Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit [Hardcover]

R. D. Gold (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2008

There is a great debate unfolding across the country pitting reason and science against revelation and faith. Bondage of the Mind talks to that vast audience of modern readers who are trying to figure out where they stand on the spectrum of religious belief.

Recognizing that even the most skeptical among us are uncomfortable with the atheist label, Bondage of the Mind develops a powerful argument that our choice is not limited to fundamentalism (I believe all of it) or atheism (I believe none of it).

Bondage of the Mind relentlessly dismantles the doctrines of religious fundamentalism - focusing on Orthodox Judaism (Jewish fundamentalism) -- but its core message is not that religion should be abandoned. Rather, the core message is that religious fundamentalism is an insidious force that must be combated if our hearts and minds are to remain free.

Bondage of the Mind announces itself as a book about truth, but it is also a book about freedom.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

From School Library Journal

With all the energy of an iconoclast of 1859 or 1927, R.D. Gold has pitched himself against the hyperliteralism of Orthodox Judaism, which is just as likely as conservative Islam and Fundamentalist Christianity to take the words of its scripture not just as holy writ but as bare, literal and inerrant fact. Gold patiently explores the not just scriptural literalism, but the notion of Mosaic authorship and "hidden codes" in the Torah and concludes with a vision of an illusion-free sense of religion.

From the Author

"R. D. Gold is a fresh new voice, a witty and mordant guide through the moral and intellectual chaos of the tribalism and special pleading that is Orthodox Judaism - and, by extension, all religious fundamentalism. I enjoyed this book immensely. You will, too." - CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, world-renowned journalist, editor, and book critic, best-selling author of God Is Not Great, Thomas Jefferson: Author of America, and Thomas Paine's "Rights of Man": A Biography

"Bondage of the Mind is a strong, original, and very readable book that addresses an important topic in a clear and convincing manner - and it could not be more timely. It is not only for a Jewish audience or a liberal audience. I, myself, am a conservative columnist and former editor of a Catholic magazine, and I found the book captivating. Bondage of the Mind provocatively confronts issues of interest to everyone." - DINESH D'SOUZA, named by the New York Times Magazine as one of America's most influential conservative thinkers, best-selling author of What's So Great About America, The End of Racism, Illiberal Education, and What's So Great About Christianity

"There is no hotter topic in today's culture wars than science and religion. All the hot-button issues - evolution vs. creationism, stem cell research, separation of church and state - have their root in a literal reading of the holy scriptures, especially the Old Testament. Bondage of the Mind presents one of the clearest outlines of what we know about the true origins of these texts and what really happened in history. From this new beginning, so elegantly presented in this page-turning narrative, we can begin the process of cultural renewal. Bondage of the Mind is a must-read for anyone who cares about the future of humanity." - MICHAEL SHERMER, publisher of Skeptic magazine, noted columnist for Scientific American, author of How We Believe, The Science of Good and Evil, and Why Darwin Matters

"This compelling critique of literalist religion takes the case of Orthodox Judaism to prove a point of broad interest: Religion expresses humanity's aspiration, but fundamentalism is the enemy of rationality and freedom. The challenge to Orthodoxy is argued clearly and passionately - and convincingly. Bondage of the Mind is a very important book - indeed, the most important book of its kind in the last hundred years." - JACOB NEUSNER, one of the world's leading Jewish scholars and theologians, author of countless books, among them The Formation of the Jewish Intellect, Struggle for the Jewish Mind, and American Judaism: Adventure in Modernity

"Bondage of the Mind is a courageous critique of Jewish orthodoxies, the likes of which have not been framed since the early debates over the credibility of revealed religion in the nineteenth century." - DAVID H. AARON, professor of Hebrew Bible and History of Interpretation at the Hebrew Union College's Institute of Religion, author of Biblical Ambiguities: Metaphor, Semantics, and Divine Imagery.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 268 pages
• Publisher: Aldus Books Inc (March 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0979640601
• ISBN-13: 978-0979640605
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,034,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Almost missed this one., August 11, 2008

By 

Greg "Saganite" (Brooklyn Park, Mongolia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit (Hardcover)

I had heard of this book, but didn't think I cared about "Old Testament Fundamentalism," so I had ignored it. But the review in the latest Skeptic magazine praised it so highly I thought I should give it a try. What a remarkable book. It's no exaggeration to call it a page-turner, and Gold manages to pack a lot of information into a tight space not by writing dense prose, as academics often do, but by selecting examples and quotations that are so on-target that no more need be said. And as far as not caring about "Old Testament" fundamentalism (I came out of a Christian fundamentalist background), it turns out that all fundamentalisms are basically the same thing. Who knew? What's more, a very efficient way of countering Christian extremism turns out to be countering Old Testament extremism, because much of what is fanatical and wicked in Christianity has roots in the Torah as much as if not more than in the gospels, letters of Paul, and Revelation. I cannot recommend this book too highly, even to people with no real interest in the topic, because it is an exemplar of how to present a persuasive case that is long on reason and short on mere rhetoric. I have seen no finer recent example of a book that manages to be genuinely cogent while avoiding polemics.

