"Letter to a Christian Nation" by Sam Harris: A Reflection on Faith and Society

Paul D Nagel: I recommend reading this book, but doing so critically.

My impression is that the author attempted to make his points using a rapid pace and inflammatory speech, such that it’s easy to get swept away by emotions without taking a step back to critically think of each of the quite numerous thoughts the author puts forth.

The logic of arguments is particularly bad. A good argument has three components: (a) well defined clear terms, (b) premises that are true as one can prove anything from false premises, and (c) tight logic that the conclusions naturally result from the premises. This work has a large number or quite vague terms (“many” or “scientists” or “never”). If you took a drink every time an ambiguous term was used, you’d be under the table well before finishing a third of the book. Second, many premises are not proved or at least suspect. There are many Christian works that state they believe in the resurrection of Jesus because of evidence, not just on faith. Mr. Harris states Christians believe in the resurrection by faith. That’s just not true for all Christians. They may be incorrect in their historical accuracy, but the premise that they...

United States on Feb 25, 2023

Yetiman in Clent.: Detailed and thorough, open minded evaluation of what nonsense man has been peddling for millennia.
Wake up and realise all of these stories are fantasy and wishful thinking. Just make the most of the fact that you exist briefly now - it is actually all the you will ever have. Do good for its own sake, not to buy your way to a heaven that never existed and some imaginary God. Very well written with direct reference to scientific knowledge and the evolution of our species. Common sense really, but then, that is actually so rare.

United Kingdom on Jun 06, 2021

When Belief Dies: I believe in the Judo-Christian God. Some days it is easier than others, as life has a habit of throwing things up in your face that makes you question why you believe what you believe. A close friend recently got told they have 6-12 months left to live. The cancer they have is going to lead to their death. A chapter will close.

I can't escape the feeling that we are meant for so much more than we manage. Sure, some will claim these feelings are just personal fabrications, as I try to make sense of the world I find myself. I still can't shake the feeling that there is something behind the veil. That there is something more than a strictly atheist or naturalist viewpoint.

Books like 'Letter to a Christian Nation' help to collate all the often recited arguments that should (right?) knock down someone's Chrisitan beliefs. But they don't, they question blind belief, which I also think should be questioned.

I feel like the real arguments against Christianity, at least in the 21st century, are to be found in suffering, and evolution. We all experience pain and we can all recite awful stories of suffering. Evolution tells us that we are not special, that we come...

United Kingdom on Feb 25, 2019

L Beck: We are, for the most part, Christians or Muslims or (name your Faith) purely through accident of birth and upbringing. It passes from generation to generation and so our "Faith" is something we grow up with and by adulthood it is so ingrained in our minds that to challenge some of our beliefs takes us right out of our comfort zone. That is what our Faith is .. a comfort zone.

Sam Harris - like Professor Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens - forces us to confront the weight of our faith-based beliefs with the weight of rational argument. Unlike Dawkins and Hitchens, though, he does it in a more straightforward and readable way. It is compelling reading, though disturbing because it is stretching our personal ties with blind adherence to Faith to breaking point. But, the crux of the matter is this: once you have gone through the trauma of the break it is strangely liberating.

The potency of Harris's book is the fact that it is addressed to probably the most pious (Christian) nation on the planet, i.e., the USA. In this respect it is an act of some bravery in a land where a large percentage of the population believe the literal truth of the Bible in every...

United Kingdom on Jul 08, 2012

bryski: Sometimes you come across a book, perhaps in essay form like this one, and think 'I should have written that!', and Letter to a Christian Nation would come into that category, if I could write as well as Sam Harris does! Although maybe would have written this on an angry day. Unfortunately, though I agree with much of it and consider him right to say that the position of right-wing evangelical Christians in the US, and just the poor level of general knowledge of Americans in general, could be taken as a moral and intellectual emergency... Does it really? And what response should be have to this new Dark Ages? These people hold views which I agree are repugnant, objectionable, ill-informed, etc etc, but this has been like this for some time. Most people don't know anything and just get on trying to keep a roof over their heads, keep their communities intact, keep life ticking over. Most of even the most deluded nutters from the deepest darkest wherever think that way and do not want to watch cities crumble in nuclear devastation waiting for the second coming, in glory. They have children too and are not that mad. The 10% on the lunatic edge of religious belief maybe a cause for...

United Kingdom on Feb 27, 2012

B. Marold: `Letter to a Christian Nation' is a polemical essay by Sam Harris. It advocates atheism by pointing out the many failings of the monotheistic religions, singling out Christianity, for its most pointed attacks.

There are useful observations in this book, and I agree with many of them, in spite of the fact that I'm a committed, go to church every Sunday and teach Sunday adult Bible Study classes Lutheran. In fact, when our man Sam started out by saying he was really addressing the attitudes of the more fundamentalist American Christian sects and not liberal, middle of the road believers, he almost had me hooked! But then, Sam, being the sly fellow he is, slid his argument over to his main stance of criticizing all monotheisms in general, regardless of doctrinal shading.

Harris' argument attracts people of liberal inclinations because he attacks several targets that deserve attack. These are opposition to areas of medical practice and research based on religious belief. At the top of the list is opposition to birth control (especially in HIV ridden Africa), abortion, stem cell research, and teaching any scientific theory that happens to be contrary to a religious...

United States on Jun 12, 2007

J. Potter: Specifically aimed at Christians in America, but eye opening enough it should send a shiver down the spine of any cognitive human.

The large portion of this book looks at the insanity of worshipping gods and details the pointlessness of trying to live a modern life by religious doctrine written 2000 years ago.

During the main body the belief system of Islam is compared to that of Christianity - highlighting the faith systems of Islam that seem ridiculous to Christians and then pointing out that Christianity is built on the same tenuous vague arguments, that neither has a viable grip on the origins of man or of our emotions.

The interesting point that Sam Harris rams home with chilling finesse at the end is that America needs to face upto the flaws of Christianity, because the same points of manipulation are being used to motivate followers of Islam and Muslims 'really know how to believe'.

Pros - the cleverly brief description on the frailties of the bible and the contradictory messages within. Of evolution as simply the progression of a species from a simpler form to one more complex. And then the very effective and almost casual dismissal of...

United Kingdom on Apr 17, 2007