Customer Reviews

Religion For Dummies

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

 

 

I found "Religion For Dummies" to provide a comprehensive overview of the world's major religions and was glad to see that it also touched on lesser-known religions (e.g., Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Sikhism). I liked that it doesn't focus on political differences. You get to see how people of other faiths pray, celebrate life and death, and view moral issues -- which can only help us humans see our similarities. The book is slightly weighted toward the Judeo-Christian tradition (but consider that the authors are a rabbi and priest); however, it doesn't skimp on coverage of the other major religions. "Religion For Dummies" is a good foundation for the titles in what seems to be an expanding lineup in the Dummies' religion/spirituality series. My final word: Worth the money -- you gain a broad understanding of the major religions and get a chance to discover the lesser-known ones.

First of all, I'm not a reader, but I was compelled to purchase and read this book after "The God Squad" appeared on Imus in the Morning on WFAN/MSNBC. I'm glad I purchased the book and here's why: This book breaks the major religeons down to fundamental basics that the layperson can understand. After reading this book, I'm surprised there isn't more religeous strife going on in the world due to the sheer differences in beliefs and theological structures.

I've always been fascinated by religeon, especially since I am of the scientific/realist wing. I am, however, glad I spent the hours I did digesting this material. For the few bucks it costs - not a bad bargain.

I know other reviews are much more eloquent than this, but I wanted to toss my two cents in and give this book a "thumbs up"!

This book is taking on an enormous subject and has made a brave effort at giving a brief explanation of many religions and more details on Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
BUT! and it is a big but... in trying to give more information on just a couple of faiths it fails to give a proper, balanced, realistic picture. For example: the Christianity side heavily emphasises the Roman Catholic beliefs - the different Protestant beliefs are but lightly touched on and Anglicanism (Church of England - which is one of the world's biggest Protestant churches) is not mentioned at all. Some of the information is rather odd: for example it is claimed that Protestant Christians rarely celebrate the Eucharist. Well, not in my experience: in the UK most churches celebrate it several times a week!
The same criticism can be levelled at the description of Judaism: reading this book one would never guess how radically different the various Jewish groups are (and how much they are often daggers drawn too). And ditto Islam.
I accept that I am going to see this book differently from an American reader but I could not see why the other religions were so lightly touched on. In the UK there is a substantial population of Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs: I had expected this book to give more information about these faiths and to expand my knowledge of them. It didn't. This book is too heavily orientated towards 'The Big Three' and there are other, better books that cover these.
I was pleased to see that Native American faiths were lightly touched on and a hint was given about Australian Aboriginal beliefs.
As I was aware from my own studies of several spectacular errors and a lot of small misunderstandings (which I accept are inevitable on such a subject) I became doubtful of the veracity of a lot of this book and did not feel that it expanded my knowledge of religion one iota. Why was the book not written by persons of the various faiths and then edited to match the 'Dummies' format rather than wholly written by a Rabbi and a Catholic Priest? The different faiths are not dealt with in separate chapters but mixed up all together: following a thread to get an overall picture of one religion is not particularly easy or obvious.
This book has made a brave attempt to cover a huge subject but the accuracy, detail and layout fail. Still, it would give someone with no knowledge of any faith to get a vague idea of what is what.

I want first to say don't think this is on the traditional line of the for dummies series. This is a serious look at the details of certain parts of religion I always had doubts and misunderstandings, which I care not to comment on here, but for example the trinity. The book is easy to read, follows a designed plan and yes it will bring a smile. The group of personalities bringing this book together show their colors and belief in the best and easiest way to understand. I found it very rewarding in my misconceptions and unawareness. I want to turn others on to a book that actually is similar but did much more for me, SB: 1 or God by Karl Maddox.

If you are looking for a theology course, you'll be disappointed but if you have questions about the world's major religions, Rabbi Gellman and Monsigneur Hartman have done a fine job providing the answers. Those reviewers critical of the authors' Judeo-Christian viewpoint are forgetting something - these guys are a Jew and a Christian. You expected them to write from the perspective of a frog worshiper?

I think this book gives a good sampling of the various religions and what religion is all about in general. The book overall is often very uplifting as it discusses how all religions try to help us face the problems and mysteries in life we all have to deal with. The book also discusses major issues and criticisms most religions face and gives a rational defense without ignoring the obvious examples of bad religion. The only issue I take with the book, as a Catholic, is that even having been co-written by a priest, several desecriptions of Catholic and Christian beliefs are almost dangerously over simplified. One example, describes Catholics worshiping Mary which would suggest idoltry. However, Catholics beliefs toward Mary are much more complicated than worshipping her as if she were God. It's quite possible that the other religions are also over simplified for understanding at times too, but I would have expected a little better from a Catholic priest. Aside, from this little set back the book is interesting, informative, and at times inspirational.

