I'm reading The End of Faith by Sam Harris right now. The book is not about creationism vs ID nor does Harris spend much time making the intellectual case against religion/belief in God--he takes these as a given and just mentions these well worn points in passing. His main theme is that, in the present age, belief in God and religion is not a harmless personal issue, but has important implications for the safety and stability of society. The easy part of his argument to accept is that radical religionists (generaly Islamic, but violent Christians and those of other religions, too) need to be recognized for the irrational actors they are and should be put away. On a more controversial note, he rejects the acceptance of moderate (i.e. nonviolent) religion by our society, claiming this just facilitates the radical Islamists and Christians. Harris makes the case that the radical, violent Islamists, Jews, and Christians are actually living and behaving in ways more true to the real text of their holy scriptures than do moderates.
I'm only about 1/3 of the way through, but I'm finding it a good, intersting read, though he's a little repetitious for me. I don't buy it all, but he makes many good points.
If you are concerned about Islamic violence, you'll find the book interesting. If you are concerned that a leader charged with guiding a nation and using awesome military power also believes God speaks to people directly, you'll find the book interesting.
Oh, and regarding FSM and Pastafarianism-- "Be touched by his noodly appendage"
I'm only about 1/3 of the way through, but I'm finding it a good, intersting read, though he's a little repetitious for me. I don't buy it all, but he makes many good points.
If you are concerned about Islamic violence, you'll find the book interesting. If you are concerned that a leader charged with guiding a nation and using awesome military power also believes God speaks to people directly, you'll find the book interesting.
Oh, and regarding FSM and Pastafarianism-- "Be touched by his noodly appendage"