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Richard Dawkins
I dare you to read this book ... it will not leave you unchanged. Read it
if it is the last thing you do.

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Sam Harris's elegant little book is the most refreshing and
wonderful source of ammunition for those who, like me, hold to no religious
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127 of 135 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harris factually accurate, but politically off-track?, 16 April 2007

By	W. P. Gibbons "Paul Gibbons" (London) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Letter to a Christian Nation - Review
Paul Gibbons

Reading Harris' latest contribution leaves me in a difficult state. Harris follows through with his attack on religion started in The End of Faith. He ridicules belief in the supernatural, and reviews some well travelled territory such as `the argument from evil'. In doing this he advances some interesting thought-experiments: if Salamanders can re-grow lost limbs, why wouldn't God, just once, allow an injured child to do so?

However, supernatural beliefs, on their own, do little harm. Most people have little superstitious oddities: my friend who must sit in the same seat playing Bridge, people who spend good money on homeopathy, not having important meetings on Friday the 13th. Harris' real beef is where such beliefs promote social ills and violence.

He lays quite a lot of misery at the door of religion, most of it on target, some of it overstated. When travelling in the Caribbean, I enquired why AIDS was such a difficult issue on the small island of St Lucia - surely it must be easy to contain within a tiny population? No, the island is very Catholic and many of the hospitals and educational institutions are under the sway of that ideology - no condoms for them. Clearly this causes much suffering and death, and the Church's position in Africa is implicated in the four million deaths per year on that continent. The Church not only advocates this, but defends it in the face of criticism. I hold those cardinals personally responsible for the policies that exacerbate this suffering. Harris' ninety-some pages are replete with this and many stronger examples.

I found myself agreeing with almost every word he writes. I completely endorse his intention - to bring back rationality into the spheres where it will make the biggest difference to our human condition. It has long been my belief that religion and religious morality allowed the formation of groups and ordered societies hundreds of years ago, but has outlived its usefulness. It is now a source of social harm and inter-group conflict.

But I am not sure books like this get the job done. In my circle of friends are, surprisingly, a large number of very religious people. (My beliefs are as strong as Harris'.) One of them even doubts evolution! They are a happy, delightful to be with, and make sustained efforts to help the disadvantaged in their communities. Better neighbours one could not wish for. They are smart (Oxford or Cambridge), and while they hold all the fanciful beliefs Harris criticises, they do not proselytise, and are political moderates (even left of centre).

What Harris' has done (here and in `The End...', which I saluted at the time), is to take the fight to the moderates. It is easy to attack Abu Hamza or Pat Buchanan - few would dissent. His argument is essentially that religious moderates provide social and political capital to the fundamentalists.

I'm with Harris - tolerance has gone too far. No other beliefs are cordoned off from critique in the way that the religious demand. Cartoonists and polemicists can savage politicians, scientists and business people for their beliefs and actions. But put on a robe and special protection is claimed. The special tax and political status that religions, churches and religious schools attract need to be put to the sword.

One could argue that religion needs to be returned to the sphere of private belief where it does no harm, but this seems far-fetched. All groups organise politically to assert their rights - indeed this is part of what our secular, liberal society should fight for. While we should not privilege religion, neither can we discriminate against it.

Harris and I both want change, but the moderates are the people we need to influence. Influence does not come from mocking or belittling, even thought it is more fun. It does not come from taking cheap shots - and Harris takes many of them. By influencing the moderates, they can over time effect change within their religious institutions. Harris and I won't effect change to these institutions from the outside much as we'd like to. The inter-faith dialogue that Harris criticises needs to happen less between Muslims and Christians and more between secularists and religionists. To do this, we are going to have to stop talking about them and to them as if they were fools.

Perhaps Harris has done a good thing bringing the moderates into the discussion. After all, not everyone who voted for Bush is a foaming-at-the-mouth radical Christian (much as we'd like to think so). He attracted political support from moderate Christians too - thinking people who want a better, safer, more humane world. It is those guys we need to go after. We need to win their hearts and minds - and that conversation won't start with `you are a moron, and this is why....'.

So keep it up Sam, but keep the end in mind. You, a fellow philosopher, know the road - either from the teachings of the Buddha or Sextus Empiricus - take your pick. We want a coalition of rational people who want change and this includes people who have some funny beliefs. Let them keep those. But lets not tolerate the consequences of those beliefs and lets not tolerate the intolerable. Lets get the moderates talking to us and not hating us. We need to lighten up our attack on their beliefs and get talking shared intentions and shared solutions. Both sides will have to give up self-righteousness and dogmatism - and this is where the political journey meets the psychological and the spiritual.

