Letter to an Atheist [Paperback]

Michael Patrick Leahy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2007

In this hard hitting and intellectually powerful response to Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation, Michael Patrick Leahy exposes the intellectual dishonesty behind Mr. Harris' brand of Christian bashing atheistic evangelism. Leahy points out in devastating detail the numerous factual misrepresentations in Mr. Harris' book (for instance, debunking Mr. Harris' outrageous claim that 50% of all Americans believe the universe is only 6,000 years old--the facts show the number is 18% at most), and dismantles the simplistic "solutions" proposed by Mr. Harris. Stop violence by ending all faith ? Easier to try to stop the ocean tides. Limit the rights of Christians to participate in the political process ? In the name of "justice" then, Harris would oppress Christians, creating a world wide second class of citizens. Follow the model of fascists in Europe in dealing with the threat of Islamic fundamentalism ? Even fellow atheist Christopher Hitchens calls such a solution repugnant. Seekers of the truth from all faiths should run, not walk, to their keyboard or local book store and purchase Michael Patrick Leahy's Letter to an Atheist. Reviews "Finally, a strong Christian voice addresses the intellectual dishonesty of atheistic evangelism" Christine Schaub, best selling author of The Longing Season, the story of John Newton and Amazing Grace "Michael Patrick Leahy skillfully debunks Harris' charge that serious Christians and Islamic radicals should be equally feared; He also exposes the bigotry and distortion typically shown by secularists when addressing Intelligent Design. More importantly, Leahy shows that Harris' proposed utopia, in which religion is caged and tamed by the secularists, has already been shown to produce a world that most do not care to inhabit." Ralph Seelke, Ph.D. Professor, Biology University of Wisconsin-Superior "Michael Patrick Leahy's book is a substantive critique of the work of Sam Harris in Letter to a Christian Nation. Leahy shows how wrong minded and frankly lopsided Harris' view of reality ends up being. Good intellectual stuff." Dr. Bob Harrington Lead Pastor of Harpeth Community Church, Franklin, Tennessee " "A must-read for Christians and non-Christians who truly seek the truth about the toughest long-standing issues confronting humanity. Mr. Leahy has used a logical, step-by-step, reasoned, and well-referenced approach to engage and refute an attack on Christian positions and principles. The material is well worth reading and debating. I was especially impressed by the defense of Christians' track record in opposing slavery. With the recent public attention to the life and contribution of William Wilberforce, this chapter could not be more timely." Reginald Finger, MD, MPH Independent medical researcher About the Author Michael Patrick Leahy is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard, and has an MBA from Stanford. His professional career has been in technology marketing. For more information about the author, go to his website at http://www.michaelpatrickleahy.com .

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A must-read for Christians and non-Christians who truly seek the truth about the toughest long-standing issues confronting humanity. Mr. Leahy has used a logical, step-by-step, reasoned, and well-referenced approach to engage and refute an attack on Christian positions and principles. The material is well worth reading and debating. I was especially impressed by the defense of Christians' track record in opposing slavery. With the recent public attention to the life and contribution of William Wilberforce, this chapter could not be more timely." -- Reginald Finger, MD, MPH Independent medical researcher

"Finally, a strong Christian voice addresses the intellectual dishonesty of atheistic evangelism" -- Christine Schaub, Author of The Longing Season Christine Schaub, best selling author of The Longing Season, the story of John Newton and Amazing Grace

"Michael Patrick Leahy skillfully debunks Harris' charge that serious Christians and Islamic radicals should be equally feared; He also exposes the bigotry and distortion typically shown by secularists when addressing Intelligent Design. More importantly, Leahy shows that Harris' proposed utopia, in which religion is caged and tamed by the secularists, has already been shown to produce a world that most do not care to inhabit." -- Ralph Seelke, Phd. Professor, University of Wisconsin-Superior

"Michael Patrick Leahy's book is a substantive critique of the work of Sam Harris in Letter to a Christian Nation. Leahy shows how wrong minded and frankly lopsided Harris' view of reality ends up being. Good intellectual stuff." -- Dr. Bob Harrington Lead Pastor of Harpeth Community Church, Franklin, Tennessee

About the Author

Michael Patrick Leahy is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard, and has an MBA from Stanford. His professional career has been in technology marketing. He is also the Managing Editor of Christian Faith and Reason.

Product Details

• Paperback: 178 pages
• Publisher: Harpeth River Press (April 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 097949740X
• ISBN-13: 978-0979497407
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 4.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,724,478 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

67 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Rather unfortunate diversion, August 14, 2007

By 

Garrett Birkel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letter to an Atheist (Paperback)

One need merely read the introduction of this book to realize that the entire thing is a carefully constructed straw-man argument. After four or five empty paragraphs spent characterizing himself as reasonable and Sam Harris as emotional, himself as honest and Harris as dishonest, et cetera, Leahy defines his three main complaints as:

1. Sam's book is rife with inaccuracies.
2. Sam wants to curtail the rights of Christian citizens relative to non-Christian citizens.
3. The Christians Sam describes and is speaking to are not "true Christians".

Leahy makes a few attempts to justify number 1, but his meager refutations are usually uncited nit-pickings, and do not come anywhere near the level promised by the word "rife".
Item 2 is an outright lie, and the bulk of the straw-man argument.
Item 3 is an all-too-typical piece of literary tap-dancing known in high-school debate classes nationwide as the "all true Scotsmen fallacy", and he wastes a good portion of his time essentially reassuring readers that the Christians he speaks for are entirely unlike the Christians Sam is addressing in his book. Which, if he had bothered to read Sam's own introduction, he would have seen is completely unnecessary. OF COURSE Sam is not speaking to gentle, moderate Christians when he lambastes them for petitioning to teach Intelligent Design in science class. Though he does admonish them for allowing others to conveniently do so in their name and supposedly for the sake of their faith.

Long story short, I don't know why I bothered reading this.

18 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Another uneducated rant by an uneducated Theist, April 16, 2008

By 

Derek Jones - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letter to an Atheist (Paperback)

Really didn't expect much from this book. Typical nonsense spewing from the mouth of an Ignorant person. I find it almost hysterical that Christians continue to buy into the propaganda fed to them. I read this book only out a deal I made with a Christian friend of mine. He would read The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and I would read this. He is now no longer a Christian, bordering on Agnosticism and Deism. I don't suggest that anyone read this nonsense.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Leter that Should Be Read, October 10, 2009

By 

Mike Robinson "Mike A Robinson: Apologetic An... (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letter to an Atheist (Paperback)

Leahy offers a very logical and well researched book which attempts to expose the inconsistencies, contradictions and fallacies of Sam Harris and the other pugnacious public atheists. He does a very adequate job on the surface, but doesn't refute many of the underlying a priori assumptions which modern atheists take for granted.

Leahy supplies quotes that reveal many of Harris' goals are to remove the rights of religious people. He demonstrates that Harris, not only has positions which are contrary to the USA's Bill of Rights, but that he seeks to undermine some important rights of people of faith.

The author recounts history when it is favorable to the Christian position, but I would have preferred that he defeated the irrational pre-commitments that under gird an atheist's view of history and ethics. This book does provide evidence and arguments which make atheism improbable and illogical. I enjoyed reading it, nevertheless I would have received more intellectual ammunition if he argued that only Christianity furnishes the rational and moral pre-necessities that make proof and evidence possible.
Letter to an Atheist Nation: Presupositional Apologetics Responds To: Letter to a Christian