If you give a Cris a book...

Inspired by my roommate Melanie, the most avid reader in our house, I decided to catch up a bit on some pleasure reading this weekend. And, apparently, by "catch up" I mean triple the amount of books I have read in the last three or four months in a mere 20 hours.

Although back in the day I used to be able to tear through one or two Babysitter's Club: Little Sister series' books in a week, I was unsure that 1. my hunger for reading hadn't changed since I was 9 and 2. I would be able to find enough good books that would make me want read that quickly. In hindsight, my ignorance is comical.

Although Karen Brewer (the Little Sister) enchanted me as a young pup, she hadn't deceived me: I still do have the hunger, although I do an excellent job of supressing it 11 months out of the year. In the "New Arrivals" section of the Abilene library, I found three books that looked interesting enough to keep me occupied over the next three weeks until they are due back.

I promptly came home, read one in an hour, and read the second over the course of last night/this afternoon.

Hmm. Is this book-bulimia? I binge for a weekend then purge my intellect of any more stimulation of the literary-type for a few more weeks? I'll have to get back to you on that, after I see what "a few more weeks" turns out. Perhaps Mel has inspired me enough to have been cured of my reading disorder.

Anyway, allow me to share with you the first of two incredibly interesting and quasi-life-changing books which engaged me so. The first, Letter to a Christian Nation, was one I had heard of only by reading Mike Cope's blog. The author, Sam Harris, a staunch and vocal atheist, wrote this as a response to the responses he received after his first book, The End of Faith, was published. It is composed as a letter to your average Joe Christian living in the United States, arguing all of the reasons that faith in God, any god, actually, is ludicrous. I assumed that anyone who writes a book like this would write very intelligently, very compellingly, and very convincingly, almost to the point at which I would struggle not to agree. This alone got me excited to read what Harris had to say. I welcome intelligent oppositions to what I think/believe/feel, because they encourage me challenge and work harder to legitimize what I think/believe/feel and make those thoughts/beliefs/feelings more authentic (either way).

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that, though some of Harris's arguments are piercingly legitimate and should make Christians think twice about the way we handle ourselves with respect to the rest of the world, he came across more as a child trying to argue why his dad could beat up my dad while we chewed on popsicles in a schoolyard.

Not exaggerating. Read here if you want some excerpts and responses to the book on a very well-read preacher's blog, but for now I'll spare you the specifics of what I really thought about his argument. Do I recommend it? That depends.

Yes, but only if you are in the mood to seriously contemplate (in a good way) the Why of your faith. No, however, if you're only looking for someone new to hate for persecuting Christians. Harris doesn't need any more hate mail citing chapter and verse of why he will spend eternity burning in hell. I recommend the book if you are capable of reading with a prayerfully open heart and mind, prepared to see the validity in some of the points he has to make.

Do I still believe in God? Yes. Do I still believe Jesus is the Son of God? Yes. Do I still want to be a missionary for the next two years of my life? Yes. Do I still want you to support me? Yes. Is my faith stronger after reading this book? Yes. Do I hope that Harris has a Saul/Paul conversion one day? Yes. Do I still hope that subliminal messages work? Let's hope so. :)