Letter to a Christian Nation, by Sam Harris
* Hardcover: 112 pages
* Publisher: Bantam Press (12 Feb 2007)
* Language English
* ISBN-10: 0593058976
* ISBN-13: 978-0593058978

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35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening and easy to read.... , 19 Jan 2007

By	Simon McMahon "Film Buff" (Chelmsford, Essex, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Letter to a Christian Nation (Hardcover)

I have to say, I love Sam Harris' approach. Whereas Richard Dawkins (who I will admit is a hero of mine) might be compared to a traditional fire and brimstone preacher (some find his way of writing overly confrontational... as an Atheist I love it), Sam Harris sets out to persuade rather than confront.

And he does an admirable job. He picks up on and illustrates the errors and contradictions present in both the Bible and in the vast majority of Christians, as well as the inherent violence (sometimes gut churningly horrific) of the Biblical accounts.

My only critcism is that it left me wanting more!

Sam Harris has created a great book for those who have begun to doubt the teachings of the church as well as a wake up call for "Pick and Choose" Christians (of which there are far too many!). The books persuasive tone may be better suited to Christian readers than Dawkins' more confrontational tone (though I do prefer the latter).

Read and be enlightened...

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91 of 101 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The uncomfortable truth (for Christians), 28 April 2007

By	Lady Guinevere (Glasgow, Scotland) - See all my reviews

Having been raised a Catholic, I have been trying to rid myself of the "Christian fairy story" once and for all for many years...and this book has helped immensely. Harris' arguments were insightful, straightforward and logical, and the comparison with Islam made me feel that he doesn't just have it in for Christians or something similar. It's a book written with a genuine desire to put the truth across, and if I was still a Christian, I'd certainly rethink my position on god and Jesus based on this book. Having read this and Dawkins' "The God Delusion", I'd say I'm now an atheist (beforehand I sat on the "agnostic" fence). Buy the book, you won't be disappointed .

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars State the Bleeding Obvious.
Do we really need a book explaining that the basis of religion is wrong. Even my 9 year old knows the claims of faiths are nonsense. Read more

Published 1 month ago by Sean Higgins

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent
Superb summary of the case against religion. Not a wasted sentence. It would shake the faith of any educated theists. Unfortunately they are highly unlikely to even look at it. Read more

Published 3 months ago by d griffiths

4.0 out of 5 stars Lost oppotunity
Written after "End of Faith", A letter to a christian nation is Harris's assault on Christianity,focusing on the christianity of the USA. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Tommi

1.0 out of 5 stars He needs to do more research into what Christianity REALLY is
The title of the book 'A Letter to a Christian Nation' is an attempt to draw in Christians, and anyone who has a belief/opinion on this subject, but once drawn in, Harris then... Read more

Published 4 months ago by L. Klek

3.0 out of 5 stars A Tribute to Christian Hate Mail
Here, Harris responds to the thousands of mostly indignant letters he got for writing "The End of Faith". Read more

Published 8 months ago by Brian Griffith

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic critique of a big problem for mankind....RELIGION
A book that did not leave me unchanged....my only concern is that Mr Harris may be the antichrist

Published 9 months ago by R. Liggett

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and well put Christian Polemic.
This book is really suited to someone who wants to get the key arguments against Christianity without having to spend a long time reading something like 'The God Delusion' or 'The... Read more

Published 10 months ago by Alex Ireland

5.0 out of 5 stars They thought we could never end slavery... What about religion?
This book is outstanding. The only problem I have with these kind of books, is that they do not give an easy answer to all our problems; unlike another book I know of. Read more

Published 10 months ago by Mr. Simon C. Blower

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be read by every Christian without exception
Speaking as a former Christian (and now an ardent secularist), I can say without hesitation that this book should be read by EVERY person who considers themself to be a Christian... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Daniel Grosvenor

4.0 out of 5 stars A succint warning for secularists
Harris had written this book primarily for secularists so as to defend against the threats posed in the U.S. by the Christian Right. Read more

Published 13 months ago by calmly

› See all 51 customer reviews...

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	61% buy the item featured on this page: Letter to a Christian Nation 4.4 out of 5 stars (51) �7.00
	17% buy God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything 3.7 out of 5 stars (134) �4.49
	9% buy The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason 3.6 out of 5 stars (65) �4.79
	8% buy Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer 4.7 out of 5 stars (15) �7.69


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