Customer Reviews

God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

S. T. Joshi is in true militant form in his new book. In the introduction, Joshi avers that religion persists in the face of overwhelming contrary evidence for one simple reason: "People are stupid" (12). The rest of the book appears to be an extended commentary on that point, taking to task a whole slew of figures the popularity of whose ideas on religion presumably can only be accounted for by human stupidity. The range Joshi covers is sweeping: William James, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, William F. Buckley Jr., Stephen L. Carter, Jerry Falwell, Reynolds Price, Anne Dillard, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Neale Donald Walsch, and Guenter Lewy. It is by no means incidental that Joshi at one point goes off on a tangent about arguments for why it might be a good thing for humanity to die out entirely.

Joshi's tone is about what you would expect: mostly entertaining if you agree with him, mostly offensive if you disagree, but over-the-top either way. However, as far as his analyses go, he always provides a fundamentally cogent critique of the ideas he is dealing with, which makes his book worthwhile even if you really wish he would please be just a little bit less combative.

"There are few more irritating writers than G. K. Chesterton."

So begins chapter 2 of the most irritating book I've read in years. Not based on the arguments of the author, but on the horrific writing of the same. This has to be one of the most porrly written books available here at Amazon. The author stabs at unknown targets like shooting gnats in the night with a shotgun. He is extremeley selective in how he quotes his targets in order to setup strawman after strawman. It's just appalling.

Believe me, I am a big fan of books that disagree with my viewpoint (and I do not hide the fact that this is one). While Richard Dawkins' books are forceful, his writing is readable. While Christopher Hitchens' books are wordy, they are almost poetic. This is a forceful and non-poetic treatment by an author with no credibility on the topic and no ability in his writing.

You can read my reviews of other books that disagree with my worldview here at Amazon and you'll see that I don't rate books poorly because they disagree with me. The book is just aweful. Have I said that enough? I think so.

So, why three stars? Simple, the author quotes so much from others that somewhere around 20 percent of the books was not written by him. That part is good.

This is an excellent book. Mr. Joshi does a very good job of exposing the inadequacies in the arguements of the authors he critiques. This book is a must read for atheists and independent thinkers.

I must take issue with a statement Mr. Joshi repeats more than once, [Most people are ignorant of] "...physics, biology, chemistry, geology, anthropology, philosophy, and the many other branches of human knowledge required for even a rudimentarily intelligent opinon on questions of the existence of God, the soul, and the afterlife." I do hope he isn't saying that we all need to have Phd's. I would think that a decent high school education would touch on all the subjects one would need to ask questions which would lead you to the conclusion that there is no god. This is ofcourse assuming that you can get past your childhood indoctrination. That's the really hard part.

Although he states many times that many of the social institutions we have are simply instuments to maintain civil order and not necessarily sent to us from god, his critique of marriage (ch. 10) is disappointing. As an Atheist, I feel that if our views are to be held in high regard, we must present ways in which our views are not only the closest to truth, but also go towards building a better society. Simply saying that an institution is a instrument of the religous and political establishment doesn't mean that it cannot go towards promoting a stable, efficient, strong society.

This book is really smart and hard-hitting, but also can be pretty funny as the author exposes the many ways in which religion just doesn't stack up. In this book S. T. Joshi, chiefly known as a literary critic and editor, tackles some contemporary religious "thinkers" and shows that these emperors have no clothes. It is true he heaps abuse upon his victims, but only after pointing out the ways in which they deserve such attacks.

Joshi doesn't buy into the standard view that it isn't fair play to point out the problems with religion. He uses a logical approach and finds holes in religious doctrine. For instance, he talks about problems with William F. Buckley's Catholicism, T. S. Eliot's belief that religion must be the foundation of civilization, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's belief in the afterlife, and Neale Donald Walsch's multi-volume "conversations with God." Along the way, the book brings other atheistic or secular thinkers into the discussion, drawing upon the likes of Bertrand Russell, H. L. Mencken, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. J. Ayer, all of whom had similar opinions to Joshi's.

One contemporary example is about fundamentalism, and how today's fundamentalists seem to feel free to pick and chose those portions of the Bible they will adhere to, thus not truly being fundamental at all but somewhat self-serving and opportunistic. What is sad, the book finds, is where so many people allow religion to hold them back from realizing their full potential, whether artistic, intellectual, athletic, etc. If God gave man a brain, why doesn't he use it? After all, Jesus talked about being a Good Shepherd; not being a Good Sheep.

So basically this book will be a hard pill for many to swallow, but the truth can hurt sometimes. It can only be hoped that other thinkers will come forward who have the courage and boldness to confront religious quacks as candidly as Joshi has done. His final conclusion, that "religion is of no value in modern society," seems about to sum up the reality of today. We 21st-century civilized folks just need to start growing up emotionally and get on with saving the world, because no One is going to do it for us.

