Ebook: The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason

I was thoroughly enjoying this book, but feeling apprehensive about what seems to be a preoccupation with Islamic fundamentalism. Indeed half way through the book Harris embarks on a tirade that is an excellent exposition of the religious assumptions he has attempted to expose. Perhaps there is some truth to his theories concerning the influence of fundamentalist ideas on Islamic 'terrorism', but Harris leaves little room for doubt that his is the only correct view. The fact is that fundamentalism and blind adherence to untested, or untestable assumptions is not particular to religion, and it is here that Harris' seems to have missed the point entirely: he claims that Nazi persecution was religious in nature, i.e. that it had its historic roots in Christian anti-semitism. Most experts tend to view racial theory as a hollow justification for other more insidious processes at work in the Nazi plans, including industrialisation. Keep in mind that Jews were not the only victims of the Nazi's.

Another issue I have with this book is the juxtaposing of religion and rationalism, as if rational thought could not spawn equally disastrous consequences. Harris fails to question his own assumptions about the nature of ethics. Just where do these come from if we forgo intuition? My feeling is that this writer is too young to have deeply contemplated religious questions and the meaning of life. Certainly all 'holy books' are full of abominations that are difficult to interpret other than literally. Perhaps the Q'uran more so. But the fact is that one needs to go beyond the superficial meaning of religious texts. The fact is that a great many people are capable of ignoring those parts of a religious text that either mean nothing to them, or would otherwise force them to commit violence. It is only under particular social and economic conditions that fundamentalism thrives. This book should be approached with caution lest it inspire exactly the type of extremist views it claims to expose in religion!