If the New York Times bestseller list is even half the gauge of the public zeitgeist that it so often is assumed to be, then this morning's edition suggests it's an awfully good time for secularists in America. A startling 20% of the Hardcover Non-Fiction Top 25 are tomes that, even where not explicitly atheist, at the very least cast a piercingly skeptical eye on modern religious institutions.
At #7 is Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali native and recently-elected Dutch Minister of Parliament's tale of escaping the horrors of Islamic fundamentalism. In it, she writes: "I
left the world of faith, of genital cutting and forced marriage for the world
of reason and sexual emancipation. After making this voyage I know that one of
these two worlds is simply better than the other. Not for its gaudy gadgetry,
but for its fundamental values."
At #12, of course, is The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins. It has become fashionable among atheists to engage in a certain amount of Dawkins-bashing, which I attribute largely to the contrarian streak to which those of our ilk are so exceedingly prone. I'd be first to say this is far from Dawkins' best work. It's not even his best work on theology. (The Blind Watchmaker holds that title.) But that misses the point of the book, which is to inject these "memes" into popular culture and get the conversation going. By that measure, it's been a remarkable success.
Just behind Dawkins, at #13, is Chris Hedges' American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America. I'm actually currently in the middle of this one, and must admit to some disappointment, coming off Hedges' classic War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. While it makes for a nice catalogue of some of the more frightening elements of the U.S Christian (small "c") coalition, if the very title of your book is going to flagrantly violate Godwin's law, you really need to make a stronger case that you're describing actual fascism, and not just religiously-based right-wing nuttery.
Clocking in at #21 is one I have not yet read, but am very much looking forward to: God: The Failed Hypothesis by physicist Victor Stenger, whose skepticism is trained even on his fellow physicists that engage in the long-standing parlor game of "fine-tuning" cosmological constants in search of the Universal Theory. Stenger's been at these topics for quite some time, and the clarity with which he can relate terribly esoteric concepts has always impressed me. (For a sample, check out this ten-year-old essay on the then-burgeoning "intelligent design" movement, written for Creation/Evolution.) Plus, I'm always a little biased toward fellow Jersey boys, in this case one who shares my dad's alma mater (the defunct Newark College of Engineering, which goes these days by the title N.J. Tech)
Hanging on at #24 is Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation, which I actually enjoyed rather more than Dawkins' book. Where Dawkins can get muddled, Harris is a master of clarity. Where Dawkins has an unfortunate tendency toward abrasive smarminess and self-satisfaction (and more than the occasional strawman) Harris remains even-handed throughout. These also are the strengths that propelled him to knock-outs blows of Dennis Prager (admittedly, not much of a challenge) and Andrew Sullivan in a pair of recent on-line debates.
And the fun doesn't stop there. Possiby coming soon to a best-seller list near you, there is the just-published English translation of French philosopher Michel Onfray's The Atheist Manifesto; next week will mark the publication of Taner Edis' An Illusion of Harmony: Science and Religion in Islam; in May, we'll be treated to Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great, and I, for one, am relieved to see Hitch pass through his neocon phase and return to the kinds of topics for which his acerbic wit is most apt; and at some point in 2008, Julia Sweeney is set to release My
Beautiful Loss of Faith Story: A Memoir
You don't have to wait til September (when Julia Sweeney's book is due) to read a fabulous memoir about learning to embrace nonbelief.
Nica Lalli's NOTHING: SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN (Prometheus Books) is published this month, and advance reviews have said: “Books on atheism are red-hot this year, and Lalli's adds something fresh to the mix: rather than being an angry apologetic, it's an engaging personal account of non-belief…This memoir is well-written and often acerbically funny, an edgy quest for meaning outside the boundaries of organized religion." -Publishers Weekly Religion BookLine
“In this appealing memoir, an art educator in New York City chronicles her journey of acceptance as she came of age in a family that refused to embrace organized religious belief… Whatever readers’ beliefs, they will find this search for acceptance enlightening” -School Library Journal
Posted by: Jill Maxick | March 12, 2007 at 12:08 PM