Sarah D. (Cloverhill) reviewed Bad Apples on 3/2/2009 + 7 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 21

I really enjoyed this book. But I came away from it with a lesson different than that intended by the author. I think that he has demonstrated that evil people do a lot of harm, and use religion as an excuse for it. He seems to be a disillusioned idealist, sad to discover that the promise of goodness is not fulfilled.
I find he is absolutely correct to condemn the God he condemns, and does it for all the right reasons. But the God he condemns is his own version, and I am sorry that Christians have been so inept at proclaiming the good news of the gospel that anyone could believe that God is evil or cruel.
Religion has not been able to stop child abuse, violence, greed, or stupidity. He is correct to be upset about that. But I think individual people are to blame, and not religion as a whole.
This book made me think hard, about a lot of things. It made me sad, and angry, and even made me laugh. I think it expanded my understanding of the human condition; because I have never experienced religion used as a weapon against me, and he has, and tells of it compellingly.

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