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Letter to a Christian Nation

Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris (Alfred A. Knopf, 2006)

Jean E. Barker wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle, 1 October 2006:

Harris, in his words, "set[s] out to demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity in its most committed forms." A few of the topics he inveighs against include Christianity's claims to exclusive truth, the Ten Commandments, creationism and intelligent design, anti-abortion stances, opposition to HIV and HPV vaccines, biblical prophesies, and the problem of theodicy, how a good and all-powerful God can allow so much suffering. In sum, he seeks to "engage Christianity at its most divisive, injurious, and retrograde."

This book has now become a best seller in America – does this imply a change, "a swing in the cultural pendulum", asks Will Hutton in the Observer, 25 February 2007.

… the Christian right has found progress tougher, in part because of an embarrassing string of scandals, in part because secular America has begun to reassert itself and in part because a growing number of American Christians are uneasy about allowing religion to become so politicised and so closely associated with one party. Fundamentalist Islam has also made a difference; it has reminded the bulk of Americans of the wisdom of the American constitution - keeping religion and state firmly apart.
… One of the key speeches Barack Obama made last year before announcing he was running for the Democrat nomination was at the Call to Renewal convention, a Christian group which declares independence from radical conservatism and focuses on the alleviation of poverty. The best American leaders of the past had faith, Obama argued; but they had not tried to evangelise the nation, recognising that a plural society had to be based on tolerance and universally applicable laws that cannot be theocratic. His standing soared.

Does any member wish to add to these comments?

Gordon Peckham