A coyote howls, a sign that Satan has lost a soul from Sheol, as a young man
takes Christ into his heart. He leaves for Christian college and studies and
studies. The books are a guide, a shield that will carry him to heaven. But
there are just a few points that don’t seem logical, so he consults a
philosopher. A gripping start for arch-sceptic Michael Shermer’s How We
Believe—topped by the revelation that he was that young man. Philosophy
revealed flaws in the tenets of his faith. Now an agnostic, he points out that
you cannot disprove the existence of God, just as you cannot prove it,. He has
no quarrel with religion, just with the abuse of science and reason to “prove”
the unproveable. The meat of his book is a rigorous examination of how—and
some of the whys—we believe what we do. And he gives us the data to check
out survey results on beliefs. Published by W. H. Freeman, £14.95, ISBN
071673561X.
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