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From the Preface


It is the certainty that is often part and parcel of religion that harms our culture. In this book, then, my primary concern is exposing the illusion that is religious certainty. If we ponder some of the worst episodes and aspects of human history (e.g., the tens of thousands burned at the stake for the fictional crime of witchcraft; the horrible treatment of women; the subjugation and, in some cases, the extermination of whole cultures in the name of Christianity; bloody religious conflicts; suicide bombings; and “honor” killings; just to mention a few), it is frustratingly obvious that it is doubt, not certainty, that should be celebrated and embraced. Given the subject matter under consideration here, namely a putative transcendental realm replete with celestial creatures of all sorts and their supposed concern with the activities of humans in this world, doubt, not faith, is the only rationally defensible response.

I will begin my defense of doubt and, consequently, my argument against the illusion of certainty in part one, with a discussion of the “faith-based epistemology” that has generated fantasies, fallacies, falsehoods, and misinformation in our cultural ideology regarding not only religion but sexual orientation, race and racism, and bigotry in the form of anti-Semitism. In part two, I will deconstruct what is, perhaps, exhibit A for irrational, faith-based thinking, an idea that is so antithetically empirical that only the inertia, power, and influence of religion could possibly persuade ostensibly sane and reasonable folks to embrace it—namely young-earth creationism. In part three, continuing with the general theme, the sources of religious knowledge are critiqued, and they are found wanting at best and totally unreliable at worst. Holy scriptures and the many unfounded and false assumptions made regarding these ancient writings are the subject of part four. The illusion of certainty is on full display here as believers make assumptions regarding, for example, the inerrancy and divine literality of the Bible that are clearly unwarranted. Finally, in part five, even the best objective arguments for the existence of God made by brilliant thinkers throughout the centuries are examined and found to be unconvincing. We will also look at the problem of evil that, according to many, constitutes perhaps the best argument for atheism, or at least the best argument against the existence of a personal God in the Judeo-Christo-Islamic mold.

A close and thorough examination of the products of the faith-based epistemology that, unfortunately, serves as the foundation for not only religion but popular thinking regarding many aspects of the human condition, will show unequivocally that it is horribly flawed. If humanity is to finally shake off this cultural absolutist, nonempirical, faith-based mode of thinking birthed during a time when individuals did not know where the sun went at night, it will have to become intellectually mature enough to embrace nature, pure and unadulterated, warts and all, stripped of the fantasies, fallacies, and falsehoods of religious fundamentalism.