The End Of Faith - Religion, Terror, And The Future Of Reason

The End Of Faith - Sam Harris

     Many years ago I hit the literature store and purchased Mark Bowden's Killing Pablo, and Sam Harris' The End Of Faith... At that juncture in my life, the collusion of our American government and armed forces, with those who were supposed "enemies" of us, was of high interest to me... Thus, I finished Killing Pablo in a matter of days, while The End Of Faith sat idly on my shelf... Admittedly, I had began reading it easily a half dozen times, but hardly ever made it through the first 50 pages unto the second chapter... But now, over half a decade later, after many religious, spiritual, philosophical and political discussions and debates, as well as quite a few more (aided and unaided) spiritual/philosophical experiences under my belt, I felt I could pick up this book and knock it out in a relatively short amount of time... And that I did...

     A short background to help one understand my state of mind before fully diving into this review... I was raised Lutheran Christian as the majority of my mother's side of the family has Scandinavian ancestry... Lutheran practices began in the 1500's after the German Martin Luther rejected the papacy and insisted on teachings based solely off of faith... Whilst I'm sure my father's side, full blooded Mexicans from the state of Sinaloa, would insist on Catholicism, that was not the doctrine I was to be raised upon... I, like many other children, attended church as well as "Sunday School" every weekend, had been baptized as well as confirmed, and was scarcely aware that any of religious sects existed, let alone entirely different religions... Of course, I'm sure that's to the preference of any Christian parent bringing up a child, as the book of Deuteronomy states that any person trying to seduce someone into serving other Gods, shout be killed... Which seems to be more or less a teaching out of the Satanic Bible, as it instructs vengeance, as opposed to "turning the other cheek..." Enough digression though... I am an only child, thus my upbringing was significantly different than most of my peers, in that sense... Being a product of much solitude, I was afforded the time to contemplate and question MANY things that seemed to lack sense in our world... Religion and faith being two of those topics my thoughts often scrutinized...