Quote:
Originally Posted by WT Sharpe
Just checked, and it's not the latest issue after all. It's the June/July 2009 issue of Free Inquiry (which shows you how far behind I am in some of my reading!). The review of André Comte-Sponville's The Book of Atheist Spirituality by is entitled "Embracing the Unholy Spirit," and it's written by Bill Cooke, one of Free Inquiry's Senior editors and author of Dictionary of Atheism, Skepticism, and Humanism.
Overall, the reviewer gives the book high marks. He admits to being uncomfortable with some of Comte-Sponville's spiritualized language, but he admits that Comte-Sponville is "quite clear about being grounded in the material," and states that his discomfort is more his problem than Comte-Sponville's.
Cooke ends his review with, "As atheists, we need to avoid stiffening with a sectarian shudder when one of our own uses language with which we are uncomfortable. Any form of expression of an essentially atheist world view is good enough for me, and The Book of Atheist Spirituality is the best so far to do so in language I myself might not use."
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I finished reading the book and I can see where Cooke is coming from. I found the first two sections highly enlightening (whether we (as either individuals or society) can live without religion, and why he personally doesn't believe in God), but the third section (about what atheist spirituality is) seemed to drag on with Comte-Sponville spending pages at a time trying to describe various aspects of his form of spirituality and the language does get both overcomplex and too verbose. I think the third section is more personal to the author's thoughts (at least, after the first several pages it is), and so probably doesn't mesh with everyone equally.
What I really appreciated about the book was its views on tolerance, how religion is a part of our culture even for those who no longer believe in God, and how, with the exception of fanatics and nihilists, the religious and irreligious should really get along fine as they share a common culture and background.
Next on my reading list is
The Gateway by Glenn G. Thater, who offers it for free in the freebies forum in exchange for the promise of a review on Amazon. After that I'll probably read through
The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines, because I'm in the mood for something light and, yes, even a little silly.