3 out of 4 stars
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In Common Sense and Reasonable Answers, Warren William Luce presents his ideas for making the world a better place, and he makes it quite clear that it’s no pipedream. It is not only possible, according to Luce, but certain, for “God says so. In fact, he has told us the time is coming when ‘nation will not lift up sword against nation, nor will they learn war anymore.’”
Luce gives his thoughts about how to fix a lot of problems: gun violence, the national debt, health care costs, immigration, Mideast violence, and so on. But for this former World War 2 bomber pilot, the biggest problem is that humanity has been conditioned by religion to believe we can’t fix anything. We are hopeless, helpless, miserable sinners, just waiting to be “destroyed in some Armageddon-like cataclysm.” It is this fatalism and self-loathing, bred into us by religious indoctrination, that keeps us from realizing our true potential for reforming ourselves and our world, as God Himself commands us to do.
It is not just religion that stirs Luce’s ire. He’s just as scathing in his assessment of politicians, asserting that their neglect, incompetence, and cowardice amounts to nothing less than treason. With regard to the United States congress, he writes, “They are clearly aiding and abetting that enemy by deliberately refusing to compromise on curbing spending and increasing revenue so as to balance the budget. Unquestionably, by definition, they are guilty of treason.”
What I liked most about this book is the author’s optimism. Whereas many people find in the Bible only cause for despair with regard to the earth’s future, Luce sees cause for hope. He rejects any interpretation of Scripture that fosters feelings of helplessness and self-hatred. As a former evangelical Christian, I had to smile when he wrote of a friend who told him, “It has always been a downer for me to go to church each Sunday to confess, to be told and even sometimes sing that I am such a rotten human being when I feel that I’m not that kind of person at all.”
What I disliked most about this book is that the author often presents his viewpoints as if he’s unaware of the complexity of the issues involved. Although I share his disdain for an interpretation of Scripture that leads to self-loathing, I question his assertion that our “intuition and reason tells us which words of the Bible are from God and which are of men.” If this is true, then why the need for Scripture at all? Why not simply rely entirely on intuition? Like many people who reject the inerrancy of Scripture, he often takes an overly simplistic approach. For instance, he writes, “What of God’s commandment that ‘Thou shalt not kill?’ He forbids killing. But it is okay for him to do so? Surely not!” Here he misses an important distinction. What makes murder murder is that the murderer assumes ownership of another person’s life. But God is the owner of all lives; hence, it is fundamentally different for God to take a life than for man to do so. Fact is, God takes a life every time someone dies.
Another problem for me was the author’s treatment of the problem of evil. After angrily denouncing the usual answers for why God allows evil, he writes, “These are nice, theological-sounding answers, but they are foolish, and there is no truth in them because God has no part in them. How can anyone believe that it is God’s will, his desire, that terrible things should happen to us. All the affliction and sorrow that happens to mankind is of his own doing.” Here the author simply replaces one bad theological answer – it’s all God’s will – with an even worse one – it’s all our fault! This is typical blame-the-victim theology, and it’s no better than the kind he’s denouncing.
This book is well-edited; I found only one error.
This book should appeal to a wide audience. Despite the religious element, the author is not sectarian, and I doubt too many people will find his words offensive. I think religious and political liberals will enjoy this book. It may also resonate with agnostics. I don’t think it will resonate as well with religious or political conservatives or super-patriots.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I would give it more, but like I said, the author treats some issues too simplistically. This is a good book that will give many a reader hope that God hasn’t given up on the future of their planet just yet, and perhaps, neither should they.
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Common Sense and Reasonable Answers
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