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Feb 27, 2008

David added it

This seems like a completely unhelpful, pointless book. Sam Harris knows full well that the likelihood the people he purportedly addresses in his 'letter' (conservative Christians) will actually read it is close to zero. OK: he does state in the preface that its primary purpose is to "arm secularists", which I guess means he really had a different audience in mind from the start. Fair enough. But why use the particular framing device that he does - a belligerent, hectoring letter to fu More...

49 comments like (19 people liked it)

Oct 24, 2007

Manderson rated it:

What is interesting about this book, as in most atheist thought, is that in lambasting fundamentalist institutional religious dogma, the author ends up doing exactly what he accuses his opponents of: polarizing, claiming to know what truth and reality are better than anyone else, and pushing moderates into extremism. He claims, as all atheists do, to be speaking solidly from the standpoint of reason. As a reasonable man, then, he should have recognized that fighting antagonism with greater antag More...

17 comments like (17 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Aaron rated it:

It's clear that Sam Harris wrote this book out of frustration with Christianity in particular, and religion in general. The book's style and tone conveys the author's frustration--in such a way that makes it largely a turn-off for many Christians who might otherwise earnestly listen to what he has to say.

That aside, Sam Harris makes a lot of good points, that I think many Christians today should take to heart. His view of Christians reflects many in our culture who see us as, for More...

4 comments like (10 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2007

Steve rated it:

I agree with other reviewers that there are no new or surprising arguments here. He goes over ground which is thoroughly familiar to those who think critically of religion. What makes the book so worthwhile is not, therefore, any (ahem) great revelations.

What I found thrilling about this book, as an atheist of over 40 years, was the startling, forceful simplicity, directness, beauty, and artistry with which he made his points. Consider one quote: "If the Bible is an ordinary boo More...

1 comment like (20 people liked it)

Mar 03, 2008

James rated it:

Wow! Concentrated essence of critique. This book is passionate, and tightly reasoned and put together. It catalogues some of the problems organized religions have inflicted on humanity, past and present, ranging from causing division, hatred and war to putting the brakes on truly free scientific and intellectual inquiry.

Harris takes a number of common arguments in favor of the existence of God and/or the validity of various bodies or tenets of dogma, and shows that under logical c More...

3 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 17, 2008

Bruno rated it:

Mr. Harris book is an easy and fast read as well as a 'must read' for anyone who values rational and moral thought over religious faith as a guide for behaviour. The current rise of the religious right in America frankly frightens me. As Mr. Harris says in his preamble 'the truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ's love are deeply, even murderously intolerant of criticism.' This quote from Jann Levin sums up the book nicely.
"“Sam Harris fearlessly describes a moral an More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Oct 02, 2007

Obscuranta added it

In his later work, Letter to a Christian Nation, Harris takes up Christianity and the Bible directly. It is notable, however, that Harris never discusses Christians or the “Christian world” with the same language that he directs against Muslims.

There is an incredible level of dishonesty involved here. Even if one were to accept Harris’ premises—that it is primarily religions belief that is responsible for acts of violence—one must, if looking at the situation objectively, conclude th More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2008

Rob rated it:

Seems to be more of a letter to atheists than to Christians. I've yet to find a truely compelling message to divert humanity away from religious thought, and Letter to a Christian Nation is far too accurate and on point to be convincing to a Christian mind.

One concept which I've found to be unique in this book is this: the word "Atheist" should not exist. There is no term in English which identifies someone who denies the existance of Aliens. There isn't a word for people w More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Andrew rated it:

Harris has all his arguments in order, all the footnotes covered and has layed out a perfectly rational essay. Yet nowhere, either here or in 'End of Faith' does he adequately address the fact that Atheism, in this country and other first-world countries anyway, is essentially a comfortable position for those who can afford it. I say this as an atheist, and I might recommend this book to anyone firmly entrenched in their religion who also has a safe house to live in and a lawn to mow. However More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 10, 2008

Radhika rated it:

This book is very quickly read as it is pithy and direct. In it Sam Harris responds to the many comments and views addressed to him by believers in the United States. The idea of reason versus religion is not new and has been expounded as well by other scholars. However, Sam's approach is still valuable. I think such a "letter" to the Christians is needed as Christianity has, in many minds, taken on the veneer of civilization by being the major religion of the developed, modern, we More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Nov 06, 2007

