Let me first declare my self: Im not a religious person, a free-of-dogma spiritual Agnostic would likely be the best description of me. Im not atheist. I declared my self first to set the point of view from which this review is written. (Im in no-ones camp on religion).
As much as I was looking forward to reading this book, I have to say that I should have considered the point from which Dinesh D'Souza is making his arguments. This was a fatal flaw as Dinesh D'Souza is a re-born christian. He is the follower of the scripture in its literal form and quite dogmatic about this topic.
His usual stellar writing, the ability to dig out information, analyze it and present it in an immaculate manner, so prominent in his other books, were completely missing here. This book was full of out of context ideas from other (anti christian) prominent thinkers. He then uses scripture to make the atheists arguments sound like the rambling of crazy intellectuals with too much ego. In essence Dinesh D'Souza's scripture quoting becomes tedious, tiering, overkill that is torture to read and presents little in terms of valid counter-arguments.
The second reason for my low rating of this book is that most his arguments were rooted on evidence that is based on HIS PERSONAL TRUTHS, cultural misconceptions, scripture and faith. Which is no evidence at all. Notably there are no quotes of actual facts or science. He does not address any of the science behind the atheists writing, just the ideas they present. Honestly this earns him an eye-roll (from me) every few lines.
I think that Im not the right audience for this book. Reborn Christians, the literal followers of Christ would find the counter-arguments as presented by Dinesh D'Souza, interesting and will agree with them 100%, because through faith they ummm "know" these "truths" to be absolutely accurate. They will not question or (God help them) go and read the books/authors Dinesh D'Souza is trying, unsuccessfully, to debunk.
Now if you are like me (see declaration on top) then not only will you find this book a big disappointment (it lacks Dinesh D'Souza's brilliance displayed in his other books and his interviews). It will be like treading through mud, only to come up with one last eye-roll midway, before you give up and trade it to someone who can appreciate it better.
As much as I was looking forward to reading this book, I have to say that I should have considered the point from which Dinesh D'Souza is making his arguments. This was a fatal flaw as Dinesh D'Souza is a re-born christian. He is the follower of the scripture in its literal form and quite dogmatic about this topic.
His usual stellar writing, the ability to dig out information, analyze it and present it in an immaculate manner, so prominent in his other books, were completely missing here. This book was full of out of context ideas from other (anti christian) prominent thinkers. He then uses scripture to make the atheists arguments sound like the rambling of crazy intellectuals with too much ego. In essence Dinesh D'Souza's scripture quoting becomes tedious, tiering, overkill that is torture to read and presents little in terms of valid counter-arguments.
The second reason for my low rating of this book is that most his arguments were rooted on evidence that is based on HIS PERSONAL TRUTHS, cultural misconceptions, scripture and faith. Which is no evidence at all. Notably there are no quotes of actual facts or science. He does not address any of the science behind the atheists writing, just the ideas they present. Honestly this earns him an eye-roll (from me) every few lines.
I think that Im not the right audience for this book. Reborn Christians, the literal followers of Christ would find the counter-arguments as presented by Dinesh D'Souza, interesting and will agree with them 100%, because through faith they ummm "know" these "truths" to be absolutely accurate. They will not question or (God help them) go and read the books/authors Dinesh D'Souza is trying, unsuccessfully, to debunk.
Now if you are like me (see declaration on top) then not only will you find this book a big disappointment (it lacks Dinesh D'Souza's brilliance displayed in his other books and his interviews). It will be like treading through mud, only to come up with one last eye-roll midway, before you give up and trade it to someone who can appreciate it better.
The title of this book is a bit misleading - it should be titled something like "Everything A Reasonable Person Should Know About Science and Atheism."
D'Souza brings his mastery of reason, history, philosophy, and science to bear in answering not only the title question, but also "What's Wrong With the Arguments of Atheists?" and "Can a Believer Trust Science?" as well.
This is a must-read for anyone who loves truth and reason, whether you're a Christian, atheist, agnostic, or even Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu.
D'Souza brings his mastery of reason, history, philosophy, and science to bear in answering not only the title question, but also "What's Wrong With the Arguments of Atheists?" and "Can a Believer Trust Science?" as well.
This is a must-read for anyone who loves truth and reason, whether you're a Christian, atheist, agnostic, or even Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu.
