A parable, I think….I have a friend. A good friend. I love him like a brother; but sometimes I just do not understand what motivates him — at least I cannot connect with it on an emotional level. Intellectually, I get it. That’s because it bears out his weakness re: needing to have his intellectual ego stroked. Like me, he is not religious, and does not believe in God (the Christian God nor any others). But, while I am content to let others flail about and try to prove to me that there is such a thing as an all-powerful deity, my friend is not so secure in his reality.
Every time I talk with him on the phone, and ask him what he’s reading, inevitably he will tell me about some new book he’s reading that debunks the notion that Jesus Christ existed or was a divine entity. When I ask him why he wastes so much time doing so, and that this proves that he may not be as secure in his belief systems as he claims (he is a strong atheist, whereas I am an indifferent agnostic, who believes there’s no logical way to prove nor disprove a God concept), his usual reply is that he must brush up on any and all possible attacks on atheism.
I was reminded of my friend’s paranoia and obsession when I read a review copy of Jerry A. Coyne’s book, Why Evolution Is True. Believe me, I have no doubt that evolution is a fact, and not just a theory, as so many theists and religiots claim. Yet, in reading through the briskly paced 233-page book, I could not put aside the notion that, while being a solid book on the subject matter, it was, despite the usual over the top rapturous claims by its blurbists (the usual suspects of science and non-religious import, whose ‘praise’ is perfunctory and done as a show of solidarity), a wholly superfluous book.
Yes, it is a well researched book, but in reading through it, and as a well educated humanist and skeptic, I felt sort of snookered. I mean, there was not a single major idea that the book covered that I had not read of before. Yes, there were a few minor tidbits (mostly recent developments) that were new to my consciousness, but, basically, Coyne’s book is a rehash of ideas and evidence that I have seen in literally dozens of such books I’ve read since my youth.
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