It's Dangerous to Believe

Religious Freedom and Its Enemies

By: Mary Eberstadt

Narrated by: Margaret Winston

Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Mary Eberstadt, "one of the most acute and creative social observers of our time" (Francis Fukuyama), shines a much-needed spotlight on a disturbing trend in American society: discrimination against traditional religious belief and believers, who are being aggressively pushed out of public life by the concerted efforts of militant secularists.

In It's Dangerous to Believe, Mary Eberstadt documents how people of faith - especially Christians who adhere to traditional religious beliefs - face widespread discrimination in today's increasingly secular society. Eberstadt details how recent laws, court decisions, and intimidation on campuses and elsewhere threaten believers who fear losing their jobs, their communities, and their basic freedoms solely because of their convictions. They fear that their religious universities and colleges will capitulate to aggressive secularist demands. They fear that they and their families will be ostracized or will have to lose their religion because of mounting social and financial penalties for believing. They fear they won't be able to maintain charitable operations that help the sick and feed the hungry.

Is this what we want for our country?

Religious freedom is a fundamental right, enshrined in the First Amendment. With It's Dangerous to Believe, Eberstadt calls attention to this growing bigotry and seeks to open the minds of secular liberals whose otherwise good intentions are transforming them into modern inquisitors. Not until these Progressives live up to their own standards of tolerance and diversity, she reminds us, can we build the inclusive society America was meant to be.

©2016 Mary Eberstadt (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Truth reigns

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes because it is a clear and concise account of the dangers that are looming around the corner for every American.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the fact that it is well written and well documented, and it is about time a voice is heard saying that it is okay to love God, family and country -- in the public square, no less.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Americans need to wake up to the fact that their lives and their liberty have been stealthily hijacked by very powerful, well-funded, and militant groups, and time is of the essence if we want to protect and defend our inalienable and self-evident human rights.

Any additional comments?

Thought provoking and fascinating book on our current and disturbing state of affairs.

Very Important Book

Eberstadt brings a crucial lens to the modern struggles of religious freedom, comparing today's anti-Christian attacks on homeschooling, churches, and Christian nonprofits and universities to the Salem Witch Trials; the Red Scare, and the 1990s daycare scare.

Her call for non-Christians to understand these problems and offer civility is key, as is her praise of Mr. Obergefell (from the gay marriage case) for his rare tweet honoring Scalia during an online hate fest. Such civility is sorely needed now, and this excellent book explains why.

No matter your belief

No matter your belief you should be able to get behind the essence of this book. Which is: let freedom of speech reign and everyone just accept that it's OK to have differing beliefs. Her citations and references are excellent and pull from all types. Very impressive and very informative.

Counter culture

Great book, Christianity is the new counter culture again and she backs it up with fact after fact

Highly recommended

Atheists, agnostics and believers alike will gain much from this book. Surely any decent person will be alarmed with current state

Not about Freedom of Religion

I am doing research on Freedom of Religion in Europe vs. the United States and found the book while searching for literature on the challenges faced by the United States in this regard at the moment, as they seem to be quite different from those in Europe.

The book was a huge disappointment. It is in fact not so much about Freedom of Religion, but rather a semi-hysterical 5-hour rant about the alleged threats of secularism - and what the author calls "the sexual revolution" - to Christian values. The author doesn't seem to see the contradiction in calling secularism a religion - ironically using the word "religion" as something disgraceful in that context - and at the same time claiming that it is threatening Freedom of Religion.

The author's choice of words is often overly biased which makes it difficult to filter out the possibly interesting or important points the author could be making (e.g. regarding Freedom of Expression), which was particularly disappointing.

Despite the low scientific or factual value of the book it's sort of a fun listening. It's quite dramatic in it's descriptions of the horrors of "the secular religion" and it's advocates, and was therefore fun enough for me to finish it without too much effort. The performance is entertainingly dramatic with the appropriate expression of disgust in the pronunciation of certain words and telling of certain anecdotes which are clearly considered very shocking by the reader as well as the author.

I cannot, however, recommend this book to anyone who is seriously interested in the issues of Freedom of Religion and it's enemies. The title is therefore misleading.