The New Atheist Crusaders and Their Unholy Grail: The Misguided Quest to Destroy Your Faith (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: new atheists, atheists seem, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, New Testament (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Garrison has long wielded wit against the buffoonery of the Religious Right in her articles for the Christian humor magazine the Wittenburg Door and at the blog God's Politics. Now she turns her satirical glance against the New Atheists, among whom she sees a similar obscurantist self-seeking at work. The result is an uneven book. It is occasionally witty, as when she compares Sam Harris to Anne Coulter, or Daniel Dennett to the pot-smoking professor in Animal House. At times she scores what could be devastating points against the New Atheists: if imposing religion on the young really is child abuse, why do these young people not show the medical symptoms of abuse victims? Garrison is also adept at pointing to places where radical Christianity is transforming society. But these successes are often lost amid informal writing, sentences like Simply put, I need to pay attention here because when my gut starts acting up, something ain't right, and paragraphs that end with single words like Kewl and phrases such as  'Nuff said. Finally, Garrison's turn to her own story—a minister father, dead too young of alcoholism—is touching at times, but it sits awkwardly beside the casual witticisms. (Jan.)
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Product Description

A challenge has been issued on matters of faith and Becky Garrison meets it head on in this witty yet poignant answer to the Anti-God gurus Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett.

Becky Garrison, religious satirist and senior contributing editor for The Wittenberg Door, is taking a stand. Where most Christians assume the character of the Cowardly Lion chanting, "I do believe, I do believe, I do believe," Garrison refuses to simply thrust tracts at these self-proclaimed infidels.

Instead, Garrison steels her pen and takes on the ungodly program of the New Atheists, skewering each argument with her sharp satiric wit. Garrison turns aside the atheists' assault without ignoring its real criticisms, namely, the church's inadequate response to war, evolution, medical ethics, social justice, and other important issues in the post-9/11 world.

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 084991972X
• ISBN-13: 978-0849919725
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,887 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wild ride, July 14, 2008

By	FaithfulReader.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

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

5.0 out of 5 stars A great Book, October 17, 2009

By	J. Sherman "Buffalo" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was intrigued and entertained by this book. Clearly she is a thinker with a great grasp of the issues. Becky is witty, insightful and a great writer. I enjoyed it immensely. Jeff Sherman. NYC, NY

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Witty, but Utterly Fails, February 10, 2008

By	K.H. - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

I like Becky Garrisons blogs on Belief.net and her writings for the Wittenburg Door. She is a talented satirist and she does in this book make a point or two. Unfortunately, she often gets sidetracked and her book suffers greatly for it. Because she is so committed with sounding "witty," "satirical," and "open-minded" she goes on short red-herrings that should have been devoted to stronger, more tightly constructed arguments.

I'm sure her sarcasm is natural, but it reads as if it is forced - it just happens too often. She is so bent on appearing fair minded by showing the sins of Christianity that she spends too many moments taking quick pot-shots at Ann Coulter, Jerry Fallwell, John Spong and even President Bush. Her message would be more constructive and logical to make the connection that Christ and his teachings must logically be based on the teaching itself (or better yet, Christ himself), not the aberrational sayings and actions of some of its members. She does take some time to write about the good things Christians have done (the logical conclusions of following Christ), but I am not so sure it adds up to the writings where she attacks the failings of many who claim Christ. By her own arguments, Dawkins may just have a case after all.

Overall, the book fails because it spends too much time on side issues of the debate (centering prayer for one) and not enough going after the heart of the debate - logical and theological reasons to believe and why it is not delusional. I hope she writes more, but I hope she stays more focused on the task at hand.