Letter to a Christian Nation

By: Sam Harris

Narrated by: Jordan Bridges

Length: 1 hr and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this, purely on the basis of religious dogma, should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."

In response to his award-winning best seller The End of Faith, Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his courageous and controversial reply. Using rational argument, Harris offers a measured refutation of the beliefs that form the core of fundamentalist Christianity. Addressing current topics ranging from intelligent design and stem-cell research to the connections between religion and violence, Letter to A Christian Nation boldly challenges the influence that faith has on public life in the United States.

Don't miss Harris' The End of Faith.

©2006 Sam Harris. All rights reserved (P)2006 Simon and Schuster Inc. All rights reserved.

Succinct refutation of religion

Sam Harris is one of the most rational writers/philosophers on the planet. Listen to him!

Interesting listen

A quick listen. Harris makes many great, digestible arguments that are important for American Christians to hear.

Narrator wasn’t as expected

Should have paid closer attention. Unlike his other works this wasn’t narrated by Sam. Other than the switch up vocally I appreciated this book. Similar to his other works albeit shorter.

Simplicity

No punches pulled, brilliant.
Everyone needs this!! Fun, fun, fun
Can’t stop wanting everyone to read.

the examined life

Sam Harris has written this short work as a follow-up to his earlier book THE END OF FAITH (also available now from Audible).

Although titled in a way that suggests that christianity is the target of Harris' analyses and arguments (or, of that christian variant that insists the USA is, or should be, a "christian nation") don't let that mislead you.

It is actually a hyper-rationalist critique of religion in general, christianity simply providing the framework for structuring the arguments.

The work is well read and sufficiently short (a bit under two hours) that most would probably benefit from listening two or three times, at least to have given all the arguments a fair hearing.

An enormous amount of material is covered in the book and it would be no surprise to find that one argument or another triggered so emotional a reaction in the listener that portions of subsequent material were missed.

The book is a challenge to the religious, a challenge to apply the same rationality to religion and religious beliefs that we commonly apply to all other aspects of our world and lives.

Give this work a serious listen and you'll never deserve to be targeted by Socrates' "The unexamined life is not worth living"

Let's Speak Freely, Brother

Again, Harris hits home with a direct address to the true, uncompromising Evangel-American. His tone is pleasant, fair, and startlingly uncompromising.

This couldn't be much more timely and relevant.

The narration is smooth and crisp.

Short, concise, straight to the point, hard hittin

Letter to a Christian nation, as the title suggests, is written as a letter to a Christian nation i.e. the United States. The reader should not expect to find any original critique. What makes this book special is Sam Harris ability to deliver arguments in an extremely forceful and clear way.

He begins the book with some important premises which many religious people simply do not think about or have repressed. For instance, either God exists or he doesn't. If the Christian God exists (as he is described in the bible) then the Muslims are wrong and the other way around. Indeed if the Christians and the bible is correct then all Muslims (and Hindu, Buddhists, pagans etc) will go to hell.

If you believe that the bible is the word of God then you must believe the above and you must also advocate the stoning of people who work on Sundays etc. Ok, you say, but we shouldn't take it literally, fine, but then how do we interpret it, and how do we know which interpretation is the right one? Also if a divine being wrote the Bible is it too much to expect him to reveal a few secrets about the universe, like how to cure cancer or how electricity work or whatever. It seems that whoever wrote the bible did not know more than the average person at the time the bible was written. It would also have been nice if God or Jesus had said that slavery was wrong instead of letting us reach that interpretation two millennia (and many many slaves) later.

This was just one example out of a dozen or so arguments that Harris brings up suggesting that God does not exist or that if he does he is not a very nice creature. Because it is short, clear and very accessible this ranks among the best books I have read in this category. Highly recommended.

Provocative

Very targeted look at the evils of fundamentalism, regardless of the basic religion.

Enlightening

This was extremely eye opening and very beautiful. It filled me with a sense of purpose and responsibility. I intend to share it with as many people as I can in the hopes it will enlighten them as well if they allow it.
some of the terms I had to look up because they were beyond my vocabulary. The narrator can sound a bit angry at times but I wouldn't call it aggressive or hateful. overall a must listen to for anyone with an open mind. Especially Americans since our culture is so infected with Christianity.

Very insightful

An excellent treatise on the threat that religion poses to civilization. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in the preservation of secular society.