Review: "God Is No Thing" by Rupert Shortt – an excellent response to New Atheism

[rug]

8. Everything is dubious.

But the validity of that conclusion depends entirely on what is the "bulk" of Christian legacy. That in turn requires a sifting of what is Christian from the other influences on the development of human societies.

Marx's model of the transition from primitive communism through slave-based labor through feudalism through nation-states and industrialism all the way up to dominant transnational concentrated capitalism, works for me as a analytical tool.

If Marx is right, those developments are inexorable, stemming from the development of, and control of, advancing means of production, regardless of the religion prevailing at any given time and in any given place.

Separating the dubious from the valid also requires everyone put down their own biases and presuppositions. Disagreements will remain but at least they will then be based on an honest assessment of the evidence.