Why bother to read a book with the title Dangerous Illusions: How Religion Deprives Us of Happiness (Arcadia Books)? The short answer is that it landed on my desk; the longer answer is that I was curious to see what arguments the author, Vitaly Malkin, had constructed to persuade the reader of his provocative thesis. It proved to be hard work.
Malkin, of whom we are informed by the blurb, is a Russian businessman, formerly a physicist, banker and senator, now an investor, traveller and philanthropist, lacks atheist Richard Dawkins’ ability to convey the beauty of the natural world or Christopher Hitchens’ powerful prose style. The result is a remorseless mixture of miscellaneous quotations from authors he approves of, such as Freud, Nietzsche, Hitchens and Bertrand Russell, combined with his own uninspiring reflections, born of anger against all religions and an entirely reductive approach to human nature.
