Although written primarily for an American audience, still as powerful as the first time I read it. ( )

I hadn't read anything by Sam Harris before. I've seen him many times, mostly on YouTube videos of debates with his late colleague Chris Hitchens. Other reviewers are correct that there is nothing really new here, but Harris does have some interesting and well-made arguments.

I did find a few mildly disturbing things that stood out as falling short of an easily defensible argument.
Harris argues that the destruction of a human blastocyst is the same as scratching your nose since a human could be cloned from the skin cells that you destroy. This is silly. It isn't currently feasible to clone human skin cells, many think that it would be immoral to do so, and cloning human skin cells is not a natural evolved process. There is no clear moral solution to the question of abortion since there are good arguments on both sides, and I don't think any argument is satisfactory that fails to recognize that if you do not destroy an early fetal human, then you are likely to get an infant in 9 months.

Although the book is ostensibly a letter to Christians, it spends a considerable portion of its short length running down Muslims. I just find it hard to believe that if you somehow magically removed religion from the Earth, that people wouldn't find ample reason to kill each other. ( )

Written at an audience that I never was part of, but I really don't want to be in the room with either him or his audience member. ( )

On one hand, Letter to a Christian Nation is extremely unlikely to even slightly budge the audience (fundamentalist Christians) to whom it's ostensibly addressed towards Harris's way of thinking. On the other, it's a bracing and instructive synopsis of the real-world harm done in the name of religion. Harris is unflinching in his analysis, and, as the kind of moderate secularist that he takes to task towards the end of the book, it was good for me to read, even if I will never be as much of a hardliner as he is. ( )

Well, Sam Harris certainly doesn't pull any punches with this book. It is very hard-hitting and very anti-religion. It is mainly anti Christian in it's approach but other religions (Muslims in particular) are not spared either. Sam poses the book as a letter to Christians which systematically takes apart most of the claims of Christianity. Such as the claim that they have a unique book (the Bible) that was given by God and is more or less infallible. Sam points out the inconsistencies in the Bible, the God of the old testament being in favour of slavery, human sacrifice, (and all sorts of sacrifice) genocide, rape, etc etc. (And points out that Jesus says that the old testament is all still valid for the Christians).
He does have a few kind words for the Jains....who seem to have a non-violence philosophy that they take seriously. And Sam thinks they are much better in this respect than Christians.
He also makes the point that Christians are not the only ones who make claims about having a sacred book that provides the "one true way". The Koran, for example.
It is a powerful polemic and made an impression on me. Basically, it's hard to argue with his logic. Maybe, one might think it a bit over the top...though he makes the point that one shouldn't let Christians get away with wishy-washy cop-outs ....like people in the old testament needing tougher treatment than we need today. And he makes mince meat of Pascal's wager and the goodness of God and the predictions of prophecy. (Why didn't the prophets predict the internet and some real stuff).
Will it have an impact on believers? I doubt it. Seems to me that believers are pretty much impervious to arguments. Even when they hear with their ears they seem to be able to change their thinking ...especially older people.
Anyway, I'm impressed and happy to award it 5 stars. ( )