I had to write an essay about a religious theme of my choice and simply could not decide on which due to this great book, so I simply took all of them.

I believe to compare each of the religions inside the books intensely, you need enough time to seriously delve into the subject. And in the end, you might just find out that the major religions in this world are of course very different, but it is easy to get interested in all of them at once.

The layout of the book is very helpful, a guide to the different styles of writing or design is found at the beginning of the book. The pages provided here on amazon display exactly what is in the rest of the book as well, just with a different content *haha*, so you get a good overview to decide if this book is really what you're looking for.

Have fun with it if you buy it!

I was introduced to the God Squad on Imus in the Morning & became hooked. This book gives a great overview of most religions. Too bad Imus was cancelled...I was exposed to so much politically, ecumenically, disabilities, etc. through this show. Miss it terribly,

"So a priest and a rabbi walk in to a publisher's office . . ."

The cover invites us to "Explore the world's great religions with TV's the God Squad." Indeed. "Jesus loves me! This I know, for the TeeVee tells me so."

And what are the "great" religions? According to the photos on the cover, the appellation "great" is reserved only for the big three monotheistic religions, all of which owe their "greatness" to an aggressive, external propensity to use violence (submit or die) and a very heavy, internal control mechanism based on punishment (submit or be damned). All three are inherently violent because they posit an irrevocable "us" versus "them" dichotomy. Their shared core elements of immoveable authority, hierarchy, exclusive identity, and inescapable violence to any "others" outside the faith are expressed in statements like, "No one comes to the Father but by me," "I Am that I Am," and "There is no god but God." Inescapable punishment in Hell by an omniscient and omnipotent god, compounded by humans' natural fear of death and the unknown, is the social control mechanism invented by the priesthood in monotheistic religions. It is the unquestioned acceptance and enforcement of this control mechanism that increases group cohesion and survival through individual obedience. Violence against "others" and control of the in-group through fear are often the requirements for being "great."

Once the priest and the rabbi establish monotheism as the definition of what constitutes a "great" religion, we can see the jockeying for "greatest" as Christianity, Judaism and Islam continue their dominating, zero-sum game among themselves--or at least among two of them as an imam was not invited to participate in writing this book. And you can bet there was a reason for this in a society where the word Muslim has replaced the word Communist to indicate the irredeemable, pure-evil, enemy "other." In the first two photos we see Christianity and Judaism as private and individualistic, warm, intimate and with an attractive human face. In contrast, the Muslim in the third photo is faceless and prostrate. His is portrayed as a public religion where there is no separation of church and state, no line between the kingdom of god and the world of men. It is an image that supports the idea that there are Islamo-fascist states. The whole tone of the picture is stark, static and cold. Not only is Islam presented as the clear loser in the competition for "greatest" religion, but also its negative, dehumanizing treatment here is a direct affront to the Christian injunction to love your enemy.

Through their choice of words and photos on the cover as well as in the pages that follow, the priest and the rabbi have betrayed "Religion for Dummies" not as an educational primer for the uninformed but as propaganda. Theirs is not a work objectively comparing religions where they equitably discuss similarities and differences and allow the reader to draw their own conclusions. Instead, the authors subtly insist on telling the reader which religion is best through their biased choice of words and the quantity and quality of their treatment of religions. By their exclusive definition and use of the word "great," what virtue or value they grant to all other religions is irrelevant. Of course! That is the fundamental point of monotheism: proclaiming and enforcing who is greatest; whose One True God is the supreme, inflexible Authority, the ultimate Right Answer, and whose followers are the irrefutable, predestined winners.

"Religion for Dummies" might be useful if it had been written by folks who weren't ideologues and didn't have a god in the fight. Reading "Religion for Dummies" in order to gain an understanding of the world's religions would be like reading "Football for Dummies: America's Great Teams" if it were written by Bill Swerski's Superfans. If true believers could be detached, dispassionate, and doubtful regarding their and competing beliefs, they wouldn't be true believers.

See Ooga Booga's review, as well.

I like this book.

It seems brief, but has core materials for comprehending religions.