The end of faith

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The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Light of Reason is the title of the German translation of Sam Harris' first work . It was published in the original English under the title The End of Faith in 2004.

content

Harris wrote the book under the impression of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City , Washington, DC and Pennsylvania . Sam Harris' essayistic and subjective book stands in the context of a recognizable resurgence of religion in the USA. He examines the connection between religion and violence as well as the background to Islamist terror. He also differentiates between religion and spirituality and calls for an end to faith. In seven chapters, Harris devotes himself to the various historical and current manifestations of religion, with an emphasis on Christianity and Islam . In his investigation of Christianity, he mentions crusades , witch burnings , the persecution of Jews and other people of different faiths. He also shows the influence of Christian anti-Judaism on the Holocaust . He accuses Islam of celebrating a death cult and quotes relevant passages from the Koran . The author complains that a fundamental criticism of faith is taboo; he formulates a clear criticism of non-verifiable facts and postulated inconsistencies or contradictions and explains that religious statements must also be subjected to a critical examination.

reception

The book brought Sam Harris the 2005 PEN / Martha Albrand Prize for non-fiction in the USA. It sold more than 300,000 times there and sparked heated controversy. In 2006 Harris responded to the criticism with his second book " Letter to a Christian Land ".

literature

  • 2004: The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason . New York: WW Norton & Co. 2004. ISBN 0-393-03515-8
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Light of Reason . Translated by Oliver Fehn . Winterthur: Edition Tracks. 2007. ISBN 3905752069
Letter to a Christian country: A settlement with religious fundamentalism . Bertelsmann 2008. ISBN 3570009971

Individual evidence

  1. Adler, Jerry. "The New Naysayers" ( August 17, 2011 memento on the Internet Archive ), Newsweek , 2006. (Retrieved May 23, 2013)