In 2004, an American writer and philosopher named Sam Harris wrote an important and controversial book called The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and The Future of Reason. In The End of Faith, Sam Harris presents strong arguments against religious faith, and even more controversial, against religious tolerance itself.

One very interesting thing about The End of Faith and about Sam Harris is that he does not consider himself an "atheist". In fact, he is against the use of the terms "atheist" and "atheism" altogether (read Harris' talk The Problem with Atheism). Even if you believe in God, it is hard to deny Sam Harris' contention that the worst of human atrocities are a direct result of irrational religious belief... from the Spanish Inquisition to the terrorist attacks of September 11th. It isn't a new argument. What is new was Sam Harris' point that the perpetrators of these horrible crimes aren't actually crazy at all. In fact, they are acting completely rationally based on what they truly believe.

This point is lost on a lot of people who have never truly had faith in a religious doctrine. It is hard for many non-believers to really get it... to really understand the dangers of religion and irrational faith. It's easy for people to discount muslim terrorists as whack-jobs who are killing for some political agenda. The truth is far more sinister. The truth is that buildings are being bombed and innocent people are dying because an overwhelmingly large portion of the human race believes that a book which specifically instructs its readers to kill non-believers was actually written word-for-word by God.

Just the idea of atheism has and will continue to offend fundamentalist religious followers. But we need to wake up. As a nation, we need to realize that the beliefs fueling "muslim terrorists" are no more far-fetched or crazy than the ideas held by our own Presidents. And most importantly, we need to realize that irrational faith in religion could conceivably result in the extinction of the entire human race.

Like it's title suggests, this book calls for the end of faith. Now is not the time to be politically correct. Now is not the time to bite our tongues when we hear family and friends talk with absolute certainty about their religious beliefs. Sam Harris is setting a bold example for us all. He is the boy in the crowd, watching the parade, shouting what so many of us see but won't say: "The Emperor Has No Clothes!" If we cannot put an end to faith in irrational beliefs, we might well see the end of human life instead.