God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of the Bible in Atheists and Skeptics

Jan 31, 2010 Bakari rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010-books-read

“If you will not give glory unto my name saith the LORD ...I will spread dung upon your faces.” (Malachi 2:2-3 NIV)

Out of all the atheist books I’ve read, CJ Werleman’s God Hates You is unique in that it’s a critical study and summary of the Bible itself. Basically Werleman provides a critical study and summary of each book of the Bible to support his claim that the fictional character God has utter disdain for the human race.

I really have to thank Werleman (whom is someone I follow on Twitter) “If you will not give glory unto my name saith the LORD ...I will spread dung upon your faces.” (Malachi 2:2-3 NIV)

Out of all the atheist books I’ve read, CJ Werleman’s God Hates You is unique in that it’s a critical study and summary of the Bible itself. Basically Werleman provides a critical study and summary of each book of the Bible to support his claim that the fictional character God has utter disdain for the human race.

I really have to thank Werleman (whom is someone I follow on Twitter) for writing this book, because I probably will never again read the Bible, certainly not cover to cover. Sure, Werleman has an atheist bias in writing his critical summary, but having read the book myself many years ago, and heard it talked about in churches, I don’t think his critiques are an over-generalization. I don’t think most people find the Bible inspiring, because I would wager that most people don't read it, except perhaps biblical scholars and some pastors. Most people simply rely on the selected verses conveyed to them by their preachers, and that’s as for as it gets. The fundamentalist believers who supposably take a literal interpretation of the Bible probably do read it, but they read with much hatred in their heart. Werleman is so correct when says you’ll find more inspiration in Chicken Soup books than you will find in the Bible.

Werleman quotes from other well know atheist authors, but don’t think his book is like there’s. He’s not talking religion and religious belief, he’s critiquing the source from which Judaism and Christianity derive. He has written the book for the general reader with intellect. Even though scientists like Dawkins and Victor Stenger critique religion from a scientific point of view—and they do that well—I don't think a scientific analysis argues against religion as well a critique of the Bible and the history of religion itself. It is the religious texts and the institutions of religions, and indeed the ideology of monotheistic beliefs that have enough inherent contradictions and fallacies that should cause anyone who critically reads the literature to seriously question authenticity the texts and the institutions.

Now one might ask, why if you‘re an atheist why would you even read about religion? Well for me it’s because religion is part of the human condition. It’s had a great impact on how we human beings have evolved, so of course I’m interested in how religions came about and why people believe the way they do. Just as I am interested in what scientists have discovered about our existence and the existence of the universe.

So yes, God Hates You is well worth reading. It’s easy to read, funny, and you’re will learn some information about the Bible that you’ve probably never read or heard of before. Now having read this book, I’m interested in reading more about the history of the Bible and Christian religion itself. Werleman points out some history, but of course the book would have been three or four times longer if he had tried to include that history alongside his critique of the book.

I’m also interested in what the Koran has to say but I think I’ll wait to see if Werleman writes a Allah Hates You book so as to save me the trouble of having to read the Koran. Something tells me that it is just uninspiring as the Bible. ...more

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