The End of Faith

By: Sam Harris

Narrated by: Brian Emerson

Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

Here is an impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely work delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today's world.

Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind's willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify harmful behavior and sometimes heinous crimes. He asserts that in the shadow of weapons of mass destruction, the world can no longer tolerate views that pit one true god against another. Most controversially, he argues that the we cannot afford moderate lip service to religion - an accommodation that only blinds us to the real perils of fundamentalism.

While warning against the encroachment of organized religion into world politics, Harris also draws on new evidence from neuroscience and insights from philosophy to explore spirituality as a biological, brain-based need. He calls on us to invoke that need in taking a secular humanistic approach to solving the problems of this world.

©2007 Sam Harris (P)2004 W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

Easy to misinterpret

Any additional comments?

A brilliant discussion of why faith (belief in something you can’t prove) is incompatible with a world brimming with weapons of mass destruction. I'd stopped reading this after a couple of chapters when the book came out years ago because Harris said something that angered me. Since then, he’s found himself frequently explaining how people misinterpreted that part (allegedly saying Islam should be outlawed; he also has pointed out misinterpretations about the part involving a nuclear first strike on the Middle East). So I decided to try it again since I've enjoyed his subsequent books, especially “The Moral Landscape.” And, yep, I didn’t fully grasp what he was saying. This is a deeply thought-provoking book. I especially liked his takedown of Chomsky on moral equivalency.

The narrator is boring and robotic at first but either he becomes more invested in the text as it goes along or I got used to him so that about a third of the way through, his delivery didn't grate anymore.

Amazing

This made me smile and I loved it. Thanks for writing it Sam! I plan to share it with all my friends and family. It was that good. A+

Just listen, you wont regret it.

How much further along our species would be if everyone could grasp this book's reasonableness...

Sam's intellectually honesty is refreshing!!!

I was a big fan before reading "The end of faith" and am even more so now. Thanks Sam!!

It would be nice if humanity would grow up

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, this book explains adroitly why religion is such a decisive force within human cultures. With humankind reaching the point where anyone will be able to destroy us all such superstition is anachronistic and potentially a madness that can end all life as we know it.

Any additional comments?

Please read this!

Sam Harris does it again...

It's not read by the author, which I usually greatly prefer, especially with someone like Sam Harris. It is still an absolutely fascinating, thought-provoking, reasonable book on...reason. 10/10 would recommend.

A pleasure!

This book helped clarify my thinking. I warmly recommend it as a field manual to anyone who wants to actively contribute to an increased probability of world peace.

rational, reasoned and focused.

Harris is not afraid to share what he's learned of the world and of faith. He's not afraid to share his opinions. I found this books edifying and instructive, a good primer for modern atheism.

deep, thoughtful, well constructed

if you're going to take a rational but strong stance about religion, in favor of rationalism you better come correct and Sam Harris did just that. criticality is one thing, but Harris takes a factual, evidence based, big swing at most religious groups and the level of suspending reality it takes to remain faithful.

worth the read, both as an atheist as well as a zealot. make yourself uncomfortable and grow from the knowledge.

Thought-Provoking

Thought-provoking rationality. Bluntly, yet eloquently honest with a genuine concern for mankind. This is NOT a hateful book, no, it is an effort to end hatred. If listeners (readers) will approach with an open, logical mind, then amazing changes in perspective will occur. Choose an open, logical mind and the battle is already won.