a little book you should read...

A tiny little book, with so many good bits in it: Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris. Written as an open letter from a philosopher atheist to the religious fundamentalists of the USA, it's something that's really worth your time whether you're a Christian, Muslim, Jew, atheist, pagan, neo-spiritualist, or whatever. Essentially, in its 91 easy-reading pages it makes a good case about the former benefits and current detriments of religion in modern society, and how it is not tenable to be neutral about religion anymore. There were many notable points, and I'll try not to quote the whole book:

pg 27: "One of the most pernicious effects of religion is that it tends to divorce morality from the reality of human and animal suffering... religion allows people to imagine that their concerns are moral when they are highly immoral... expend[ing] more "moral" energy opposing abortion than fighting genocide... preaching against condom use in sub-Saharan Africa while millions die from AIDS there each year"

pg 44: "Other analyses paint the same picture: the United States is unique among wealthy democracies in its level of religious adherence' it is also uniquely beleaguered by high rates of homicide, abortion, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, and infant mortality...[Harris goes on with comparisons of percent-believers and crime/social disfunction in areas of the world and USA]... Of course, correlational data of this sort do not resolve questions of causality... however, these statistics prove that atheism is compatible with the basic aspirations of a civil society; they also prove, conclusively, that widespread belief in God does not ensure a society's health."

pg 18: "In assessing the moral wisdom of the Bible, it is useful to consider moral questions that have been solved to everyone's satisfaction. Consider the question of slavery. The entire world now agrees that slavery is an abomination... Consult the Bible, and you will discover that the creator of the universe clearly expects us to keep slaves: 'As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are around you... and they may be your property...' Leviticus 25:44-46"

Heck, I could go on and on - he makes many good points.

I've leave you with this: have a look at this book. If you don't want to spend the cash, see if your library has it. If they don't have it, ask them to get it.