Brett rated it:

I'm not going to lie, Sam Harris is pretty abrasive in this book. He is not open-minded and this is clearly a rebuttal for the letters he received in response to his first book (have not read it yet). Considering that he is responding to some (probably pretty volatile) hate mail, I like the intensity of his response. This is the first time I've read a book on faith that does not pussyfoot around the possibility that religion, as a whole, is a wounded concept. I am not saying that I believe t More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2007

Elyssa rated it:

I wish Sam Harris at written this before The End of Faith or I had read this book first. In Letter to a Christian Nation, he takes a more gentle tone and walks the reader through his disbelief in Christianity and other religions. I found it hard to dispute his point of view. The connections he makes between religion and flawed political policies (i.e stem cell research) are especially effective. I'm glad he put away the sledgehammer and decided to spoon feed his readers rather than beat them ove More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 29, 2007

Buckets rated it:

I love atheist literature mostly because extremely intelligent people contribute to the body of works. This book, however, was a little extreme. Although I am a Bright and therefore agree with nearly everything said in this short number, I often found myself thinking thoughts defending the silly Christian right. Why? Not because I agree with them (please…) but because I automatically think skeptical thoughts when confronted with a quasi-militant agenda. Sam Harris lacks the delicate poise t More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

megan rated it:

I wonder if Sam Harris was really trying to be persuasive in this book--a lot of his statements seemed a bit tongue in cheek and the audience who would read it, I would imagine, is not the audience the book should reach. I mean--no convincing needed here that we have to be in a society that's not run by the religious right!

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 24, 2010

Matt rated it:

Sam Harris sets out to "demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity in its most committed forms" in only 91 pages. Mr. Harris repeatedly refers to Christians as arrogant narcissists, yet he regards his own intellect so highly he only requires 91 page to snuff out 2,000 years of religious tradition and intellectual questioning of billions of people who have concluded there was something about Jesus that compelled belief. These 91 pages could have been put to far mo More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2011

Kerrie rated it:

A fair share of reviews mention his anger, but I see it more as frustration and very well-founded frustration at that. The statistic he cites that the U.S. placed #33 (out of 34, just above Turkey for cryin' out loud) of countries whose majority of population accepts the theory of evolution is an alarming one. As he states, we are a country built on ignorance which does not bode well for the rest of the world. Some have taken umbrage at his focus on the danger of Islam, but what I took from this More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 28, 2010

Tulpesh rated it:

A heartfelt polemic against Christianity written as a letter directly to Christians in the USA.

Contains all the usual arguments against God (who created the creator, the Bible is of it's time, and doesn't make any sense or have any consistent internal logic, atheists have morals too etc.), but they are presented with a fantastic simplicity and clarity which is a product of writing the arguments as a letter - there is a lot packed in in less than 100 pages.

Whilst I would More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 08, 2009

Steve rated it:

This is perhaps the worst book I've ever read the whole way through. Harris makes atheism look like the religion of angry high school kids, filling 90 pages with oversimplifications and visceral disgust with most human beings. He has not a single good argument going for him; all of his arguments are taken either from Bertrand Russell (who, by the way, actually knows how to write against Christianity) or Jeremy Bentham. Sam Harris is way out of his element on this one.

1. The writing More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2008

Michelle rated it:

Just about everything Harris says in this book, he also says in various articles, speeches, and debates available on his website; so if you're familiar with any of Harris's work beside his books, you'll likely recognize material in this book.

None of that makes this book any less valuable.

It's an easy read, just over one hundred pages and written in clear, concise, extremely readable prose. Anyone daunted by the size of Harris's first book, The End of Faith, might want More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 07, 2007

Andrea rated it:

I approached this book as a person who has a religious/spiritual Christian background. While critical of many organized religions and the damage that they do, I still feel a connection to my spiritual roots.

