50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God [Paperback]

It seems such a responsibility to be writing the first review of a book! It is innovative in style, starting from the reasons people give for believing in a god/christianity/other religions. Interestingly, the final reason, no 50, isn't a reason anyone actually gave Harris, but which he thinks they would have liked to. The statement is "I am afraid of not believing" - I agree with Harris that this is very likely a true reason and we could speculate why it was never given, but maybe believers just find it shameful to admit - not as "noble" a reason as some of the others?

I'm not sure now, but I think Harrison doesn't claim to be an atheist, but an agnostic veering towards secular humanism. Maybe this is why his book doesn't come across as belligerent, antagonistic and anti-god as some others? There is also nothing to indicate that Harris ever had a strong faith and rejected it which is often, I think, why people seem to get so vitriolic in their attacks on religion - like they were somehow "duped" into believing. I have always been surprised at the number of hostile atheist websites - what are they trying to prove? None of them is going to convince any ardent believer to give up his faith (assuming h/she bothers to read it) any more than reading a biblical, evangelistic website would persuade me to change my beliefs. I agree with Harris when he says that believers' belief is not based on anything rational and reasonable, so why should they be "converted" by something that is? Personally I cannot imagine any point in asking my "born again" daughter to read this book - she would refuse and probably say it was inspired by the devil.

My reason for only awarding the book 4 stars instead of 5 is that I began to find it gets more and more repetitive as it goes along. Although the reasons for belief were different, many of the ways Harrison dealt with them was very similar. And to me, as someone who has looked into various religions and atheism over many years, some of the reasons given were ones I had already thought about and dismissed as puerile. Harris is, at the very least, obsessed with science, and for me there was just too much of it in his refutations. Still, as Amazon don't give you the opportunity to "search inside" this book prior to buying, I thought I would give you a flavour of some of the 50 "reasons"

"Faith is a good thing"
"Our world is too beautiful to be an accident"
"Believing in my god makes me happy"
"A sacred book proves my god is real"
"My god sacrificed his only son for me"
"Without my god we would have no sense of right or wrong"
"Millions Of people can't be wrong"
"No-one has ever disproved the existence of my god"
"My god changes lives"
"The End Is Near"

Finally, if you are a Brit reading this book (as opposed to an American), prepare to be astonished at the level of hostility and discrimination shown to those in the US who are brave enough to declare their non belief! I mean there we have a country which would not vote for an atheist to be President. In the UK of course, we probably wouldn't vote for a right-wing evangelical who talked about his beliefs as part of his/her campaign to be Prime Minister! I glad I live here!

Finally, each chapter is headed by some pithy, witty comment by various people throughout the ages, and I can do no better than to quote one of the author's own, found at the beginning of the Introduction: -

"No gods were harmed in the making of this book" Enjoy!

I have read a number of books that challenge religious belief from a skeptical perspective. Some take a tenacious and combative tone that would be off-putting to believers; some describe the popular but nevertheless complicated apologetic and counter-apologetic arguments. Such arguments are more palatable to theologians, philosophers, perhaps those who are questioning the efficacy of their beliefs, and those theists and atheists alike who believe their arguments are above reproach.

However whilst I do believe these books are indeed essential given the contest between religious and non-religious outlooks is such an important one, a matter of literally life and death.
It's possible such books will fail to reach the average reader. Neither perhaps would believers find them a comfortable read.
The reason being the vast majority of religious folk believe in something far more basic, traditional, cultural and social than the logic and inventions offered by philosophy and theology.
People trust in their religious beliefs without question, they find comfort and solace in their faith. Most are simply absorbed by the dominate religion within their personal locality. This audience will not be drawn naturally to any book that directly attacks their faith.

Here's why I felt Guy P. Harrison's book is different. Put simply, it's a book that any person of faith can indeed read and appreciate; it's a book that can be handed to a believer by a non-believer without any smugness or arrogance. It's a book that both believers and non-believers will savour equally and find captivating and relevant.
Harrison is certainly uncompromising in his skepticism but is never guilty of being conceited or displaying contempt towards his audience. If you are content within your religious comfort zone but do not necessarily know why then this book will provoke thought, is your religious commitment rational and intrinsically deserving of respect? Is your religion immune from criticism and ridicule?

If you welcome a book that can be read, understood and enjoyed regardless of your religious or non-religious persuasion then this is a book for you. I highly recommend it.

This is the atheism book many will have been waiting for! Much as I admire the vigour and meticulous logic of Dawkins, Hitchens and co, much as I share their frustration that religion has for too long been too elevated from challenge, I have to concede one criticism: their books will most likely appear off-putting to 'the average believer'. Despite the laudable aim of encouraging people to think critically for themselves, a combative tone (scoffing at 'faith heads' and 'failed fundamentalists') ultimately blunts their power to convince. Essentially these are books for atheists, or people halfway there. They are not really books for the average believer.

This book is different. Unashamedly polite (but not nauseatingly so) and shorn of the convoluted scientific and philosophical terminology that can sometimes alienate more than it can enlighten, '50 reasons' succeeds in making a courteous yet thoroughly convincing case against religious belief. Harrison understands that if you are serious about wanting to convince a believer, then you absolutely cannot afford to neglect the task of connecting with them. People often forget that religious faith has pay-offs beyond the simple matter of truth. Merely hitting them over the head with reason and ridicule is doomed to fail.

Taking the form of short (6-8 page) answers to the 50 common reasons for believing in a god, each counter-argument is concise yet thorough. The reasons are well-chosen, and will be familiar to those of us who have ever debated religion - from the authenticity of scripture, to the question of how so many people can possibly be wrong about something for so long. Interestingly, Harrison also includes several less commonly heard reasons ("I am afraid of not believing" ... "Someone I trust told me that my god is real") which go some way to showing that his interest lies more broadly in offering fellow humans a hand up from irrational beliefs rather than just point-scoring and winning arguments.

Splitting the book into 50 digestible chapters makes each argument easy to pinpoint and turns the book into a valuable resource. However it is the tone that really marks this book out from the rest: sharp, effective reasoning delivered with a clear, conversational style. He bends over backwards to be respectful, but never so far that he becomes intellectually dishonest. This is by far the most appropriate atheism book I've come across for recommending to a believer. Worth reading for the atheist too, not only as a well-organised resource, but also as an example of a different - and potentially more productive - approach to debating with believers.

(Tip: Head over to the US site Amazon.com if you want to Look inside and see all 50 reasons listed in the contents)