When atheist Sam Harris wrote his 2004 bestseller The End of Faith, a radical attack on religious belief in any form, he was prepared for strong rebuttals from Christians.<\/p>\n
What may have surprised him was the vitriol in which many of the emails and letters were couched. The most hostile messages came from Christians (not Muslims or Hindus). “The truth is,” he explained in the forward to his latest bestseller, Letter to a Christian Nation, “that many who claim to be transformed by God’s love are deeply, even murderously, intolerant of criticism.”<\/p>\n
“How do I know this?” he asked rhetorically. “The most disturbed of my correspondents always cite chapter and verse.” Indeed, Letter to a Christian Nation is his response to those vituperative critics and yet another weapon in the armory of people hostile to Christianity.<\/p>\n
I am not surprised that Harris attracted negative feedback. What disturbs me, however, is the extent to which some Christians have turned themselves into the self-appointed attack dogs of Christendom. They seem determined to savage not only opponents of Christianity, but also fellow believers of whose doctrinal positions they disapprove.<\/p>\n