Product Description
Huston Smith, the author of the classic bestseller The World's Religions, delivers a passionate, timely message: The human spirit is being suffocated by the dominant materialistic worldview of our times. Smith champions a society in which religion is once again treasured and authentically practiced as the vital source of human wisdom.
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Amazon.com Review
Why Religion Matters is a passionate, accessible, ambitious manifesto written by one of the very few people qualified to address its titular topic. Huston Smith is the grand old man of religious scholarship. Raised by missionary parents in China, Smith went on to teach at M.I.T. and U.C. Berkeley, among others, and his World's Religions has long been the standard introductory textbook for college religion courses. The subject of Why Religion Matters, Smith writes, "is the importance of the religious dimension of human life--in individuals, in societies, and in civilizations." Smith believes that the religious dimension of human life has been devalued by the rise of modern science: we have now reached a point at which "modern Westerners . . . forsaking clear thinking, have allowed ourselves to become so obsessed with life's material underpinnings that we have written science a blank check ... concerning what constitutes knowledge and justified belief." In candid, direct style, Smith describes the evolution of intellectual history from pre-modern to postmodern times, and the spiritual sensibilities that have been shunted "by our misreading of modern science." In the book's final sections, Smith avoids the folly of predicting the future, instead focusing on "features of the religious landscape that are invariant" and therefore may serve as "a map that can orient us, wherever the future may bring." This book is fresh, insightful, and important. It may prove to be as influential in shifting readers' terms of religious understanding as any of Smith's previous writings. --Paul Power
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 Why Religion Matters...
This book, the genius of Huston Smith puts to rest the 'War' against Religion. Religion is not the problem but Men are, god is not the problem but Greed is. When will mankind use the tools that are given to him and use them as a guideline to walk the path and find the truth instead of closing its mind and walk the path to darkness? Faith comes from a Latin verb that means 'to trust', it was a pagan verb and had nothing to do with a dogmatic religious vision of life. Walk in trust, walk in Faith my brothers and sisters for The Truth, the Peace is there and it's way time to cease them, now not tomorrow, here on Earth and not in 'heaven'. Amen.
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 Huston Smith, Wherever You Are~
I read the book a year ago. There is one short passage in the book -- which I have now given away -- which states (and I paraphrase): "A child drops an ice cream cone. The child thinks its the end of the world but the mother knows that it is not. Perhaps there is an intelligence so staggering in its capacity that to it gulags and archepalagos are like dropped ice cream cones." The book was worth that one passage. You gave me back my faith and gave me some hope and peace. And for that I, who started reading you as a college Freshman over 40 years ago, will always be profoundly grateful. Thank you.
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 Great disappointment ...
I approached the book agreeing with the thesis and looking for insights. Unfortunately the discussion wanders all over the place and after about 50 pages I just gave up. His points could have been better made in just 5 pages. This work is definitely orders of magnitude below his seminal "The World's Religions" which I am beginning to read a second time.
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 Smith affirms the religious world-view ( willjerom )
This book was not quite what I expected. The title, on "Why Religion Matters", might get you to thinking that there would be large tracts devoted to Darwin or Marx, or atheistic criticism and the hegemony of secular thinking. Smith actually argues that the traditional world-view of an intergrated, meaningful world is still valid, and primarily attacks the view that science or "scientism" (that all beliefs can be reduced to scientific method or explanation) has become somewhat of its own religion, precluding alternative or earlier understanding of this world. In a nutshell, we have all become too rationalistic and "straight-jacketed" by the rigors of a modern, "scientistic" thinking. He makes some valid points, but personally I believe he may have done some disservice to the curiousity and wonder of many scientists. His book is effective, but not what I was expecting, and not the exact way I would imagine framing this question myself. It is, overall a good book, communicating interesting and controversial ideas - adequate for beginning students.
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Brings the respect back to religion
I was given this book when I was in public university. I am normally not much of a book reader. But this is now one of my most treasured posessions. Huston Smith uses his incredible gift of knowledge, perception and worldviews to make an irrefutable case for the value and necessity of religion in human society.
This book is NOT light reading. It is very deep and requires the reader to repeat some pages just for the content to seep in. Smith manages to pack an incredible ammount of thought and content into small selections.
There is way too much to cover in this review but the best way I can describe it is as follows: This book discusses the three worldviews throught history... traditionalism, modernism and post modernism (what we are in now) Smith then carefully details how each of these worldviews deals with the debate of cosmology vs metaphysics and how this affects the nature of society. He brilliantly pickes apart positivism (the notion that science is the only means of arriving at truth), and goes on to explain why religion is innate and cannot be ignored.
I only wish I had his writing skills. He brings in a number of religions including buddism, Judaism, Christianity, hunduism...etc.. This is not biased and brilliantly done. You will not be disapointed.
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