Let's face it -- the religious establishment doesn't spare its invective, or its power. It's time for sane people who reject the fairy-stories of religion to stand up, and stop the vaccilation around the subject of gods and religion.

Either there is a god, or gods, or there isn't. Either one system of religion is fully correct, or none is. There is no other way around it. These are simple, direct questions. Humanity has solved many which are far more complex.

Either God created Adam and Eve and the Flood and Jesus and all that, or he did not. Either Mohammed is God's prophet, or he is not. Either Zeus is the father of all gods and hurls down thunderbolts from Mt. Olympus, or he does not. There is no room for misinterpretation, nor allegory, nor error: all of the books, bibles and traditions of all those religions and beliefs teach perdition, hell, torment and death for those that challenge their beliefs. There is no way around it. The tenets of a religion are either true or false. If true, prove it so. Put up, O Deities, or shut up.

On all of these points Mr. Joshi is sound, well-researched and well-informed. He dispatches his victims eloquently and well, he picks his fights, defines his terms and marshalls his arguments very well.

I would much prefer, however, to see Mr. Joshi's treatment of the people who really *matter* -- those who formulate policy and dominate the airwaves, rather than the professional opinion-havers.

"God's defenders" is an even more direct answer to "atheism: a reader". certainly i agree that the polite defernece of minorites to the disdain of the majority is unnecessary. "its just what i believe" isnt good enough, but "prove it" is an implausable plan of attack. if more flies are won with honey than vinegar, then joshi might never claim a sinlge convert. this book is not intended, i hope, for agnostics or those contemplating a godless existance. like "atheism: a reader," the book affirms the resolve of existing atheists- in some cases, only of the most elitist strain.
while extremely informative for an atheist, i do not think i would recommend this book to an even moderately religious person to explore their own beliefs or to represent the doctrine of atheism- simply because i know they would not have to determination of will to suffer so much verbal abuse. this i regard as truly unfortunate, because joshi attacks several of the contemporary doctrines of the judeo-christian faiths to show how it is human beings rather than the hand of god that change and manipulate the nature of a religion to adapt to the holes but punched in them over time by science or common sense.
provocative and direct, i enjoyed the questions raised by "god's defenders." if one has the gumption to withstand the least gentle and humanistic approach to atheism, or to really explore the tenets of faith that they may never before have challenge, then read this book: introduction and all.

S.T. Joshi has written an excellent attack on the apologetics of C.S. Lewis, William James, Reynolds Price, and others. God's Defenders is fun to read, and there are quite a few chuckles to be found as you move from chapter to chapter--each one devoted to a perusal of the target's writings on religion and then shooting them down with logic and common sense.

How can luminaries such as T.S. Eliot and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross be so gullible and dim witted in their views on religion? One answer, as Mr. Joshi plainly shows, is childhood brainwashing. Many people, if coached, can think clearly about a given issue unless that issue is religion. The childhood brainwashing seeps into every crack and crevice of a person's psyche and becomes part of the way a person feels and views the world. It is just too painful to allow the conscious mind to fairly ask if the existence of god is even remotely likely. As Michael Shermer put it so well in his Why People Believe Weird Things--"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons" (p. 283).

Another good reason Mr. Joshi gives for so many seemingly intelligent people continuing their religious beliefs is that they don't have a broad-based education. Science, history, anthropology, archeology, and all sorts of disciplines have made conclusive discoveries that debunk key pillars of the Christian faith--but if you actively avoid learning these things and remain blissfully ignorant of the facts, then I guess you can still keep your head in the sand.

This book is a fun and quick read. I wouldn't have included some lesser-known people, like Kubler-Ross, G.K. Chesterton, and Annie Dillard. However, if Joshi is familiar with their writings on religion, maybe he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to show the world how contrived their beliefs really are/were. Some have opined that this book is too harsh and disrespectful towards religion and religious people. Not really--he is clearly very passionate with his presentation, but just attacks the beliefs (and not the individual herself).

The one reason I didn't give the book five stars was partly because of my only mild interest in some of the chapters, but also for his seeming anti-capitalist foamings--"Something with a bit more intellectual rigor...was needed if Americans were not to feel that they were anything but the ruthless money-grubbing barbarians they in fact were and are" (p. 30). And Joshi complains about "the appalling money-grubbing that has characterized American 'civilization' from its inception" (p. 284). People who criticize those with money are often those bitter at their own lack thereof. This is not always true, but being hardworking and industrious will almost certainly be better rewarded in the United States than in any other country in the world.

On the whole, however, this is a fun and useful book with real insight into just how silly the purported intellectual defenders of the faith really are. Pick up a copy and enjoy!

