June's book is Religion for Atheists: A Non Believers Guide to the Uses of Religion by Alain de Botton. It's an intriguing book and I think it will be a great discussion starter.
This is a new book just published this year and is on its way to be a very talked about book. Over the past few years various high profile atheists have published books calling for an end to religion and have gone to great pains to point out everything bad about religion. Often these books overlook the important fact that many people who are deeply religious understand there are negative things about religion.
Religion for Atheists it seems to me does something new. de Botton looks at the positive things that religion has to offer and I think he does a fair job of it. (There are some obvious things I think he missed....come to the book club to find out)
Obviously this is a topic that will get people talking. Sometimes its helpful to look at things from a completely different perspective and reading a book written by an atheist will likely give many people that experience. Sometimes as people of faith it's hard to articulate just what be believe and why so it can be helpful to start with what you don't believe and hopefully that book will help us with some of that as well.
Different people in the church have expressed to me that they wish their children and grandchildren found the same meaning in attending church that they have found throughout their lives. We all know that fewer and fewer young people are finding meaning in the church. This book should help us have a discussion about what is really important for the church to focus on and how that might help more people find meaning in it.
So, that's the pitch. Hope you read the book and come and discuss it with us.
