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A review by samsearle
Faitheist: How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious by Chris Stedman
4.0
If you are an atheist and the increasingly xenophobic and disrespectful rants coming from the likes of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens bother you, Chris Stedman's philosophy and actions will probably make you feel better, whilst challenging you to convert your own ethical beliefs into practical action that will materially improve the lives of others.
I thought the book was not without its flaws, one being that the memoir parts were simply not as engaging as the call to action in the final part. In this respect, reading Stedman's blog, Non Prophet Status, is probably just as rewarding as this book. The book does provide a lot of good pointers to further resources though, and I would recommend it just on the basis that I found a really neat summary of my worldview very neatly expressed by Stedman towards the end. He writes, "I am far more concerned about whether people are pluralistic in their worldview - if they oppose totalitarianism and believe those of different religious and non-religious identities should be free to live as they choose and cooperate around shared values - than I am about whether someone believes in God or not."
I thought the book was not without its flaws, one being that the memoir parts were simply not as engaging as the call to action in the final part. In this respect, reading Stedman's blog, Non Prophet Status, is probably just as rewarding as this book. The book does provide a lot of good pointers to further resources though, and I would recommend it just on the basis that I found a really neat summary of my worldview very neatly expressed by Stedman towards the end. He writes, "I am far more concerned about whether people are pluralistic in their worldview - if they oppose totalitarianism and believe those of different religious and non-religious identities should be free to live as they choose and cooperate around shared values - than I am about whether someone believes in God or not."