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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Right on Target, July 9, 2010
There has been a lot going on about how "bad" religion is in general (and Christianity in particular) and Becky Garrison's book provides a refreshing rebuttal. Ms. Garrison is a satirist and yes, she can come across as a smart-aleck; she admits it herself. But through the whole book you can see a caring person who really does take the Christian message seriously.
Ms. Garrison does not just take the atheists to task -- in fact, in Appendix B in this book she has a cordial, friendly interview with Hemant Mehta, who calls himself the "friendly atheist." Both of them show the same exasperation with a the pushy attitude displayed by many Christiands AND atheists. As in her book RED AND BLUE GOD, BLACK AND BLUE CHURCH, she also takes other Christians to task for providing fodder for the "new atheists" by the way they act. In other words, she tells Christians to shape up and start practicing what they preach. And she's not afraid to share some of her own shortcomings, too.
She presents some good, solid arguments for believing the Christian faith, and she takes the "new atheists" to task for constantly picking on the "lunatic fringe" people who call themselves Christians, and who actually irritate their fellow Christians! I'll leave it to you, the reader to decide whether or not you agree with her, but through the book you will read excellent thoughts concerning the credibility of Christianity.
A nice extra about the book -- you learn a lot about the Bible itself! In fact, she gives an explanation of the much-misunderstood admonition of Jesus to "turn the other cheek." She gives it in a cultural setting that will show how assertive that command actually is! That one page alone was worth the price of the whole book. But I'll leave it to you to read it!
It's a worthwhile book to read.
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Garrison picks apart the new atheists, June 6, 2008
This review is from: The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: The Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith (Paperback)
Reporter, writer, and satirist Becky Garrison who ably wields her MDiv from Yale steps into the ring to take on these atheist crusaders, who have set out to undermine religion, in her book The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail. Garrison is a Christian writer who contributes to the God's Politics blog, serves as contributing editor to the Wittenburg Door, among other projects. Though not a scientist, Garrison is an able researcher who carefully steps through the various levels involved in this issue: science, religion, politics, and some pretty flimsy, overblown accusations the new atheists level against Christians.
Keep in mind that while Garrison is fighting the new atheists' writings toe-to-toe, she's not setting out to attack them personally. By adopting a kind of zany, light-hearted, tongue-in-cheek tone, Garrison avoids a combative tone, opting instead to kind of playfully slap around the views of the new atheists. She doesn't deal a knock-out blow, but carefully picks them apart with a wide smile, revealing the foolish bits of their arguments, while never leaving behind a bloody opponent on the mat.
You could call it a humane mercy-killing of the new atheists.
In addition, Garrison uses her journalistic expertise to assemble a carefully chosen group of scientists and religion experts to stand in her corner. She even finds atheists who want nothing to do with the closed-minded new atheists, but rather want a friendly, civil discussion about whether or not God exists (201). With friendly atheists, theologians, God-believing scientists, and Christian activists in her corner, she unleashes round after round of exploration and analysis of the new atheists. While the new atheists may dismiss Garrison because she's not credentialed into the academic elite, I assure you this book is a knock-out blow to the new atheists brand.
Garrison isn't so much concerned about debunking all atheists though. She presents plausible explanations about God that will make any atheist think twice, but she isn't concerned so much with winning a fight to prove God once and for all. I stress this because many apologetic Christian books can adopt a combative, us vs. them tone. Garrison isn't up to that here. Rather, she's picking apart the sensational, absolutist claims of the new atheists who misrepresent God and religion.
From: www.inamirrordimly.com (search for Garrison)
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wild ride, July 14, 2008
This review is from: The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: The Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith (Paperback)
Prominent atheists like Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Richard Dawkins (known as the "New Atheists") have made quite a stir in recent years by attacking Christianity head-on, in part through a number of bestselling books.
Becky Garrison makes quite a stir in the Christian world through her work as senior contributing editor for The Wittenberg Door ("Pretty Much the World's Only Religious Satire Magazine"). Most often, the targets of her biting satire are poufy-haired televangelists, Religious Right fundies, and even the occasional milquetoast, mainline liberal. Considering the way she lavishes her wit and sarcasm on the faithful, you can just imagine what she has in store for an assortment of atheists when they begin treading on her turf.
Only you don't have to imagine that at all, since Garrison takes aim at said assortment in THE NEW ATHEIST CRUSADERS. And she does so with her usual gusto. Using their own words against them, Garrison skewers their arguments, pokes fun at their ignorance and exposes their distortions. And you can tell she has a lot of fun doing all that. But she also wisely points her finger where it often belongs --- leveled straight at Christians who give atheists too much fodder and pointing right back at herself when she behaves badly.
"When confronted with aggressive atheists," she writes, "some Christians assume the mantle of the Cowardly Lion in The Wizard of Oz chanting, 'I do believe, I do believe, I do believe.'" Garrison goes on to describe the atheists' stepped-up efforts to dismantle the Christian faith. "As long as people continue to buy into the anti-God game, this junk is gonna come down the pike. Time to put an end to this. So, I guess I gotta put on my satirical shorts, get into the ring, and put up my dukes."
Garrison aims her punches at her adversaries on such matters as their faulty theology, oversimplification and reliance on medieval clerics in an effort to try to prove their point --- as well as their many sins of omission. She takes them to task for sniffing out Christianity's lunatic fringe and positioning them as mainstream, and failing to acknowledge the tremendous amount of good done by Christians throughout history and in contemporary society. Amid all this scuffling, Garrison provides poignant anecdotes from her own life that offer glimpses into her journey of faith and activism.
The book also features a witty timeline of atheism, an interview with Hemant the Friendly Atheist and extensive notes, some of which are a hoot. Readers familiar with Garrison's writing style (she is also the author of the equally satirical RED AND BLUE GOD, BLACK AND BLUE CHURCH) will be well prepared for her casual, sassy and slangy way with language. If playing fast and loose with English offends you, well, you may need to gear up for a wild ride.
--- Reviewed by Marcia Ford
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