An analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. [W. W. Norton]
Critic Reviews
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Outstanding
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The New York Times Book Review Natalie Angier
It's not often that I see my florid strain of atheism expressed in any document this side of the Seine, but The End of Faith articulates the dangers and absurdities of organized religion so fiercely and so fearlessly that I felt relieved as I read it, vindicated, almost personally understood.
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Favorable
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Library Journal John Jaeger
It is rare in this postmodern age to read a book by someone so vigorously defending rational thought, especially from a unique neuroscientific perspective. [15 June 2004, p.75]
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Favorable
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Chicago Tribune James McManus
Citing repulsive (but often hilarious) chapter and verse, he makes plain how one holy book after another guarantees paradise to believers and damnation to everyone else.
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Favorable
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San Francisco Chronicle Daniel Blue
Despite its polemic edge, this is a happy book -- Harris is obviously tickled by his own intelligence -- and he writes with such verve and frequent insight that even skeptical readers will find it hard to put down.
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Mixed
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The Economist
Harris's supporters may be disappointed by his efforts to reconcile spirituality -- a natural propensity of the human mind -- with reason and ethics. His approval of eastern philosophy and Buddhism is much too brief to be helpful, and it is hard to grasp the assurance that, "Mysticism is a rational enterprise. Religion is not."
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Mixed
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Salem Alaton
That's where Harris gives the least credit where due. For all the wretchedness that attaches to the great monotheistic religions, there is a significant case to be made for their advancement of the ideal of better things.
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Mixed
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Kirkus Reviews
In many ways this is a courageous analysis whose theses will deeply trouble readers who choose to think about them rather than summarily reject them. But Harris's discussion of ethics sometimes reads like an undergraduate essay -- the probable parent of his arguments.
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Mixed
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Los Angeles Times Susan Jacoby
Although the author is undeniably correct in his assertion that secular knowledge has been the main moderating force in religious history, modern Christian and Jewish theology have also evolved by substituting a god of love for a more ancient god of fear -- a religious, not a secular modification.[12 Sept 2004, p.R6]
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Mixed
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The Independent Johann Hari
A crucial flaw in Harris' argument becomes clear. Although he does not state it explicitly, part of him clearly believes that religious moderates are as bad as fanatics; that there is little real difference, and even the most democratic and moderate of believers is "capable of anything". Militant atheist though I am, I can't follow him into this bog... Ultimately, this provocative, occasionally brilliant book did not persuade me.
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Unfavorable
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Publishers Weekly
Harris's book generalizes so much about both religion and reason that it is ineffectual.
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Unfavorable
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Salon Laura Miller
While it's true that religion often plays a role in humanity's wars, Harris' political naivete gravely undermines a book that, at heart, makes a political argument, however weakly supported... Closer to the truth would be the dismal notion that human beings don't need particularly compelling reasons to butcher other human beings, even their neighbors and friends.
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