Inside the Atheist Mind

This insightful book from DeStefano (A Travel Guide to Heaven) pushes back against bestselling new atheists such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and Bill Maher, casting them as arrogant bullies. DeStefano sets out to expose their “blatant hypocrisy, dishonesty, and intellectual bankruptcy” by debunking common atheist complaints about religion, such as putting science and religion in opposition and blaming war and violence on religion. DeStefano notes the “ignorance” of not acknowledging that many scientists (such as Antoine Lavoisier and Louis Pasteur) were believers and arguing that the greatest bloodbaths of the 20th century occurred under atheistic regimes. “Do atheists really need to be reminded that World War II had nothing to do with religion?” he writes, before listing Tojo Hideki, Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and others as genocidal leaders unencumbered by morals due to their atheism. He also discusses the “cowardice of atheists” in targeting Christians more vociferously than Muslims, quoting secular studies teacher Phil Zuckerman as saying, “What keeps me from critiquing Islam is fear.” DeStafano condemns atheist intolerance and dogmatism in statements such as TV host Maher’s “All [religions are] stupid and dangerous.” DeStefano’s aggressive tone can be off-putting, but readers who can get past it will find many sensible arguments and cogent points about the logic of faith.(Apr.)