Culture

Author: Michel Onfray. Publisher: Arcade Publishing. (5/5).
In a modern world that is (sadly) still bombarded with the irrationality of religion, Onfray’s Atheist Manifesto book is a welcome read, arming the rationalist with arguments, counter-arguments, and facts to rebut the ever-persistent door knocking Mormons, sanctimonious Muslims and a whole raft of other “believers”.

 
As a student with a genetics background who is currently studying medicine, I find social science books a bit daunting. Onfray, however, presents his book in a well-structured style that constantly engrosses the reader. His four main sections (Atheology, Monotheisms, Christianity and Theocracy) are peppered with his witty and often very personal (and sarcastic) inserts, yet which never take away from the beautiful intellectualism of his work. His arguments are clearly laid out and backed up with quotes from all three of the main monotheistic faiths’ books. In addition to these revealing contradictions of the said “holy” books, Onfray quotes from numerous literary and historical sources throughout the main body, as well as listing them in a user friendly bibliography to give strength to his arguments.

 
My favourite part of the book? The bit between the front and the back cover! My 200-page paperback copy has a dog-ear literally every second page marking illuminating historical references, articulately stated logic of the rational mind and whole paragraphs that counter the nonsense of religion. Not only is the book a historical analysis of the mainstream theisms, but Onfray also discusses the modern day implications of religious belief systems and how believers justify everything from Islamic extremism to the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
 

This book will appeal to anybody who introspects from time to time and questions why, at eighteen plus years of age, they have stopped believing in the tooth fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, yet they continue to let part or all of their lives’ values and behaviours be dictated by fairy tales involving a schizophrenic Jewish carpenter (who in all probability never actually existed) or an illiterate desert nomad riding a winged horse to heaven.