Perhaps it was too much to expect a well-reasoned invitation to dialogue in picking up LTaCN. Reading it, I could practically hear Harris spitting out each sentence with disdain. This tone left me in a place where I let his words glance off of me rather than delving into what he h More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 29, 2007

Patricia added it

I read this book out loud in about 2 hours to my son and husband. It's very accessible and quick to read. Good if you are really interested in Sam Harris, but don't have the time for reading _End of Faith_. He focuses specifically on Christianity too, which is one of the reasons I really liked it, since I have some basis for listening to his arguments, having been raised Catholic. His arguments are eloquently stated and highly compelling. His irony makes me laugh a lot. He is brilliant.
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0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jun 09, 2010

William rated it:

Mr. Harris may be the most unsuspecting AND the most effective of the "Four Horsemen" writers of Hitchens, Dawkins, Dennett, and himself.
"Letters..." is more-or-less a summary of some of the more effective points made in "The End of Faith". Despite the specific title, Mr. Harris does go into other religions as well.
Sam Harris comes across as very genuine and is always very clear about not having an interest in offending believers. I happen to believe hi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 26, 2009

James rated it:

This book reads almost like a CliffsNotes for The God Delusion, which I also thoroughly enjoyed. Both books address many of the same topics and make many of the same points. The difference lies in their target audience and the approach each author takes when making his arguments. Richard Dawkins spends much of his book delving into the scientific reasoning for doubting the existence of god, and while such arguments are very meaningful to critical thinkers, they will be completely discounted b More...

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Jan 29, 2012

Patricia rated it:

Though Sam Harris does not go beyond the arguments of Richard Dawkins in The God Delusion or Christopher Hitchens in God is Not Great, he says it in a very American way: briefly, straight-forward, and slightly in-your-face.

Because of his brevity, Harris's arguments against religious extremism, religious moderates, and religion's hampering of science are not as fully laid out as they should be. On the other hand, the little book is like a toe in the water for those not ready to commit t More...

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Dec 20, 2011

Haritha rated it:

Sam Harris compiles his arguments against religion in the form of this book addressed as a letter to the conservative Christian. His words are compelling and call for deep introspection. The only problem is, I don't really see any highly religious person making it till the end of the book. This small book is definitely a great book for those having little or no time to read through the large literature available in atheism.

Harris starts off after a brief note and an introduction, to q More...

2 comments like

Aug 20, 2011

Sara rated it:

Honestly, I think it takes a lot more courage to be an atheist than it does to be religious. As Sam Harris writes, "once you stop swaddling the reality of the world's suffering in religious fantasies, you will feel in your bones just how precious life is- and, indeed, how unfortunate it is that millions of human beings suffer the most harrowing abridgments of their happiness for no reason at all." And this quote rang more true to me than anything I've read in a long time. Once you real More...

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Aug 17, 2011

Bela rated it:

I am not a religious person. I believe there is a god, but that I control my own actions and fate. My friend, growing up in a strong Catholic family, has been battling between believing in the faith she grew up in, heading down the road of another faith, or not believing in a god at all. She recommended this book to me and it opened my eyes to the world of atheism. Sam Harris, the author and an atheist, addresses this book to extreme Christians in response to another book he wrote, The End of F More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 03, 2011

James rated it:

I read Harris' most recent book, "The Moral Landscape" (which I recommend) earlier this year, after seeing his amazing TED Talk which discusses many of its themes. So I decided to give another of his a try. This is a brief polemic against religion in general and Christianity and Islam in particular. More than that, it's a collection of arguments in favor of science and rationalism generally, and against their opponents: faith and dogmatism.

"Letter to a Christian Nation" More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Chris rated it:

Riveting. This book introduced me to the possibility that the spiritual worldview in which I was raised was not just merely flawed but also factually incorrect and a source of considerable unhappiness in the world. It spoke to many of the doubts that I had always privately held and that I had become accustomed to partitioning into a corner of my mind, labeling it as a weakness or a failure on the part of my faith. Harris forced me to face those uncomfortable questions that I had cornered off. An More...

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Jul 25, 2011

Karen rated it:

I read this book at the insistence of a friend with whom I have been recently engaged in religious/philosophical discussions. Apart from the author's atheist opinion which I do not hold, I found very little to argue against with his criticisms concerning organized religions. Fundamentalists of all faiths have long scared the daylights out of me, especially when their ultimate aim is for total political/social overhaul (ideals that many rarely live up to themselves), and as a Native American Hist More...

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