Customer Reviews

Rot on the Vine: The Many Dark Faces of Religion

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Using a blend of fiction and non-fiction, Stenesh weaves stories about the dark faces of religion. Stenesh covers many subjects as he tells stories relating to how religionists twist their theology to do harm to others. I found it hard to put the book down as I read the short stories. Stenesh does a good job of bringing the characters to life in each short story.

Each story, while a blend of fiction and non-fiction, could easily be completely non-fiction. Readers will especially enjoy the stories of the Priest, Imam, and Rabbi; ripped from today's headlines. Stenesh plunges into the future of religious thought by taking us the future Atlantis through a conversation with the high priest.

Whether atheist or theist, this is a great book to read for a better understanding of the darker side of religious thought. Even the religionist needs to recognize the darker side of his or her faith. The first part to getting rid of radical extremists that would do harm is for each religion to recognize that they exist among them. Stenesh helps the reader make that recognition, no matter what faith or non-faith the reader's background may be.

No matter one's theological background you will end this book with the gears in your brain turning. Any book that makes you think is a good book.

Blair Scott
Alabama State Director, American Atheists, Inc.
Director, Atheism Awareness
Organizer, North Alabama Freethought Association

Rot on the Vine: The Many Dark Faces of Religion is a collection of writings - some fictionalized "what-if" essays but mostly matter-of-fact expositions - that explore the side of religion that is perverted to serve human greed, hatred, hypocricy, and intolerance. From a brief exploration the roots of pervasive anti-Semitism as stemming from Christianity's and Islam's need to de-legitimize Judaism's older claim of a single, all-powerful God (among other factors), to a discussion of how Biblical passages are used to in modern-day America to exhort hatred of homosexuals and homosexuality, to religion's role in fueling the genocidal horrors of Nazism and much more, Rot on the Vine is disturbing, compelling, and highly recommended for religious studies shelves.

There is nothing new or of value presented in this book. It takes the perspective that religions are essentially a negative force and then supplements the few facts with cliched fictional accounts to illustrate and support this. While the position taken is from a rationalist perspective largely correct, advancing through the book results in a sense of anticipation turning to annoyance and displeasure, as it is realised no fresh insight or thought provoking information has or will be offered.The feeling cannot be escaped that the author is taking pleasure painting his negative pictures. Adherents of a religion will dismiss it as another 'satanic' work, but non-religionists will quickly find that it is at best simply a repackaging of all the old arguments. A lightweight and disappointing read.

I looked forward to reading this book which purports to expose the dark side of religious fervour. Unfortunately the format and content are disappointing in the extreme. Unless the book is intended for sub-teen readers, the level of thought expressed is woefully lacking. Supposedly a "mixture" of fact and fiction; it reads like a sophomoric imitation of a fairy tale. In a world that currently and throughout the history of civilization has suffered from the excesses of blind faith, this books serves mainly to buttress the arguments of religious bigots with its tissue thin content.

First, I'm an atheist myself.

The book is fiction, yes. But the twists and turns of its speculation are highly unlikely -- highly unlikely -- to come close to reality in the U.S. Even the most likely, the intelligent design chapter, I give less than a 1 in 10 chance, and that's being generous.

As for one other reviewer, saying this deserves a place on bookshelves under critical religion studies -- that's only if your bookshelf is totally empty in that category and you need something.