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Seduction of Religion: An Illuminating and Provocative Guide to the Religions of the World
The Seduction of Religion offers an illuminating and provocative guide to the religions of the world, focusing on the irrationality of religious beliefs. The point of this book is not to preach atheism so much as it is to encourage its readers to reflect more carefully on why they believe what they believe. Every religion, thinks it is the true religion. But clearly they cannot all be right. The Seduction of Religion places each of the major religions in its historical context and examines some of their most important doctrines in the light of reason and common sense. At the same time, it treats its reader to a host of amusing facts and anecdotes about the various religions that make the book enjoyable to read. At the heart of the book is a All religions claim to be the one true religion, but if any of them is right then all the others are wrong. The Seduction of Religion introduces its readers to the fascinating history of religions—a history that is the outworking of this thought-provoking paradox.
302 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 1, 2018
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March 17, 2020
Welcome to Comparative Theology 101.
As luring as the title of the book is, I have to say the real deal here is the content which both surprised and satisfied me beyond my expectations. The Seduction of Religion is a profound, well-researched and methodical reference book for all, who wish to learn about the basics of the commonest organized religions. The author’s description of religion is so good that it should be included in dictionaries:
“Religion is a language that is used to evoke emotions to fulfill human needs and desires so as to achieve calmness in the human psyche.”
Here we have origins of religions and sects, their belief systems, how they became powerful, the similarities and differences.
At the end of the book, you will see the similarities and discrepancies of different religious systems, learn about basic concepts and become more insightful.
What I have confirmed after reading this influential book is that;
a) Religions are nourished by fear. They say that God is merciful but only to a handful of people, leaving the rest to rot in hell. There is not a merciful, all-loving God without hell threats and fires. Organized religion uses fear and guilt and condemn people to damnation and hell.
b)They are all based on more or less the same prophecies, promises of afterlife and punishments.
c) As the author states, religious wars have killed more than plagues and natural disasters, so in that sense, they cause serious mass destruction.
Last but not least, all religions differ in terms of which God or prophet or book to believe in BUT they all have one thing in common: Misogyny. Every religion in the world women are inferior, they should be kept at home, at the service of men and they cannot become priests, monks or imams. Hallelujah!
“…This is the same Pope who would rather baptize aliens and atheists but will not allow devout Catholic women to lead the Church that might actually help reduce incidences of pedophilia to help safeguard our children.” No other sentence could have explained it better.
I have to state the fact that the author is only against religions. Personal beliefs and belief in God is strictly the person’s business and between him and the thing s/he believes in. He is only criticizing the abusive acts and exploitive religions that suck the blood of poor, innocent people by creating false beliefs and hopes for an afterlife. The author also says that he is not an atheist, as it is not possible to know for sure whether there is a creator or not and that he can live with this uncertainty without investing his life in an organized belief system.
“If belief in God is superstition, it is a harmless one. In fact, such superstition can bring some sense of relief to millions in this world, because our world is essentially hostile and unfair to most of us who inhabit this planet. So, I cannot possibly have a quarrel with the belief in God. Belief in God itself has not been responsible for wars and conflicts. The belief in organized religion on the other hand, has been a major contributing factor in some of the bloodiest conflicts in our history in the last several thousands of years.”
One downside of this beautifully constructed book is that I found the author very emotional and subjective most of the time. From such a well-equipped, educated man, I would have expected a more objective, less emotional read. However at times, it was like he was very angry and was lashing out and pouring his pain to relieve himself. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with everything he says, I just did not think the tone was suitable for such an over-sensitive subject. Believers might consider it offensive, but I can totally hear his shout and pissed off questions.
“God must harbor evil in his heart. He is good to some and evil to others. Do we want to worship a God, who is either incapable of removing suffering from this world or does not want to? Perhaps he is both good and evil? It seems that the Methodist God, like the others, cares little whether we suffer, live, or die. The evidence suggests that He does not care if a three-year-old baby, who is completely innocent, drowns in a swimming pool. He does not care if a child is born with a horrific disease and dies at the age of five. He does not care if animals suffer - creatures that lack the ability to have any evil intentions. He does not care if 70 percent of the people on the planet go to bed hungry…”
I don’t know what you have gone through Mr. Singh but it may be a good idea to calm down a little.
(Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review)
As luring as the title of the book is, I have to say the real deal here is the content which both surprised and satisfied me beyond my expectations. The Seduction of Religion is a profound, well-researched and methodical reference book for all, who wish to learn about the basics of the commonest organized religions. The author’s description of religion is so good that it should be included in dictionaries:
“Religion is a language that is used to evoke emotions to fulfill human needs and desires so as to achieve calmness in the human psyche.”
Here we have origins of religions and sects, their belief systems, how they became powerful, the similarities and differences.
At the end of the book, you will see the similarities and discrepancies of different religious systems, learn about basic concepts and become more insightful.
What I have confirmed after reading this influential book is that;
a) Religions are nourished by fear. They say that God is merciful but only to a handful of people, leaving the rest to rot in hell. There is not a merciful, all-loving God without hell threats and fires. Organized religion uses fear and guilt and condemn people to damnation and hell.
b)They are all based on more or less the same prophecies, promises of afterlife and punishments.
c) As the author states, religious wars have killed more than plagues and natural disasters, so in that sense, they cause serious mass destruction.
Last but not least, all religions differ in terms of which God or prophet or book to believe in BUT they all have one thing in common: Misogyny. Every religion in the world women are inferior, they should be kept at home, at the service of men and they cannot become priests, monks or imams. Hallelujah!
“…This is the same Pope who would rather baptize aliens and atheists but will not allow devout Catholic women to lead the Church that might actually help reduce incidences of pedophilia to help safeguard our children.” No other sentence could have explained it better.
I have to state the fact that the author is only against religions. Personal beliefs and belief in God is strictly the person’s business and between him and the thing s/he believes in. He is only criticizing the abusive acts and exploitive religions that suck the blood of poor, innocent people by creating false beliefs and hopes for an afterlife. The author also says that he is not an atheist, as it is not possible to know for sure whether there is a creator or not and that he can live with this uncertainty without investing his life in an organized belief system.
“If belief in God is superstition, it is a harmless one. In fact, such superstition can bring some sense of relief to millions in this world, because our world is essentially hostile and unfair to most of us who inhabit this planet. So, I cannot possibly have a quarrel with the belief in God. Belief in God itself has not been responsible for wars and conflicts. The belief in organized religion on the other hand, has been a major contributing factor in some of the bloodiest conflicts in our history in the last several thousands of years.”
One downside of this beautifully constructed book is that I found the author very emotional and subjective most of the time. From such a well-equipped, educated man, I would have expected a more objective, less emotional read. However at times, it was like he was very angry and was lashing out and pouring his pain to relieve himself. Don’t get me wrong, I agree with everything he says, I just did not think the tone was suitable for such an over-sensitive subject. Believers might consider it offensive, but I can totally hear his shout and pissed off questions.
“God must harbor evil in his heart. He is good to some and evil to others. Do we want to worship a God, who is either incapable of removing suffering from this world or does not want to? Perhaps he is both good and evil? It seems that the Methodist God, like the others, cares little whether we suffer, live, or die. The evidence suggests that He does not care if a three-year-old baby, who is completely innocent, drowns in a swimming pool. He does not care if a child is born with a horrific disease and dies at the age of five. He does not care if animals suffer - creatures that lack the ability to have any evil intentions. He does not care if 70 percent of the people on the planet go to bed hungry…”
I don’t know what you have gone through Mr. Singh but it may be a good idea to calm down a little.
(Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review)
June 2, 2024
Toward no crime have men shown themselves so cold bloodily cruel as in punishing differences of belief.
Research in psychology, sociology, and biology confirms that belief in organized religion is entirely cultural.
Are the 5 billion, non Christians who make up 70% of the world's population today destined for eternal damnation because they never heard of Christ or simply don't believe the story?
Catholicism is a trillion dollar industry and most of this wealth is used by the priestly class to enrich themselves while less than 2% of that wealth us spent on what would be considered religious acts of kindness or charity.
