(November 9, 2021 at 12:54 am)Jehanne Wrote: One item that I would like to bring to the attention of the OP is that the book Is Atheism Dead? is very highly rated, much higher than, say, The God Delusion. On a handful of negative reviews are being made about the book. . . Unlike Professor Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, or Dr. Sam Harris' End of Faith, this book has generated almost no reaction from the atheist community or skeptics at large. (I subscribe to the American Atheist news letter, and they have not, so far as I know, even commented on the book; I have not heard about it mentioned by anyone, except for here.) Instead, the people who are reading it are believers, who, like the book's author, Eric Metaxas, subscribe to the principle of "faith seeking understanding".
This is all true, but it smacks of smugness to let something like this go entirely unchallenged. I detect a general consensus here that the zeitgeist is with the nones so the best plan is to sit back and ignore books and arguments like this. But I think that can be dangerous. I've finished the book now and can see how it would resonate with even those on the fence about their beliefs. There are many grounds for objection. Metaxas misrepresents the science and state of archeology on many occasions. As usual in these types of books, he ignores the best arguments against his positions, favoring the erection of strawmen to create the illusion of easy victories. And his contempt for atheists, whose views he mischaracterizes repeatedly, drips from every page. He even includes a chapter, "Is Atheism Evil?" in which his answer is resoundingly clear. So it's disappointing that there has been a complete lack of response from the atheist community. I get the argument that responding to certain arguments can dignify them and lift them from obscurity. But that's not the case here. This book is not obscure. Within the genre of books of this type, it is a bestseller. And anyone reading it who might be open to persuasion will find nothing out there rebutting it -- only glowing reviews. What conclusions are they likely to draw?
