Why Atheism?

The author of Atheism: The Case Against God returns to the fray with a more concise and somewhat more accessible argument against religion. Here he attempts to summarize in 250 pages every deceit and paradox of organized religion over the past 3,000 years, using the cold light of reason and logic in an attempt to rewrite the history of nonbelief. He also champions the cause of the coherent use of critical analysis in destroying mythology, which he believes is morally detrimental because it is based on fallacy. Though overambitious in terms of historical scope and detail, the book is still more compact and readable than Smith's similarly themed earlier work and less polarizing. It even becomes almost funny near the end, when a closing chapter filled with irreverent questions about God lightens an otherwise serious appraisal of theology as a game played with smoke and mirrors. While the initial chapters may appear tedious in their exposition of Western philosophy, patient readers who bear up until the end will be rewarded with a fuller understanding of the logical argument for atheism. (Nov.)