Book Review of The Irrational Atheist by Vox Day

Sometime in the fall of 2003 I came across the opinion column written by Vox Day on World Net Daily. The article, which sticks in my memory, was about a personal friend. This friend was an artist, a real free spirit and also a self-professed atheist. For what ever reason this young lady came to a point where she chose to carry the atheistic worldview to it's ultimate conclusion, to control even life itself, by ending her own life.
This nihilistic, Godless, self-aggrandizing worldview, this rejection of a world with rules, standards and consequences to the same, is currently being championed by a group of authors Vox has dubbed the Unholy Trinity. The Irrational Atheist is a full frontal assault on Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, schills for the ungod.
I have a friend who works in the CBM gas fields of NE Wyoming. On occasion he encounters rattlesnakes. Now he doesn't hate snakes, he believes in live and let live. But, when a deadly poisonous snake sticks up its diamond shaped head, rattles it tail and threatens to strike, ignoring the danger has deadly results. My friend has a solution to the problem. He takes a trusty shovel and proceeds to make the situation less threating for himself, very deadly for the snake.
The Irrational Atheist is killing snakes with a shovel. The UnHoly Trinity stick their heads up, rattle their tail, and flick their bifurcated tongues, and Vox Day takes a shovel to them. This book is a beat down of ideologies, theories and rationalities which hold dangerous consequences to mankind. Vox shows in various ways that the attempt to take away religious belief, a faith in a divine being, leads to totalitarian slaughter in an attempt to enforce a Godless culture. Whether it's the current regime in N. Korea, the bloody hands of Mao-Tse-Tung, or the mass killing by the nation celebrating The Union of the Militant Godless, mankind is in danger when its people believe that “there is no God to whom he must ultimately answer for his deeds”.
I have read several works of Christian apologetics, The Case for Christ by Lee Stobel, I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist by Norman Gisler, Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell, and others. This book is nothing like those. This book is an attack on atheism/Godlessness using reason, logic and facts, the very things that the UnHoly Trinity claim to love. The results are not pretty. Harris in particular, but all three are made to appear as ignorant fools. This should be no surprise to the Believer, since we already know that, ”the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”
I've heard Christian friends and leaders say that it's not possible to use reason, logic and facts to show the existence of God. While this may be true, Vox does an absolute masterful job of using those three things to eviscerate the arguments of D,H and H. Yes, its true that as believers we need to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who hold an atheistic worldview, but some of them, may need to have their faith system destroyed first. The Irrational Atheist is an intellectual challenge to the commonly used arguments by many atheists. Rather than appeal to the atheist using the Book they consider to be fairy tales, Vox resorts to bearding the lions in their own den, using their own arguments.
Who should read this book? Atheists who are willing to consider that fact that many of their arguments and the champions of those arguments are fatally flawed. Atheists who are convinced that they are the font of all knowledge and truth, you'll find the answer is, not so much. Any student, high school or college who is currently studying worldviews, belief systems and/or theology. Christians who desire a useful tool for understanding and confronting the atheistic worldview. And Christians who are dealing with militant atheists using D,H and H as sources of information in their attacks on Christianity.
A few disclaimers. Vox writes with a slash and burn style. A take no prisoners, blow them up and leave a smoking hole mentality. Some in the Christian community are going to be offended by this approach. I would remind them that our Lord had some rather harsh things to say to some of His critics. You don't call someone a “generation of vipers”, “whited sepulchres”, and “fools” without having your targets tend to react unfavorably to these terms. Vox does not treat D,H and H with kid gloves. It's an in your face, put up or shut up, throw down.
Some in the Christian community will dislike Vox's theology. Fine, you need to read the book for all of the information given related to atheistic thoughts and ideas, so that you may better understand how to defend your own beliefs and worldview. If you find his notions of AI and free will to be different than your own, you will have still benefited from reading the book.
One other thing. Sometimes Vox uses descriptions which are, well, crude. While they illustrate the point he is trying to make, they can be more than a little over the edge. You've been warned.
The Irrational Atheist is a great read. It challenges the proponents of atheism on their philosophies, and in the end, leaves them looking defenseless and hollow. I believe that Vox has a personal dislike for those spreading the lies of Godless atheism because he has seen the results of their ideas in the lives of those around him, including his friend in that column years ago. So in this book he makes his attempt to show the folly of their belief system. If they are messed up a little in the process, what are they going to do, appeal to a higher authority for vengeance?