Review of a book by one of the choir: Godless

I tend not to rush to read atheist books, because I'm kind of the built-in audience. Sure, I've read my Richard Dawkins, my Christopher Hitchens, but you know how it is....even if I can theoretically review their books as literature per se on the merits, the truth of the matter is, at some point I'm going to just go, "Yaaaaaayyyyyy, positive atheist message, we rule."

Or something like that. Actually, that's more like my personal reason for not really regularly reviewing these books. Isn't God is Not Great just a little too down on religion? Meh--religious institutions are "big boys", they can take it. Does Dawkins get snarkier each book? Yeah, maybe. Believers might be asking for it though. Really. Unexamined life--worth living much? See, I generally agree with the message already, so I'm either going to consider whether the books are effective pro-atheist propaganda (which, since I'm already sold, is a leap of imagination) or I'm going to fact-check. Which, since I have a full-time job and a blog I benignly neglect in addition to my other pursuits (booze, books and movies), you know I'm not even time-equipped to do. Which leaves me with the unsatisfying final test of a quality read:

Was it good for me? Did I learn something new? Was it well-written enough to keep my interest, instead of just having my agreement with the argument?

Well, Dan Barker's Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists meets my criteria. It was a good read for me. The perspective was new, in that he describes the journey from belief to godlessness. And the book is well-written enough to keep my interest--especially on the strength with which the faithless argument is made. My favorite chapter is Chapter Nine, where he imagines an open letter to theologians from God, where the Creator speculates on how he has come to be.

This is a book I would recommend to believer and unbeliever alike--to belivers, so that they can see how an honest, ethical person of faith can draw different conclusions through a diligent search, and also to unbelievers because it really is a great example of (I hate using terms like this, but oh well) Ourstory--the journey of a fellow enquiring mind. A good one.