The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs: Fundamentalism and the Fear of Truth | 
 enlarge | Author: Solomon Schimmel
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy New: $19.62
You Save: $10.33 (34%)
New (23) Used (8) from $19.62
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 271859
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 296
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1
ISBN: 0195188268
Dewey Decimal Number: 200.904
EAN: 9780195188264
Publication Date: August 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 4 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Few left in stock - order soon. Code: O20090101202632D
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs is a passionate yet analytical critique of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptural fundamentalists. Schimmel examines the ways in which otherwise intelligent and bright Jews, Christians, and Muslims defend their belief in the divine authorship of the Bible or of the Koran, and other religious beliefs derived from those claims, against overwhelming evidence and argument to the contrary from science, scholarship, common sense, and rational analysis. He also examines the motives, fears, and anxieties of scriptural fundamentalists that induce them to cling so tenaciously to their unreasonable beliefs.
Schimmel begins with reflections on his own journey from commitment to Orthodox Judaism, through doubts about its theological dogmas and doctrines, to eventual denial of their truth. He follows this with an examination of theological and philosophical debates about the proper relationships between faith, reason, and revelation. Schimmel then devotes separate chapters to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim scriptural fundamentalism, noting their similarities and differences. He analyzes in depth the psychological and social reasons why people acquire, maintain, and protect unreasonable religious beliefs, and how they do so. Schimmel also discusses unethical and immoral consequences of scriptural fundamentalism, such as gender inequality, homophobia, lack of intellectual honesty, self-righteousness, intolerance, propagation of falsehood, and in some instances, the advocacy of violence and terrorism. He concludes with a discussion of why, when, and where it is appropriate to critique, challenge, and combat scriptural fundamentalists. The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs is thoughtful and provocative, written to encourage self-reflection and self-criticism, and to stimulate and to enlighten all who are interested in the psychology of religion and in religious fundamentalism.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Review of The Tenacity of Unreasonable Beliefs September 21, 2008
Philip Fishman (Newton MA USA)
23 out of 25 found this review helpful
In recent years a number of popular books have been written on the anti-scientific foundations of fundamentalist religious belief. What distinguishes this book from many of the others is that its author, a professor at Hebrew College in Boston, is a recognized Judaic scholar thoroughly versed in classical rabbinic texts such as the Talmud and was into early adulthood, a devotee of one such belief system, that of a doctrinaire version of Orthodox Judaism. His well argued critique of the foundational tenets of fundamentalist religion are written from the perspective of an insider who has spent many years of study in the leading yeshivas (religious seminaries) of America and Israel. He movingly describes the evolution of his own belief system from that of a fervent advocate to that of a profound skeptic. Indeed, his personal struggle with these issues is evident in the many arguments and counter-arguments he advances for and against fundamentalist religion.
While Schimmel's emphasis is on a fundamentalist strain of Orthodox Judaism this book also has illuminating chapters providing a critical analysis of other fundamentalist belief systems including those of Islam and the more fervent branches of Evangelical Protestant Christianity. A common thread of the book is his critique of the insistence of the more extreme adherents of all three Abrahamic religions in the absolute authenticity of every word of their sacred texts as the direct word of God, despite strong historical and scientific evidence to the contrary. Both amusing and enlightening are his detailed discussions of the scriptural basis for the Christian belief in the divinity and resurrection of Jesus, the beliefs and practices of serpent handling Evangelical Protestants in rural America, and the claims of Muslim Koranic fundamentalists. To drive home his points he also provides a biting comparison with the animist religious culture of the primitive Azande tribe of the Sudan who firmly believe in the efficacy of magic, witches, and oracles.
A theme throughout this book is its attempt to understand the tenacity of doctrinal ideology in terms of underlying social and psychological factors. Schimmel, who has a PhD in psychology, devotes one chapter (Chapter 6) to a discussion of these powerful social-psychological motivators.
I regard this book as an important and pertinent critique of fundamentalist religious ideology in the first decade of the 21st century - a period when we are enigmatically experiencing the frequently tragic consequences of the dramatic rise, both domestically and worldwide, in the popularity of religious extremism, particularly in its toxic political manifestations.
A book sure to take you out of your comfort zone October 29, 2008
Jeremy Brown (Silver Spring, MD United States)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Sol Schimmel has written a book that is an important read for any thinking member of the three Abrahamic faiths, although Jews, Muslims and Christians will find much that makes them uncomfortable - or should do so. Schimmel's language is very strong at times ("[o]nce again we see that very smart people can believe very stupid things"), and he acknowledges that the book has "offended and will offend many people" but perhaps the kind of questions that are really worth asking are precisely the ones that make us most uncomfortable.
