PRINTLetter to an atheist
A writer speaks out to a Christian nation
Knopf
Book cover
November 23, 2006 | 12:00 a.m. CST
There is no excuse not to read Sam Harris’ latest book, Letter to a Christian Nation. It is a slim 96 pages and can be read in one sitting, it deals with current issues, and it teems with comebacks for MU’s most vocal religious advocate: Brother Jed.
Harris is a hated man in America. Despite the fact he bears an uncanny physical resemblance to popular funnyman Ben Stiller, after Harris published The End of Faith in 2004, he received thousands of letters explaining why his atheist views are, to put it mildly, incorrect. Harris, a Stanford graduate who studied Eastern and Western religious traditions, has published his controversial ideas in numerous journals and publications from TIME to The New York Times.
Since Letter to a Christian Nation was published in October 2006, it has held a steady spot on The New York Times bestseller list and sparked controversy and heated debate.
“The problem is that Christians like yourself are not principally concerned about teen pregnancy and the spread of disease. That is, you are not worried about the suffering caused by sex; you are worried about sex. As if this fact needed further corroboration, Reginald Finger, an Evangelical member of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, recently announced that he would consider opposing an HIV vaccine — thereby condemning millions of men and women to die unnecessarily from AIDS each year — because such a vaccine would encourage premarital sex by making it less risky. This is one of many points on which your religious beliefs become genuinely lethal.” (p. 28)
“A three-day-old human embryo is a collection of 150 cells called a blastocyst. There are, for the sake of comparison, more than 100,000 cells in the brain of a fly. The human embryos that are destroyed in stem-cell research do not have brains, or even neurons. Consequently, there is no reason to believe they can suffer their destruction in any way at all ...” (p. 29)
“Atheism is not a philosophy; it is not even a view of the world; it is simply an admission of the obvious.” (p. 51)
Sam Harris
He begins Letter to a Christian Nation this way: “The most hostile of these communications have come from Christians. This is ironic, as Christians generally imagine that no faith imparts the virtues of love and forgiveness more effectively than their own. The truth is that many who claim to be transformed by Christ’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism. While we may want to ascribe this to human nature, it is clear that such hatred draws considerable support from the Bible. How do I know this? The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.”
Letter to a Christian Nation is Harris’ response to his fan mail. He says his book is intended for every American, but it takes the form of a letter to a narrowly defined group of American Christians. Harris specifically attacks people who, at the very least, believe the Bible is the word of God and the only way to experience salvation after death is to accept the divinity of Jesus Christ. Harris cites polls from PEW, Gallup and Newsweek that put well over half the American population in his crosshairs.
Throughout the book, Harris bemoans the current state of Christian Nationalism, a blending of right-wing politics, conservative theology and extreme nationalism. He sees Christian influences in America’s schools, courts and every branch of government. Harris believes America’s current status quo constitutes a moral and intellectual emergency. Although he spends most of the book attacking conservative Christians (who Harris claims can be found in all denominations of Christianity), he saves some pointed criticism for religious moderates. Moderates, Harris says, preach the value of religious tolerance, which only shelters the extremists from the scrutiny and criticism Harris believes they deserve.
Matt Williams, who recently completed his master’s in religious studies at MU, sees validity in Harris’ attack on religious moderates. “We often talk about how we don’t want to offend people’s religious beliefs,” he says. “It’s one of the three taboo things we’re not supposed to talk about in public, but their political beliefs are fair game. That puts a Band-Aid on a wound without finding out what caused the wound. In my opinion, the wound is bad theology.”
Harris whole-heartedly feels that many conservative Christian beliefs are erroneous. He points out several flaws he finds in Christian teaching. He addresses the problem of evil by asking how an omnibenevolent God would allow disasters such as the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. He shows contradictions in God’s morality by noting that the same God who gave us the Ten Commandments also sanctioned slavery (Leviticus 25:44-46). He is frightened by the fact that a Gallup poll showed 53 percent of Americans are creationists and believe the entire cosmos was created 6,000 years ago. “Those with the power to elect our president and congressmen — and many who themselves get elected — believe that dinosaurs lived two by two upon Noah’s ark, that light from distant galaxies was created en route to the earth, and that the first members of our species were fashioned out of dirt and divine breath, in a garden with a talking snake, by the hand of an invisible God.”
Although Harris seems to have an endless supply of ammunition for the Christian Right, he falls short when it comes to suggesting solutions. If Harris is addressing extreme right-wing theists, he himself represents extreme left-wing atheists.
Other atheist authors such as Daniel Dennett of Tufts University say believing in God is irrational but that religion can occasionally do good in the world. Jonathan Kvanvig, distinguished professor of philosophy at Baylor University and author of The Problem of Hell and The Possibility of an All-Knowing God, says Harris’ belief that religion should be extricated from society is extreme.
“If you’re thinking about banning religion from public life, you’d not only have to take account of
what you think the negative impact of religion is on society as a whole, but you’d have to worry about whether there are positive things that religion contributes that you’d be blocking as well,” he says. “Many people think religion is a force to help people behave themselves a little better than they would otherwise.”
Harris suggests the need for rational discourse, but calling conservative Christians everything from stupid to deluded to dangerous is not a constructive means to the intellectual debate he feels we need.
Many people in America have no problem finding beliefs in Islam that are not only wrong but also dangerous. Islamic extremists are portrayed as our country’s greatest threat. Harris is asking us to turn that critical eye on ourselves. He says we need to see that fanatical Christians pose just as much of a danger to America as do their Muslim counterparts.
Theists, atheists and agnostics alike must all read Letter to a Christian Nation if they have any interest in religion, politics or American society. For better or worse, these public domains intertwine and affect our daily lives. Love it or hate it — and there will be no middle-ground when it comes to both Harris and Letter to a Christian Nation — read this book, and decide for yourself where you stand.
Harris is correct in his criticism of Christian Nationalism. Jesus never told his followers to recruit with guns, nor did he tell his disciples to go forth and form political action committees.
Sadly, Harris misses the obvious: The historic evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. His theory makes a lot of sense except for that.
Posted by Derek Gilbert on Nov 23, 2006 at 12:13 p.m. (Report Comment)
Please pay no attention to this atheist. He should know better. As I tell my children, you should not address people about their beliefs. Actually I say " Leave the Christians alone". They had nothing to do with their superstitions. If love and forgiveness is working for them than we are all ahead of the game.
Just what is the historic eveidence for the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth?
Have a great day.
Posted by KEN GERINGER on Nov 23, 2006 at 11:42 p.m. (Report Comment)