Deconstructing God

A Heretic's Case for Religion

By: Ian Bruce Gurvitz

Narrated by: Ian Bruce Gurvitz

Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Deconstructing God makes a case for an understanding of religion that transcends the conventional categories in which one is either a believer, atheist, or agnostic by focusing on mysticism as the experiential core of religion. The book makes the case that this paradigm we've inherited in Western culture has left us stuck in a series of false arguments about the subject of religion: Whether there is or isn't "a God", the religion vs. science "debate", the faith vs. reason "debate". We bat these discussions back and forth under the illusion that we're engaged in a meaningful dialogue about reilgion, when all the while there is a more subtle understanding of the phenomenon, in the form of a very human, earthly psychological experience that, while generally referred to as "mystical", is only a mystery in the sense that it has been obscured by our false understanding and lack of proper education. It is an experience that is at the root of every religious tradition, both Eastern and Western.

Please note: The introduction (Introduction: Modern Religion: From Inanity to Insanity) appears last in the audiobook, unlike in the print equivalent, where it appears after the Prologue. This is currently the best available source audio from the publisher.

©2010 Ian Gurvitz; 2010 CreateSpace

Critic reviews

"Although I don't agree 100% with Ian Gurvitz's analysis of religion - who does on this subject? - I enjoyed reading this insightful, funny, and illuminating book. And we both think Pat Robertson is a douchebag." (Bill Maher)

Distracting Background Music

One star - for the distracting background music throughout the entire book. I was really looking forward to listening to this book, but the generic sample loops were up too high in the mix. Do not purchase this book unless you want to hear philosophy of religion backed by bluegrass guitar. Almost every genre of music is represented in this audiobook, including techno, distortion rock, smooth jazz, and '90's hip hop. Some of these repetitive loops are louder than others, but all are random and inappropriate.

Abysmal amateurish performance, stay away!

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

God, I can't believe I wasted one Audible credit on this terrible production.Why don't they have the decency to tell the author that he doesn't have any talent to narrate? He literally recites EVERY sentence of this audiobook with the exact same phrase melody, which makes you want to bang your head against the wall after 10 minutes. I've only made it through one hour of this ordeal, then I gave up. It seems the content is actually not uninteresting, but with the author narrating it itself it is just unbearable. Don't waste your money on this one!

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Terrible, terrible, terrible!