What Are the Most Persuasive Arguments Against Religion


I just finished one of the best books I have ever read, Educated, by Tara Westover. It is a memoir by a now 34 year old scholar who grew up in a large family of survivalists. She did not enter a classroom until her late teens and received very little homeschooling.

The first sentence is a disclaimer she is not writing about religion and the book is not intended to disparage any religious beliefs. She has done interviews with world famous personalities, Oprah, Bill Gates, etc. In them she says religion is a help to many people and she does not discourage that. But, the book illustrates religion, in the heads of the wrong people in the wrong place, it is dangerous and harmful. We all know this in the abstract, but reading and hearing it in interviews from a talented story teller is a meaningful experience.  

The book was published in 2018 and has sold six million copies and has been translated into 30 languages. Richard Dawkins book, The God Delusion, is the most famous atheist book and has sold two million. My guess is the Westover book will be more influential in disparaging religion than the Dawkins and other atheist-inspired books.

Most Christians, of course, will not agree Westover's book will disparage religion. They will conclude the religion of her parents was wrong. The correct version of Christianity is their own. If only people would recognize this people would believe the proper version. All would be well. 

The beautiful and young Ms. Westover recounts her life in an understated way, so much different than religion which overstates and exaggerates. Her family had a toxic mixture of religion and mental illness. It led her parents, when she was in her late 20's, to come from rural Idaho to Harvard where Westover was finishing her Oxford Ph.D thesis. They came for one purpose. That purpose was to badger her one last time to find God and save her soul from hell. They camped out in her dorm room for a week of nonstop pressure. After they finally left in a huff because they were unsuccessful, she herself had a mental breakdown. The entire family is now separated into camps based on religion with threats of violence present. 

I suspect Tara Westover will be a force for good many years to come.

Comments

  1. tsmJanuary 11, 2021 at 1:10 PM

    a story about a disfunctional family with mental illness in the mix is now parleyed into an attack on religion. good spin there old man. a suggestion: maybe you could/should read books that would make you think, as opposed to books that merely reinforce your anti-Christian mind set.

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