The new pope Francis believes he must give up some of the dogmas to keep the church business afloat. He has already gone so far as to say that atheists can go to heaven.
Intellectuals in any organized religion want to be uncritically faithful to their religions tradition by emphasizing the best aspects and concealing the horrible aspects.
According to Islam, it is sinful to say that God has a son and you will go to Hell. According to Christianity those who deny Jesus as the son of God will go to Hell.
One and one half billion Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of humanity. Two billion Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of humanity.
God sacrificed himself to himself so that he could forgive the sins of humanity that humanity never committed in the first place.
Holy books of all major religions that represent over 85% of the world's population state that women are inferior to men and less intelligent.
Mormons and Presbyterians say that the only way for a black person to go to heaven is as a slave.
Organized religions are great instruments for socially conditioning crowds and eroding your trust in your own intellect.
Over the last 400 years, most scientists say with confidence that it is highly improbable that a personal god who breaks the laws of nature and performs miracles exists.
Our mortality is the single greatest reason why we believe in gods and religion.
Part of the reason why most fear death is that they are not sure that the promises made to them by their priest concerning life after death are true.
Research in psychology, sociology, and biology confirms that belief in organized religion is entirely cultural.
Are the 5 billion, non Christians who make up 70% of the world's population today destined for eternal damnation because they never heard of Christ or simply don't believe the story?
Catholicism is a trillion dollar industry and most of this wealth is used by the priestly class to enrich themselves while less than 2% of that wealth us spent on what would be considered religious acts of kindness or charity.
The new pope Francis believes he must give up some of the dogmas to keep the church business afloat. He has already gone so far as to say that atheists can go to heaven.
Intellectuals in any organized religion want to be uncritically faithful to their religions tradition by emphasizing the best aspects and concealing the horrible aspects.
According to Islam, it is sinful to say that God has a son and you will go to Hell. According to Christianity those who deny Jesus as the son of God will go to Hell.
One and one half billion Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of humanity. Two billion Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to save the sins of humanity.
God sacrificed himself to himself so that he could forgive the sins of humanity that humanity never committed in the first place.
Holy books of all major religions that represent over 85% of the world's population state that women are inferior to men and less intelligent.
Mormons and Presbyterians say that the only way for a black person to go to heaven is as a slave.
Organized religions are great instruments for socially conditioning crowds and eroding your trust in your own intellect.
Over the last 400 years, most scientists say with confidence that it is highly improbable that a personal god who breaks the laws of nature and performs miracles exists.
Our mortality is the single greatest reason why we believe in gods and religion.
Part of the reason why most fear death is that they are not sure that the promises made to them by their priest concerning life after death are true.
May 3, 2020
I wanted to love this book. It's an interesting topic (world religions in historical context), written from a viewpoint with which I mostly agree (there is a lot of irrationality and danger in organized religion), and the description promised "amusing facts and anecdotes".
Despite my interest and optimism, this book under-delivered. The tone was snarky rather than enlightening. The writing was very thin on "historical context", and the writing was clunky (often referring to a certain concept for several paragraphs before explaining the concept, etc). While there were suggested readings at the end of each section, I was astonished to see that there were NO footnotes. The book would also have benefited by having a "header" at the beginning of each section for continuity, perhaps noting the place and time of origin, key tenets, size of membership, etc.
Despite these issues, I did feel like I learned from this book, and I am appreciative to #NetGalley and the author and publisher for an opportunity to read this book. All views are my own. #TheSeductionofReligion
Despite my interest and optimism, this book under-delivered. The tone was snarky rather than enlightening. The writing was very thin on "historical context", and the writing was clunky (often referring to a certain concept for several paragraphs before explaining the concept, etc). While there were suggested readings at the end of each section, I was astonished to see that there were NO footnotes. The book would also have benefited by having a "header" at the beginning of each section for continuity, perhaps noting the place and time of origin, key tenets, size of membership, etc.
Despite these issues, I did feel like I learned from this book, and I am appreciative to #NetGalley and the author and publisher for an opportunity to read this book. All views are my own. #TheSeductionofReligion
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