an opening up of knowledge too long buried
—— The IndependentThoroughly engaging and excellently written . . . While [Aslan] might claim to be a mere scholar of the Islamic Reformation, he is also one of its most articulate advocates
—— The OregonianA revelation, an opening up of knowledge too long buried, denied and corrupted by generations of men ... Muslim keepers of the latter will rage against Reza Aslan as his careful scholarship and precise language dismantles their false claims and commands ... Aslan is acutely perceptive
—— The IndependentA rather beautiful account of the birth and evolution of Islam ... Lucid and illuminating ... Fascinating
—— MetroAslan is an engaging writer, his strength lies ... as an observer of contemporary challenges facing Islam ... Sensitive and generous
—— FT MagazineEnthralling. A book of tremendous clarity and generosity of spirit
—— Jim Crace