The End of Faith

The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the light of reason is the title of the German translation of the first work of Sam Harris. It appeared in the original English under the title "The End of Faith" in 2004.

Content

Harris wrote the book claims to be under the impression of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. Sam Harris essay and subjectively held book is in the context of a recognizable resurgence of religion in the United States. He examines the relationship between religion and violence, the backgrounds of Islamist terror. He distinguishes between religion and spirituality and calls for an end of faith. He devotes seven chapters to the different historical and contemporary manifestations of religion, with an emphasis on Christianity and Islam. In his study on the subject of Christianity, he mentions the Crusades, witch burnings, persecution of other faiths and Jews. He also shows the influence of Christian anti-Semitism to the Holocaust dar. to Islam, he accuses to celebrate a death cult and cited for passages from the Koran. He laments the taboo of a fundamental criticism of the faith. He formulated a clear criticism of unverifiable facts and postulated inconsistencies and contradictions and demands that religious statements critical examination would undergo.

Reception

The book brought Sam Harris 2005 in the USA the PEN / Martha Albrand Prize for nonfiction one. It sold there over 300,000 times and sparked heated controversy. 2006 Harris responded to the criticism with his second book "Letter to a Christian country ".