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A review by lizziepurpleserenity
Religion for Atheists: A Non-Believer's Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain de Botton
4.0
As ever, I find it hard to give a star rating for a non-fiction book on a topic I haven't read much about, but I've chosen a solid 4 stars for a book that I wouldn't say wowed me, nor was it boring. It is written in short chapters/sections of chapters (which really helps me), discussing the topic through various lenses, both historical and contemporary.
I first encountered Alain de Botton when I watched his excellent documentary Status Anxiety several years ago, which I think has remained in my consciousness and affected my attitude to life (positively) ever since. In this book, he has a very similar stance to my own with regards to religion and atheism; I was brought up Catholic but stopped going to church at age 14 and have been an atheist ever since, but retained my respect for religion and spirituality (while Alain grew up in an atheist family and, for this book at least, studied religion to ascertain what might be learnt from religion as an atheist). I really appreciated how respectively he both criticises/analyses and appreciated aspects of both sides of the coin. I found it interesting.
I first encountered Alain de Botton when I watched his excellent documentary Status Anxiety several years ago, which I think has remained in my consciousness and affected my attitude to life (positively) ever since. In this book, he has a very similar stance to my own with regards to religion and atheism; I was brought up Catholic but stopped going to church at age 14 and have been an atheist ever since, but retained my respect for religion and spirituality (while Alain grew up in an atheist family and, for this book at least, studied religion to ascertain what might be learnt from religion as an atheist). I really appreciated how respectively he both criticises/analyses and appreciated aspects of both sides of the coin. I found it interesting.