The End of Faith
"In The End of Faith, Sam Harris delivers an analysis of the clash between reason and religion in the modern world. He offers a historical tour of our willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs - even when these beliefs inspire the worst of human atrocities. Harris argues that in the presence of weapons of mass destruction we cannot expect to survive our religious differences indefinitely. Most controversially, he argues that "moderation" in religion poses considerable dangers of its own, as the accomodation we have made to religious faith in our society now blinds us to the role that faith plays in perpetuating human conflict." "While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris draws on insights from neuroscience, philosophy, and Eastern mysticism to deliver a call for a truly modern foundation for ethics and spirituality that is both secular and humanistic."--BOOK JACKET.
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11recommend
21mentions
17people
2009–2026years
62% recommend33% neutral5% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
Night by Elie Wiesel
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
Lying by Sam Harris
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
https://www.rxjourney.net/list-of-books-i-finished-reading-i...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pulitzer_Prize_for_General_Non...
- Thanks for this question!
I'm not reading anything at the moment since I'm taking a break and watching season one of Deadwood and also re-watching season one of Boston Legal.
But when I'm done, I plan to re-read "The Cold War A Very Short Introduction" by Robert J. McMahon. I read it about five years ago and it's time to read it again.
Having said that, I can't pass on this opportunity to share the books I've read (some are re-reads) thus far this year that I recommend. I'll just list them while saying that they all come highly recommended by me.
In the famous words of Frank Zappa - So many books, so little time.
1. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
2. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
3. Lying by Sam Harris
4. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
5. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
6. Cosmos by Carl Sagan.
7. The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins
8. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
9. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
10. Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
11. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J. K. Rowling
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling
13. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
14. The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
15. Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the Millennium by Carl Sagan
16. Outgrowing God: A Beginner’s Guide to Atheism by Richard Dawkins
- The End Of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
- A lot of good books in this thread and I have read many of them, but in retrospect these 3 titles have had the greatest effect on me: The End of Faith by Sam Harris: Crystallized a lot of things I have been thinking about over the years. Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett: Really delved deep into what evolution is and the way it affects how everything in the world works. Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness meditation for everyday life by Jon Kabat Zinn: What is mindfulness? Why is it important and how can you apply it to your every day life (like the subtitle says). Bearded guru in a cave at top of mountain is optional.
- Moneyball. Will affect the way you (strive to) make decisions. Worthwhile even if you've seen the movie and/or don't like baseball.
The End of Faith. Definitely don't agree with all of this, but if you're at all on the fence about religion this book has the potential to be very influential.
- You've obviously never read the Qur'an. There are pages and pages of material condoning and inciting people to violence. Sam Harris printed pages of quotes from a translation of the Qur'an in The End of Faith, it was an eye-opening read for me. I often hear liberals repeating that it's not really a violent text, without knowing anything about it, they just want to believe it, maybe because it fits with the liberal philosophy of tolerance. The old testament also has some of that, but I think Islam easily wins as the most violent mainstream religion, both in reality and in their holy texts.
