The Naked Emperor: Why Religion is Bollocks

by Peter B. Lockhart

Marcus Aurelius asked a pertinent What is it in itself, what is its nature? This question, meant for anything and everything, has been applied to Religion by Peter Lockhart. To answer it, he goes to the origins, both historically and psychologically. Like any living organism, a religion has relatives and origins. These are easily found in the Bible, and in the History of the Christian and Jewish religions. The clear link between Judaism and Christianity, with ancient Persia and Zoroastrianism, is easily found in both the Old and New Testaments. Then there is the psychological aspect of religions. Jungian psychology and the outline of fictional stories, the archetypes found within them, and the glaring similarities of the Bible with other Myths, Legends, fables and epic stories, is explained. In addition, the dark history of different religions is held to account by the author. No organisation is spared, as the deeds of the past and present, are discussed and laid bare for all to see. Speaking as one who was in a Catholic orphanage as a small boy, Lockhart writes with both conviction and experience. No punches are pulled, and no stone is left unturned. The author and this book, takes a wrecking ball to religion.

Genres: Religion

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Peter Lockhart (1954- ) was born in Auckland, New Zealand, to a Cornish mother. He circumnavigated the globe by ship by age 4, and spent some time in a Catholic Orphanage in Cornwall. He went to Australia in 1958. For twenty three years he had a career in the financial services industry. His first book, "The Naked Emperor: Why Religion is Bollocks," was first published in 2011. This book is his contribution to the discussion regarding the rise of atheism in the new millennium, and it was inspired by the books of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. The book has been well received and it discusses the personal real life experiences of the author and his reasons for rejecting religion.

Reviews

[David Williams]

I have read this book three times now and I am sure there will be a fourth, next time with a highlighter pen. This book is crammed with fascinating facts which will be no doubt create discussion in like minded people. This is a rollercoaster ride of history and the foundation of the worlds religions, a foundation of sand, missinformation and down right lies. As the blurb on the back cover suggests Mr. Lockhart really does take a wrecking ball to religion and pulls no punches. This is a cracker of a read and I recommend it to those who have read The God Delusion and God is not Great. Enjoy!

[Jude]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. I have been an atheist for many years, so Mr. Lockhart can't claim me for a convert. I wondered whether, with the word bollocks in the title, the book might be a rant, but it wasn't, nothing but a sure fire method of gaining your attention.
Mr. Lockhart has studied his subject well, there are numerous quotations illustrating his points, he has also studied religious history and it was the connection of all the major monotheistic religions to Persian Zoroastrianism which was a revelation to me. Not only is the history of religion discussed, but religion is put into context through psychology/psychiatry and with special reference to Jungian theory. There is also a chapter illustrating the parallels between people's belief in religion and erroneous beliefs in financial models which have lead to such spectacular boom/bust disasters.
All of this is expressed in an engaging style; he is scholarly without being dryly academic. Yes, he is emotionally involved with his subject having experienced the "charity" of Catholic institutions as a small boy, he recounts his disillusionment with Catholicism and then religion in general.
I would put this book alongside Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion and Sam Harris's The End of Faith, for informative and thought provoking content.

[Voniece]

I really enjoyed this book. While I did get bogged down at points in the lengthy and sometimes repetitive examples, it all worked to drive home the point that Religion is a made up system of control by man. I imagine that most of my circle of friends would be offended by such a book,but if one were to read with an open mind I think that they will see that the argument is well made that Religion is Bollocks.

[MaryJane Rings]

There are some books that are read as a reference or to gain knowledge of a subject from different perspective. I found this book to be researched and referenced from the author's way of thinking. Although I don't agree with him on several topics. I respect his opinion and feel he is sincere in his beliefs. I gained insight in to his extensive knowledge of the United States. This was an eye opener as he is Australian. I didn't find a direct reference that he has visited the US but feel he probably at some point has. His comments aren't altogether flattering of my country but I can't disagree with all that he said either. This book was written in 2012. It would interest me to know what he thinks of the political inconsistencies and continuing dissension with congress going on in this country now. I can tell him we have cleaned up our school lunch programs and that there is much more interest in maintaining a healthy diet for many Americans. Although within the past year, the idea of religion has become somewhat of political battle between the right wing conservatives and the more broadminded. It has become quite an issue among some of the political candidates and their supporters. I think in order to gain knowledge of a subject, it is necessary to read books that often we don't agree with but obtain a different way of looking at the whole picture. This book did this for me.

[Kath]

A very interesting, thoroughly researched, and quite informative book about the myths that have for centuries been presented as "divine truths" and the TRUE origins of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. I believe Peter Lockhart has shown beyond any doubt that all religion is, indeed, bollocks and should be assigned no more importance in our lives than that which we give nursery rhymes and fairy tales. The author has re-edited the book, fixed the punctuation issues, and I believe has added some things not included in the original Kindle edition that I first read. It is also now available in paperback. I highly recommend this book.

[Marjorie Jones]

Life is too short to continue reading this rambling monologue, about everything under the sun, linked together in breathless, comma-separated phrases, seemingly committed to paper as they come into the author’s head, and left there in all their glory for posterity, with digressions, and digressions on the digressions, all included in a single sentence. The underlying ideas may be sound, possibly even well-researched and possibly, even logically presented, but it’s hard to say because this book is desperately in need of a good editor to make this author’s opinions clear and accessible to others, as valid as they may be, as knowledgeable as the author may be about his subject, and as interested as you, the reader, may be in what he has to say.

And if you found that paragraph hard going, with its two mega-sentences, then I expect you’ll want to leave this book on the shelf. If, however, you enjoyed my stream-of-consciousness masquerading as a review, then I can recommend this book you. I’m sure you’ll love it! Whether it eventually gets round to covering the promised subject matter remains to be seen. I gave up 20% of the way in. At that point, it seemed to be about the California gold rush and what that teaches us. Interesting, yes, but apparently unrelated to the subject I was expecting to read about in this book!