The Religion War [Hardcover]

Scott Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2004

With publication of The Religion War, millions of long-time fans of Scott Adams's Dilbert cartoons and business best sellers will have to admit that the literary world is a better place with Adams on the loose spreading new ideas and philosophical conundrums. Unlike God's Debris, principally a dialogue between its two main characters, The Religion War is set several decades in the future when the smartest man in the world steps between international leaders to see if he can prevent a catastrophic confrontation between Christianity and Islam that would destroy most of civilization. The parallels between where we are today and where we could be in the near future are clear.Adams says The Religion War targets "bright readers with short attention spans-everyone from lazy students to busy book clubs." The book may be a three-hour read, but it's packed with concepts that will be discussed long after the last page is turned, including a list of "Questions to Ponder in the Shower" that will underline the story's purpose of highlighting the most important-yet most ignored-questions in the world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Scott Adams is the creator of Dilbert (www.dilbert.com), which appears in more than 2,000 newspapers in sixty-five countries. Scott has twenty-nine books in print with more than eleven million copies sold, including two number one New York Times best-sellers. He is CEO of Scott Adams Foods, Inc. and co-owner of two restaurants, Stacey's Café in Pleasanton, California and Stacey's at Waterford. The author, cartoonist, engineer, artist, restaurateur, actor, hypnotist, and entrepreneur live in Northern California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; First Edition edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740747886
• ISBN-13: 978-0740747885
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #317,050 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

What started as a doodle has turned Scott Adams into a superstar of the cartoon world. Dilbert debuted on the comics page in 1989 while Adams was in the tech department at Pacific Bell. Adams continued to work at Pacific Bell until he was voluntarily downsized in 1995. He has lived in the San Francisco Bay area since 1979.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good thought-provoking read; some minor flaws and holes, January 1, 2005

By 

T. Cheng "tkcheng" (Iowa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Religion War (Hardcover)

The Religion War is a direct follow up to God's Debris. God's Debris is almost entirely a thought experiment with the setting and characters as a backdrop, while The Religion War takes it a step forward by creating a future world in which the Muslim and Christian nations are on the brink of war.

Geared towards "those with short attention spans," the lack of transitions and expositions may be unsettling and almost jarring to some. Scott Adams is definitely "thinking like an engineer" with minimal literary devices in place to lay the groundwork for the reasoning and message the book is based on.

The book offers very few new ideas philosophically, but presents them in a manner that are thought-provoking and digestible to the open-minded. Religion cannot hold up to any sort of logicial rigour, and Adams suggests to have faith its literal tenets is "stupid." Yes, he actually uses the word "stupid." Atheists and agnostics will enjoy the manner in which some of the big questions are tackled logistically, but believers may be turned off and even offended. Regardless, the approach to the "big questions" in the eyes of the main character is definitely worth reading about and considering.

The fundamental problem, besides the plot holes, is that Adams paints a world in which people and opinions can be changed through reasoning, and that smart people are "right." Looking at all the hatred that exists in the world today, this is definitely a big stretch. Smart people may be right, but convincing less educated people of such is nearly impossible.

At many times it seems even implausible that such unreasonable characters would listen to reason, but the reader has to keep in mind the conversations are a device to facilitate the ideas Adams is trying to convey.

This book is definitely worth the read and the flaws are somewhat easy to gloss over if you look for the underlying message.

30 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A humorous view on solving Big World Problems, May 27, 2005

By 

Sander Claassen (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Religion War (Hardcover)

This book is a sequel to God's Debris, so in general this book should only be recommended to those who read that book and liked it. [For those interested, see my review for God's Debris.]

But a nuance should be made. In a sense, God's Debris was only a theoretical thought experiment about the universe, putting a grin on your face. What The Religion War brings along from God's Debris is its main character, "the smartest man in the world" and his unusual theories. He now has to apply his knowledge in saving the world from a complete war between Muslims and Christians (yes, this book has a plot).

So, although I would still classify this book as humorous, it has much more of a political undertone. Living in the world after 9/11, what would YOU do if you had all knowledge? How would you deal with people who do not want to let go of their beliefs, even if these are completely incompatible with those of other people? Of course, Adams comes with some miraculous solutions, some of which will remind you of his smartness in God's Debris.

Although I think God's Debris was better in giving some very original insights, making it more of a "classic" than The Religion War, I very much appreciated Adams' typical way of presenting a doom scenario for our near future and then making use of his logic and humor to present solutions.

My only worry is that those who probably most need to read this book (because they are so stubborn) will never do so, because they lack a sense of humor.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a bad followup to God's Debris, September 29, 2005

By 

Jason Pratt "universeman" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Religion War (Hardcover)

I don't read much fiction, but this book's narrative felt a little stilted to me. The lack of "fluffy" dialog or descriptive detail, for which Adams had an explanation, also seemed to make the plot less believable. Anyway, the plot was really just a prop for the philosophical questions this book asks, so anyone looking for gripping narrative should look elsewhere.

I gather the average reader is looking for more of the God's Debris type stuff, and it is there. While not groundshaking it is nicely presented and does give a chuckle and sometimes a deep thought. Kudos to Scott Adams.