Wednesday 6 March 2013

Book Learning #86 Religion for Atheists. Alain de Botton

Oh cruel world!
Oh tortuous journey,
Oh voyage of wrecked dreams.

Where is the hope?
Where do the answers lie?

Such emotions , such questions are as old as the hills.
As a group, humanity has tried to answer them in a variety of ways.

Alain de Botton compares religion with secularism and draws some interesting conclusions.

I still enjoy the air of mystery that religion brings, even if I know that it's just not true.
He argues that you do not need to be a 'believer' to cherish the benefits of religion, especially as modern society has pretty much underperformed in meeting some of our basic human needs.

Also, it was an absolutely beautiful book to hold and to read.