Before I give my review, I have a confession to make. I liked Wesley Crusher. I know he was the most hated character on Star Trek, but I liked him. He was awkward and didn’t fit in with people his own age but didn’t really fit in with the adults either. I felt like that when I was growing up too, and even though he was a fictional character, I was glad to not be alone. Of course, looking back, I know I wasn’t even close to being alone in that regard. Being a teenager is awkward, I’d wager, for most people and fitting in is tough. Thankfully, I got over the not fitting in part of life and was ok with the being me part. But I digress..

I received this book yesterday. When I opened the package, I immediately sat down and started reading and I didn’t stop until there was no more to read. Wil Wheaton’s writing style is fluid and vivid. He took me back to several childhood memories of my own and he captured very well what it was like growing up in the 70′s and 80′s.

He has fond memories of playing D&D. I’ve never been a gamer. I always liked the idea of role playing games, but I’ve always been a little too self conscious to actually enjoy playing them. Many of my friends, when I was in high school, however were avid gamers and I did enjoy watching them play and visualize their stories as they unfolded. Sometimes I would just close my eyes and see the action. Good times.

There were many times while reading various stories that I burst into laughter. And one story brought me to tears. It’s a more recent story and it brought me to an also more recent memory of my own. It was about his cat Felix. Thinking about it now has me a bit choked up, actually. Mixed in with his story are memories of my beloved Merlin and the Queen Bitch Feedback, both of whom are now gone.

I looked forward to reading this book because I so very much enjoyed his last two. Wil Wheaton does not disappoint.

Infidel is the story of her life so far. Her story is moving and at times very tragic. This is a very powerful book, full of imagery that shocked my Western mind.

She describes her childhood, being taught to recite her lineage, listening to her grandmother’s frightening stories, being circumcised without anesthetic. During her teen years she embraced Islam, voluntarily wearing a hijab. She wanted to be a good Muslim. She also wanted to understand her religion. However, questioning is wrong in Islam and she was more than discouraged.

When her father arranged for her to marry a man she had never met, she ran. She sought refugee status in Holland, and, unfortunately she had to lie to get it. However, unlike so many of the other refugees, Ayaan did not want to live off the system. She wanted to give something back to the country that took her in. So, she worked as a translator and went to college to get a degree in Political Science and even got Dutch citizenship and became a member of Parliament. She let no one discourage her.

She also saw so many Muslim women in Holland with no more freedom than in Muslim countries. She saw women abused or even killed because they were not obedient enough. Through her office in Parliament, she campaigned for more awareness of the violence done to Muslim women because of religion.

However, even though she had been experiencing cognitive dissonance in regards to her religion for some time, it was not until after 9/11 that she really began to see her religion with a great amount of clarity. She looked up the passages that were used to justify the attacks and was horrified.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is not afraid to speak out against Islam and doing so has brought her many threats on her life. Still she proceeds. She feels (and she is right) that everything should be open to discussion and criticism – even religion; especially religion. She see’s the oppression of women and she wants them to know that even though they may not realize it, they do have a choice. They can break free from submission.

I would love to do justice to her book with my review of it, but, honestly, nothing I could say would convey just how good this book is or how important. I also had the good fortune to get to hear her speak at the AAI conference a few weeks ago. She has a powerful presence and much courage.

We actually got to meet Matthew Chapman last weekend at the Atheist Alliance International conference and he is a very down to earth fellow. When I first read about who he was I thought – “Great great grandson of Charles Darwin – how cool is that?!”, but of course we cannot choose our ancestors and he is a very approachable guy, so although I do still think it would be cool to be a direct descendant of such a great historical figure, my rational side does take over and it isn’t such a big deal.

But I digress…

Anyway, I just finished his book on the Dover, PA trial “Kitzmiller v. Dover” where a school board – who were neither educators, nor schooled in science – bent on introducing the teaching of Intelligent Design (aka Creationism in a Labcoat) in their biology classrooms was given the smackdown by a George W. Bush appointee judge.

Chapman’s writing is accessible, entertaining and very much thought provoking. He describes all the characters in this unfortunate play in colorful detail and makes even the most unpleasant characters seem human (well, for the most part). He makes you feel like you were there – a part of the story, watching everything unfold. The book was hard to put down.

And, although when the trial started he did not favor teaching students about ID, he did change his mind at least somewhat by the end. Don’t get me (or him) wrong, though, he does not endorse ID as a valid scientific theory at all. But he recognizes it as a profound danger to the future of humanity and thinks that science teachers could use it as an example of bad science and dissect it as a way to teach students how to evaluate evidence and learn critical thought. I tend to agree, actually.

I would really love to recommend this book to everyone I know. It’s thoroughly interesting and culturally relevant.

Just as I have come to expect from Dr. Dawkins, The God Delusion is a well reasoned treatise. He systematically dismantles the supposed needs for belief in God and pretty much any argument one could have for retaining belief. He mainly goes after the three Abrahamic religions – Christianity, Judiasim and Islam – but his arguments apply equally well to any other religion, past or present.

I had read so many reviews of The God Delusion before I read it, most of them favorable. A few reviews, however, said that Dawkins came off as being arrogant or ignorant about religion. After reading the book myself, I feel both criticisms are unwarranted. Attack the argument, not the man, as they say.

He is confident in his words, though, and maybe that’s what religious folk take for arrogance. And he is definitely not ignorant about religion. He knows his stuff.

Personally, I think everyone could benefit from reading The God Delusion, whether they agree with Dawkins or not. Will it turn believers into atheists? I don’t know, but I do think this book, along with several others on the forefront at the moment will embolden those that are already atheists to stand up and be counted.

Apparently, J.K. Rowling actually has gotten death threats from over-zealous American Christians regarding the content of her books.

On criticism of the books from Christians in Britain and the United States:

“I had one letter from a vicar in England — this is the difference — saying would I please not put Christmas trees at Hogwarts as it was clearly a pagan society. Meanwhile, I’m having death threats when I’m on tour in America.”

Wow. I think some of these folks might just want to get the dosages of their medication adjusted as they cannot seem to tell fantasy from reality.

What a wacky world this is.

I am not implying that all Christians think her book should be banned, burned or that she should die. Most people – regardless of religion, politics, etc – are sensible enough to enjoy good fiction, or to read something else if this particular thing does not suit them. I am assuming that Harry Potter is good fiction solely on the basis of it’s popularity, since I have not read the books myself, of course.

I still don’t get all the hype surrounding the books, but the death threats strike me as even more insane.

Harry Potter isn’t the only “all the rage” that I’ve shrugged over. I’ve never seen “ET” or “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” either. Mostly because everyone I knew when they were popular just had to see them. Eh, whatever.

I’m not saying I don’t have my obsessions, but the ones I have tend to be less popular overall. I dunno, I just never got bitten by the Harry Potter bug.