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"A more exciting book doesn't often come down the road""This may be the one book on religion everyone should read.""A must read! I wish I could give it to everyone I know!""Rewarding read both intellectually and emotionally."
Whether you're deeply faithful, questioning your religion, or even agnostic or atheist, this Amazon bestseller will take you on a fun and fascinating tour of how simple ancient spiritualism evolved into the incredibly infectious religions we know today, punctuated with humorous and insightful stories of the author’s own spiritual journey.
As I sat down to write this review, I decided to read it all over again, just for the sheer joy of it. ... The Religion Virus will open your mind, offering a perspective on religion and social evolution that few have presented, and none with such delightfully reasoned enthusiasm and varying analogies ... the ideas presented reverberated in my mind for days." —New Consciousness Review
With a sweeping and witty examination of religion's history, alongside fascinating doses of science and philosophy, Craig A. James has opened an exciting new way to understand the pervasiveness of modern religions. Thousands of authors have written about the how, when, and what of religion, but few have dared ask "Why?" The Religion Virus will finally give you that "Aha!" moment — that is, why religion evolved from simple spirituality into the vast monotheistic system that pervades Western society.
“Ingenious. Craig James has cracked open the mystery of Religion’s tenacity. It puts the pieces together into a fascinating, coherent model that makes sense!” —Dan Barker, author of Godless.
At any given moment, tens of thousands of religions, branches, sects, and belief systems are competing in a "survival of the fittest" battle as ferocious as anything in nature. These belief systems are locked in an endless fight for dominance, and with each generation there are winners and losers: only the “fittest” survive. Just like biological life, ninety-nine percent of the world’s religions are extinct, but the ones that survived into the modern era are quite remarkable. These religions are the very strongest and best — the fittest.
The trouble is, “fitness” for a religion has little to do with truth. Instead, religions have "learned" to prey on our biggest hopes, our worst fears, our biological instincts, and our heartfelt desires. It has taken thousands of years of evolution, but those years have honed religion to near perfection.
Whatever your beliefs, when you close the book’s last chapter, your understanding of religion will forever be changed.
See What Readers are Saying!
- "This may be the one book on religion everyone should read."
- "A more exciting book doesn't often come down the road. I was up most of the night ... Rational man can do no better than to put this book at the head of his to-be-read books."
- "Awesome! Wish I had this book and knowledge years ago."
- "I feel liberated. Happy and at peace with myself. Loved this book! Well written, and it has helped me come to terms with the idea that there is no God."
- "The best book I’ve ever read about the meaning of life on planet Earth!"
- "A must read! bought it and wished I could give it to everyone I know and love as it is so well written. Excellent!"
- "Rewarding read both intellectually but also emotionally."
Click to see all the reader reviews!
- "A must read for anyone trying to make sense of God."
- "A must read for anyone interested in the development of religious thought."
- "one need not have a PHD in order to get through the darn thing! Some books along these lines are oft difficult for the layperson to read with ease. The author uses many different circumstances to lead the reader through his thesis and he does so in a manner that is enjoyable and gripping."
- "Every thinking person should read this book whether you have strong religious views or not."
- " A highly recommended book for anyone and everyone (it should be required reading), and should be on everyone's reading list. A really great read!"
- "Eye opening, everyone should read this book!"
- "Finally someone makes sense of the question that has confounded me since grade school."
- "If you don't read this you will miss a great work."
- "I'm 80 years old at the time of this writing. ... I stopped believing 50 years ago ... but I tried to reconcile my thinking by thinking that only parts of scripture were wrong or perhaps another church was correct. This book brought all of my concerns to light ... [now]I am free to live my last 10+/- years in peace. I am not afraid of death now and I truly look upon others as humans doing their best."
- "A clear, linear and very lucid work. The author can be safely placed at the level of Steven Pinker or Steward Williams."
- "This book should be in classrooms ... [it] puts evolution of the mind where it should be."
Reviewers Love The Religion Virus
"The Religion Virus will open your mind, offering a perspective on religion and social evolution that few have presented, and none with such delightfully reasoned enthusiasm and varying analogies. As someone who tends to become semi-conscious whenever a book delves into religious history, I can assure you this book will keep you awake and engaged. I learned something new on so many levels that it was truly enjoyable and informative reading, and the ideas presented reverberated in my mind for days after each chapter. So much so, that as I sat down to write this review, I decided to read it all over again, just for the sheer joy of it."
— Julie Clayton, New Consciousness Review
"Full of powerful, ground-breaking ideas, packaged in a deceptively simple, easy-reading style. This is the most fun I've had reading non-fiction in a long time."
— Phil Steele, editor of The Passion of Ayn Rand's Critics
"I don't say this about very many books, but Craig A. James's The Religion Virus can facilitate a wholesale change in the way we think about religion ... an engaging, entertaining, and educational journey ... packed with a lot of good information."
— Secular News Daily
"An ingenious melding ... Craig James has cracked open the mystery of religion's tenacity. What Guns, Germs and Steel did for anthropology, The Religion Virus does for faith. It puts the pieces together into a fascinating, coherent model that makes sense!"
—Dan Barker, co-founder of the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), author of Godless
"This is a fascinating book, condensing the peculiar histories of religious texts and how decisions made hundreds and thousands of years ago still affect our cultural attitudes and beliefs ... James is nothing if not amusing, and his choice of quotes (and juxtapositions thereupon) make for compelling re-thumbing after you've finished the book. Seriously, Craig A. James has written an accessible book on evolution and religion that manages to explain memetics while being both funny and touching. ... I recommend leaving this book out where it can provoke conversations."
—Wes Unruh, author of The Art of Memetics