Features
- Cover Type: Paperback with 256 pages
- Published by: Thomas Nelson January 1, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 084991972X
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-0849919725
-
Book Dimensions:
8.1 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
- Weighs: 8.8 ounces
From Publishers Weekly
Garrison has long wielded wit against the buffoonery of the Religious Right in her articles for the Christian humor magazine the
Wittenburg Door and at the blog God's Politics. Now she turns her satirical glance against the New Atheists, among whom she sees a similar obscurantist self-seeking at work. The result is an uneven book. It is occasionally witty, as when she compares Sam Harris to Anne Coulter, or Daniel Dennett to the pot-smoking professor in
Animal House. At times she scores what could be devastating points against the New Atheists: if imposing religion on the young really is child abuse, why do these young people not show the medical symptoms of abuse victims? Garrison is also adept at pointing to places where radical Christianity is transforming society. But these successes are often lost amid informal writing, sentences like Simply put, I need to pay attention here because when my gut starts acting up, something ain't right, and paragraphs that end with single words like Kewl and phrases such as  'Nuff said. Finally, Garrison's turn to her own story—a minister father, dead too young of alcoholism—is touching at times, but it sits awkwardly beside the casual witticisms.
(Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
A challenge has been issued on matters of faith and Becky Garrison meets it head on in this witty yet poignant answer to the Anti-God gurus Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Daniel Dennett. Becky Garrison, religious satirist and senior contributing editor for
The Wittenberg Door, is taking a stand. Where most Christians assume the character of the Cowardly Lion chanting, "I do believe, I do believe, I do believe," Garrison refuses to simply thrust tracts at these self-proclaimed infidels.
Instead, Garrison steels her pen and takes on the ungodly program of the New Atheists, skewering each argument with her sharp satiric wit. Garrison turns aside the atheists' assault without ignoring its real criticisms, namely, the church's inadequate response to war, evolution, medical ethics, social justice, and other important issues in the post-9/11 world.
Reader ReviewsIn the last few years, as anyone who has their finger on the pulse of popular culture should know, a new breed of atheists have emerged, who are vocal, popular (their books climb the bestseller lists), and most significant of all, aggressively hostile to religion. No more do atheists settle for, "No thanks, I'll pass on the believing in God bit." The new war-cry for today's nonbeliever is "I reject the notion of God and you should too." A situation like this calls for... a satirist! And so, into the fray comes Becky Garrison, fresh from The Wittenburg Door where she'll spoof just about anything that stands still long enough. And in The New Atheist Crusaders she does just that, because she aims her satirical wit not only at the likes of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, but she also -- and perhaps, more importantly -- holds up a mirror to all the silly and stupid stuff that Christians do to give fuel to the atheists' ire. She goes after the blind spots in the new atheists' logic, with an overriding theme of her book being, "Why do you only pick on what's wrong with religion? That hardly seems fair." She points out that while the new atheists are renowned for their scientific acumen, they make for pretty lousy theologians -- since they're arguing against a caricature of religiosity that most informed believers would themselves disavow. Still, Garrison saves her best shots and most salients points for Christians (and other believers) themselves. She notes that what really fires up the new atheists is how Christianity has been reduced to sloganeering ("repent of your sins and you'll be saved), bad science (since evolution isn't in the Bible, it must not exist) and mass marketing. Exasperated, she asks, "Why would anyone in his right mind want to follow such a banal, bubble-gum belief system? I know I wouldn't." Garrison suggests that Christians need to spend less time defending their faith against atheists or other secularists, and more time following the examples of people like Shane Claiborne or Peter Rollins, who are so busy actually trying to live the Gospel that they don't have time for middle class prejudices or the latest Jesus jewelry. Her message is as simple as it is powerful: once Christians actually get down to the business of following Christ, most of what annoys the new atheists will disappear anyway. The New Atheist Crusaders and their Holy Grail proves that if laughter isn't the best medicine, it's still quite a good tonic. But believers, beware: even while she's busy skewering the naysayers, Garrison will not let you off the hook either.
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