Why Anti-God Books Sell Well
Steven Levitt asks why anti-religion books sell so well. He asks:
So who is making these anti-God books best-sellers? Do the people who despise the notion of God have an insatiable demand for books that remind them of why? Are there that many people out there who haven’t made up their mind on the subject and are open to persuasion?
Let me put the argument another way: I understand why books attacking liberals sell. It is because many conservatives hate liberals. Books attacking conservatives sell for the same reason. But no one writes books saying that bird watching is a waste of time, because people who aren’t bird watchers probably agree, but don’t want to spend $20 in order to read about it. Since very few people (at least in my crowd) actively dislike God, I’m surprised that anti-God books are not received with the same yawn that anti-bird watcher books would be.
The primary difference between God and bird watching is that bird watchers don’t constantly shove copies of the National Audubon Society Field Guide down your throat. They don’t try to make abortion illegal because birds tell them abortions are bad.
Even if you’re not an atheist, put yourself in the position of one for a minute and you’ll quickly see the difference. You live in a country where 90-some percent of people believe in the logical equivalent of Santa Claus. And, while they would laugh at any adult who did believe in Santa, they think that in the case of God it’s not only acceptable, but necessary for a moral human being. They call it faith.
They swear by (both literally and figuratively) a book whose origins they don’t understand, whose history they are entirely ignorant of, and whose contents most of them haven’t even read. They feel that the messages they don’t really understand in that book that they haven’t read are a good set of guidelines for our lives. Not just their lives, but even those of us who don’t believe that some old guy with a white beard snapped his fingers and created the universe. Why? Because that’s what some guy who actually did read the book but didn’t understand it told them.
Bird watchers don’t complain when their kids are taught about evolution, a scientific theory about as well-accepted as gravity or momentum. They don’t seek to deny gay people (who prevalent science says are born that way) basic human rights. They don’t seek to tell women what they can or cannot do with their bodies. Sure, some bird-watchers probably do that stuff, but they do it as Christians, not as ornithologists.
So if you’re an atheist, the world we live in is very hard to cope with. You probably came to atheism because you’re a rational person who believes in living by the mandates of logic and reason, rather than mythology. And you live in a world, and especially a country, where people with the opposite viewpoint aren’t content to let you do so.
So that’s why atheist books sell. It isn’t that anyone hates God. Only a moron would. Nobody even hates the notion of him. Pretty much everyone either loves him or believes he is an interesting thought experiment. The hatred is directed at people who believe in God and aren’t content to let those who don’t live as they choose.
November 3, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Alas, you are right. I was only mentioning one thing that CS Lewis brings up in his wonderful book “The Problem of Pain.” He says more about it. Since I'm not one to get into lengthy internet arguments, I'll just say I recommend it. =]
November 3, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I've read some of Lewis's evangelical writings, and it's mostly just the same poor logic you find in any other but better written.
And kids have a rationale for believing in Santa Claus.
February 7, 2009 at 11:15 pm
[...] I showed in my popular post Why Anti-God Books Sell Well religion is an even clearer case than politics in this regard, at least in my country where [...]