Biblical Criticism has left us - even those of us who are orthodox (or is it orthoprax?) - with many questions, and Schimmel's book pushes some of these questions to their limits. I found the author's own Autobiographical Reflections to be one of the most important parts of the book (even though by their nature they are the most personal and perhaps least intellectual), and worth reading as a study in the phenomena of Chozer bi'Sheela (the hebrew term for those who were once religious and now profess agnosticism or atheism).
For those interested in pursuing some of his questions further, try God, Knowledge & Mystery by van Inwagen (especially Chapter 5) and God and the Philosophers (ed Thomas Morris), especially Chapter 20 by the Orthodox philosopher David Shatz.
I look forward to Schimmel's promised sequel to this really fascinating book. In the meantime, put this book on your Christmas/Hannukah/Idl Fitter gift list...
Review of :The tenacity of unreasonable beliefs October 16, 2008
Jonathan Brandon
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
I find this book to be an insightful analysis of the mechanisms underlying irrational belief. I admire the way the author, while being critical of fundamentalist religion, remains respectful of the role religion may play in our lives.
 This is my opinion after the first 23 pages... December 16, 2008
naiche (Brooklyn, NY United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What, a review after the first 23 pages? Yes, and I will update it as I go along. Mr. Schimmel grew up in the Orthodox Jewish community. In his early twenties he stopped believing that the Torah was god-given. He left the community in spirit but apparently still goes to services. Some might think this intellectually incomprehensible, and so did I upon first reading. But then I started to think about it. Here is what I came up with: Suppose you were raised believing that god (should one exist) didn't want you to walk on the cracks of the sidewalk or the ground. Now you're twenty years old and you start to have doubts and finally conclude this is nonsense. But still, after admitting such to yourself, you continue to avoid the cracks. Why? Well, because it has become ritual. You need it. You're used to it. Perhaps you are comforted by it. Not many people can give up a belief and go cold turkey on all the accompanying ritual(s). And that's one of the dangers of religion. So it is possible to break away from something in the mind, but more difficult to break away from the ritual. One might say that the person is addicted to rituals at this point. If he/she gives up the sidewalk ritual it will need to be replaced by something else. Again it is difficult for many to go cold turkey. So I can understand why Mr. Schimmel still goes to services. Perhaps one day he will fully make the break, or even get sucked back in. In any event, I look foward to the rest of the book.
01-04-09
I finished the book a couple of days ago and my rating remains the same. Of course, for me (as an atheist), Mr. Schimmel was preaching to the choir. There were some parts I thought could have been a little stronger, but overall, I found most every page interesting. My biggest complaint would be my opinion that Schimmel is naive in thinking his book could help "convert" someone who believes in his/her religion into someone who does not. Anyone who does change his/her mind was probably already on the road to disbelief and this book was just another stepping-stone. The true believers will only use the defense mechanisms that are explained in the book to continue believing in his/her religion.
Now if, for example, you are an Orthodox Jew and read this book, chances are excellent that you won't agree with the parts where the author discredits the notion that Moses received any prophecy from God. But I would ask you this-- Did you find his evidence against the other religions (namely Christianity and Islam) compelling? If yes, you must ask yourself how come you can see why their religion is false and yours is true. If you say that you can't judge the information about whether or not their religions are true or false because you don't know enough about them, then you must ask yourself how you can believe so strongly in your religion when you haven't satisfactorily studied the other major religions (and for that matter, some not so major religions) to determine just which one is true (if any).
That's all.
 CLOSED BELIEF SYSTEMS November 6, 2008
Ruth Housman (Boston, Massachusetts)
1 out of 8 found this review helpful
I heard Mr.s Schimmel talk about his book this evening at The Newton Public Library. I regret that after such a talk there is not usually time enough for questions. I think this is an important subject to examine and that orthodoxy of belief systems, perhaps an extension of fundamentalism, in all areas of life, is a subject worth examining. I am wondering actually, about the climate of the times, because I have everywhere, written about a life of astonishing visible synchronicity, and these talks about belief in God, of a supreme power, etc. might be somewhat alleviated by examining not only the total frequency of these events, but also the true "fact" that this is a noticeable and constant occurrence in all writing groups I am attending. One small "miracle" doesn't mean a whole lot, but, in aggregate, they do, and there's a story that surrounds this. So I am writing about the importance of this book, in that a closer examination of fixed beliefs, orthodoxies in religion, is part of a greater story in all our lives that is about open ness to new ideas and feeling threatened by new discoveries and experiences is not a good reason to close all doors. I am saying, it's amazing nobody is picking up on this and this bears direct relevance to this topic.
|
|
|