"Rapier-like wit" is a phrase that comes to mind repeatedly as one reads this book. But it is not only wit. Joshi's insights are sharp pins aimed straight at several balloons so full of hot air that they are already on the point of exploding. G.K. Chesterton, for instance, is surely a gas-bag waiting to pop. Like Newman the postman, there is much less to him than meets the eye. And that is true of most of Joshi's targets.
A previous reviewer complains that Joshi engages in little real philosophical debate about religion in these pages. That is true, but it is not because the author is incapable of it. Rather, Joshi's point is that the writers he is treating do not themselves have much in the way of philosophical grounding for their faith and for the pontifications that proceed from it. Again, they are like the Roswell crash: what believers take to be visitants from heaven, skeptics see as mere balloons. Joshi meets them on their own ground so as to avoid aiming an elephant gun at a mouse. He shows again and again how little there is to the religion of these very prominent voices. It is shocking how the beliefs of men so astute as William F. Buckley and C.S. Lewis could be so idle, so empty, so infantile. So why didn't he take on better targets? I'm guessing that he decided to publicly address many who are given (or once were given) plenty of airtime and respect by a society that takes them much too seriously. It is not so much that Joshi thinks Jerry Falwell, a capering witch-doctor, is a good representative of Christianity as that TV pundit shows seem to think he is and waste so much time with him and his block-headed opinions. I'd love to see another book where he addresses Clark H. Pinnock, Alvin Plantinga, and others. But in the meantime, if Joshi is the Ann Coulter of today's religious scene, I want to read more of it, not less!

There has long been a curious notion abroad that it is somehow "tacky" to criticize anyone else's religious beliefs. Structuralist critic Jonathan Culler once wrote an essay taking issue with this notion, and S. T. Joshi now takes the initiative to attack the vagaries of religion with full vigor. Ascribing the explanation of religion's prevalence to the inability of most people to muster enough intelligence to break out of the metaphysical brainwashings they have undergone in childhood, Joshi follows an approach that allows him to examine the topic both in breadth and depth--he meticulously dissects the religious pronouncements of several leading proponents, people as varied as the astute T. S. Eliot and the absurdly comical Jerry Falwell. Joshi argues with great cogency that organized religion has no fair claim to have promoted ethical or moral uprightness and in fact has stood in opposition to these qualities throughout history. Joshi's logic is so incisive that the slippery claims of theism fall readily by the wayside, and I find it hard to imagine that any fair-minded and perceptive reader could work his or her way through this astonishing volume without finding the experience unsettling, but unsettling in a productive and mind-opening way. Joshi's book is an invigorating read, one that can be undertaken in a random-chapter-order fashion due to its structure as a collection of connected but essentially independent essays. Once in a rare while, a book that makes a whole lot of sense comes along, and this is one of those times. Read it. Remember it.

At last! A cogent, hard-hitting, but also smart and funny exposure of the many fallacies of religion. S. T. Joshi, best known as a literary critic and editor, takes on various contemporary religious "thinkers" and shows that these emperors have no clothes. He shows his victims no mercy, but only after systematically destroying their arguments.

Joshi doesn't buy into the usual view that a religion is to be protected from criticism simply because it is a religion. If there is any truth to it, then an examination will bring it out; if, on the other hand, it is false, then it needs to be exposed for what it is.

Joshi's treatment is not heavily philosophical. He rarely uses technical philosophical terms, but at the same time, he handles complex issues clearly and is up front about them. He points out the confusion in William F. Buckley's Catholicism; the fascism of T. S. Eliot's belief that religion must be the foundation of civilization; Elisabeth Kubler-Ross's unbelievable belief in an afterlife; and, especially, the nonsense in Neale Donald Walsch's multi-volume "conversations with God." Along the way, Joshi brings other atheistic or secular thinkers into the discussion, drawing on the likes of Bertrand Russell, H. L. Mencken, H. P. Lovecraft, and A. J. Ayer to prove his points.

Several portions of Joshi's book seem pioneering, even revolutionary. In his discussion of Jerry Falwell, he shows that Falwell and his fellow "fundamentalists" ARE REALLY NOT FUNDAMENTALISTS AT ALL, in the sense of believing literally in every statement in the Bible. If they were, they would have to believe that the earth is flat, that the sun revolves around the earth, that wives are the property of their husbands, that slavery is an acceptable feature of human society, that homosexuals should be put to death, and numerous other things that no fundamentalist has ascribed to (publicly, at any rate). Then, in his discussion of religion and ethics, Joshi presents a novel justification for ethical subjectivism ("one man's meat is another man's poison") by claiming that nearly all ethical systems, religious and secular alike, are founded upon the presupposition that the human race must be preserved. But, as Joshi demonstrates, this presupposition is not a fact but merely a preference; Joshi goes on to show that it would be just as viable to base a system of ethics upon the presupposition that the human race should be extirpated. (I see that the Publishers' Weekly reviewer has totally misunderstood this point.)

I can only hope that other thinkers have the courage and boldness to confront religious mummery as candidly as Joshi has done. His final conclusion, that "religion is of no value in modern society," seems to have a lot going for it.