Breaking the spell, Daniel Dennett
“Breaking the spell, Religion as a natural phenomenon” is a philosophers “God Delusion”. Dennett isn’t interested in arguing a simple yes or no, but more looks at the evolution of religion, it’s effect on people as well as what effect religion has on societies past and present. It’s a great read, but your sensation of revelations might vary depending on prior thoughts on the subject matter.
As a mass-marked book, “Breaking the spell” starts off easy and goes through familiar hoops. The priming towards faith in humans, the effect rites have on social structures, morality disentangled from religion down to the very origins on religion. After the initial soft welcome, Dennett delves deep into the matter and writes with wit and clarity.
At the end of the day, the book is a journey of the human condition. Troubled, frail and fraught with moral choices, always trying to explain the world around us and the consequences of our actions, we stumble through existence. Dennett seeks to ask questions, finding cores we can adhere to and build upon, and he does this very well. On the subject matter of understanding religion, I can’t recall reading a better work, and any works released after “Breaking the spell” will have very steep mountains to climb.