I was shocked to read a couple of the 1-star reviews...that is, until I read the one that says, in essence, that it doesn't matter that archeology and reason point in another direction, what really matters is "faith." I can't help wondering how faith is possible given that the thing being believed is not merely unknown, or mysterious, or unknowable, but demonstrably wrong. I mean, it's one thing to believe your mate is faithful because you've never seen him or her cheating, but it's quite another to maintain that faith when you walk in on a tryst. This book demonstrates as clearly as anything could that fundamentalists are like the spouse who stays married after being asked by the cheater, "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book that every liberal Jew and every liberal Christian should read!, April 20, 2008

By 

John M. Eden (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit (Hardcover)

Bondage of the Mind is an important, brilliant book that is long overdue. There are lots of books promoting atheism, and even more (by several orders of magnitude) promoting religious fundamentalism. This book promotes neither. Instead, it asks readers to open their eyes - and their minds - to consider a compelling argument that the dogma of fundamentalism in general and of Orthodox Judaism in particular is false.

The author has done extensive research and thoroughly documents all the evidence he presents. The book is a first-rate piece of scholarship, but the author writes in a colloquial, often humorous style that make it a pleasure to read. He builds a powerful case that it makes no sense for anyone to give up much of his or her freedom for, as he puts it, the straightjacket of a flawed fundamentalist belief system.
Some of the reviews posted here are just flat out wrong. One claims that "Gold had pitted himself against an accomplished logician (Rabbi Dovid Gottlieb) and is found desperately wanting" and to prove this he recommends "a parallel reading of his and Gottlieb's texts based on logic alone." Well I did that, and it is Rabbi Gottlieb who comes up holding the short end of the stick - and I say that as the holder of a Masters degree in Philosophy from Stanford University, where the Philosophy Department is particularly strong in mathematical logic and the philosophy of science. (If you read Bondage of the Mind, you'll also see that Gold is not "frothing at the mouth," as Mr. Greenblatt suggests. An unfair ad hominem attack if I ever saw one.)

I read Rabbi Gottlieb's tract, "Living Up...to the Truth", that Gold cites in his book. It is a finely honed piece of rhetoric that presents arguments in such a way that they seem convincing to those who are already convinced, those who want to be convinced, or those who are not skilled in the analysis of extended argumentation. But the arguments themselves are completely without merit, repeatedly abuse legitimate principles of reasoning, and are flawed to the point of irresponsibility. For example, in Part III of his tract his absurd arguments would surely earn him a failing grade in rational decision theory. Similar to his distortion of the scientific method (mentioned in Gold's book), in which he pretends to be promoting the scientific method but in fact is propounding a fallacious line of reasoning that has nothing at all to do with the scientific method, here Gottlieb pretends to endorse principles of rational decision theory while in fact he is promoting a highly irrational, potentially dangerous principle of behavior.

A second reviewer alleges that Gold doesn't understand Judaism because, he claims, Orthodox Judaism is not based on a literal reading of the Torah. All anyone has to do is read Gottlieb's tract to determine, over and over again, that this statement is simply not true.

Bondage of the Mind probably won't change what card-carrying fundamentalists believe. (But it could, and there's no shame in hoping that it does.) But I think it is required reading by all liberal Jews and Christians. It gives them powerful ammunition to answer the Orthodox Jews and Christian evangelicals when they claim, as Gold puts it so accurately, that they and they alone know The Truth and that it comes from God.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, August 11, 2008

By 

Cornflake Girl "Andrea" (Bayside, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit (Hardcover)

Reading through these reviews, I am flabbergasted as to the vitriol thrown against R.D. Gold's fabulous book. With such stellar authors out there nowadays about the anti-religion venue (Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, etc.) Gold brings something new to the table, and he does it in a very unpretentious way. He doesn't act like you're a complete idiot if you choose to believe; he doesn't talk down to you, which is something these atheist authors do all too often. Also, Gold isn't TRYING to get you to change religions or be an atheist. He's not poking fun at faith, in fact quite the contrary. He's saying that if you ascribe to the beliefs of fundamentalism/Orthodox Judaism, than you should do so on faith because the so-called facts that fundamentalists adhere to are full of holes.

And to say that Mr. Gold doesn't understand the concept of faith, quite the contrary. Consider a line from pg. 116, "The Jews may indeed be God's chosen people, but this conclusion does not follow logically from the historical evidence. If you believe that, you are taking it purely on faith." In other words, Gold is ENCOURAGING faith, over the unwavering belief in "facts" that simply aren't true. He's not even really writing in an overly persuasive manner; he's simply laying the facts at your feet, so if you do choose to believe, at least you'll be aware of the truth. It seems to me that the people who are the most offended by this book are those who are biased, and take offense at Gold's stark (but honest) portrayal of their religion. That's an intellectual error on their part. I can understand how a person who has lived according to the supposed factual creeds described in this book could be made to feel stupid after reading it, but I don't think you should write a review unless you can be completely objective.

And this book is not like the books out now by Dawkins and Hitchens, as some make it out to be. This is not a treatise for atheism, far from it. It is exactly what its cover claims it is - the explanation of "How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit." I'd recommend it to anyone who believes they can read objectively.