The caustic tone will be off-putting to many readers, particularly devout ones, though this intense criticism of faith will resonate with the religiously disenchanted. Raziel holds nothing back in his zealous disparagement, lobbing accusations of bullying, deception, and propaganda at Christian leaders while also labeling Christian beliefs “barbaric and cultish.” Despite Raziel’s claims that he will adhere strictly to scientific evidence, his treatise disappoints with its over-reliance on Encyclopedia Britannica, nearly word-for-word rewritings of Wikipedia, and exuberant jeering statements of personal opinion presented as established fact. Enemy of Humanity also gets sidetracked with withering, evidence-free digressions, such as a vague and hard-to-follow condemnation of David Barton, a Christian activist responsible for manufacturing what believers claim as “historic research.”
The strength of this scathing exposé lies in its clever demonstration of similarities between world religions and Raziel’s inclusion of useful suggestions for readers who find themselves at a religious crossroads. He offers concrete recommendations for other spiritual activities, including meditation, prayer and adaptation of religious rituals for everyday practice, to assist disillusioned Christians in their transition from organized faith. Equal parts derogatory and enthusiastic, this acerbic confrontation of religious beliefs is sure to spark animated dialogue and prompt intense speculation.
Takeaway: Anti-religious readers and dissatisfied believers will find an abundance of fuel for their fires in this blistering attack on organized religion.
Great for fans of: Richard Dawkins’s The God Delusion and Christopher Hitchens’s God is not Great.
Production grades
Cover: C
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B-
Marketing copy: B-
Booklife's review of Enemy of Humanity reads like an angry Christian's rant rather than a professional objectional review.
The review is blatant on disenfranchising Enemy of Humanity's scholastic foundation and the author's educational intent (clearly made known in the book's introduction) only to favor shallow over-the-top quips aimed at deterring potential readers from what is significant histiography.
The review states that the author makes "exuberant jeering statements of personal opinion established as fact," yet doesn't provide a single example. Also, it outright lies that the book labels Christian beliefs as "barbaric and cultish." It never does. Additionally, it faults the author for over-sourcing the Encyclopedia Britannica (arguably the most reliable source in the world) which literally appears as a cited source just twice in the endnotes. "Word-for-word rewritings of Wikipedia"? Again, not a single example is given...not-to-mention the reprehensible implication of plagiarism. The review's assertion that Enemy of Humanity "gets sidetracked with withering, evidence-free digressions" then casts an unrelated example is another demonstration of its disingenuity and fatuity.
Unfortunately and conveniently, booklife doesn't disclose who their reviewers are, how they're chosen, nor the resume or qualifications of such reviewers. This allows for "cowardly" anonymity, especially for this particular reviewer who distinctly begins the review with, "filmmaker and photographer" as a underhanded attempt to discredit Jubei Raziel's accomplishments as an author from the start. This is further revealed by the reviewer's refusal to mention the author's first name even once (neverminding the effort to say, Mr. Raziel).
Despite these amateurish fibs, booklife manages to greatly compliment Enemy of Humanity by recommending it as a "must-read" for those who enjoy exceptional minds like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens and their New York Times Best Seller books!
The Bottom Line: Booklife's review of Enemy of Humanity hyperbolically claims it has no merit or isn't factual...without ever providing evidence. Furthermore, it doesn't disprove anything in the book or even tries. The entirety of the review is nothing more than emotional word salad drenched in whine dressing.
"Powerful, compelling and utterly thought-provoking Enemy of Humanity proves essential reading for those enthralled by Christianity and for those enraged by it. Whatever your views on Christianity are, Enemy of Humanity is not a book to be ignored.
Religion needs authors of Raziel’s calibre to challenge it. The hubris of certainty and the consequences of warped conclusions taken at face value, Enemy of Humanity is recommended without reservation."
"Enemy of Humanity by Jubei Raziel is a non-fiction study of Christianity and the Bible, setting itself above the parapet as a wholly faithful exploration of facts, without fear of influence customarily derived from conjecture or supposition.
Raziel begins with an introduction to his journey, a casual read that launched an ambitious investigation. Over the course of thirty-three chapters, Raziel is meticulous in the combing through of a wide-ranging degree of wisdom from the origins of a holy book that has been indiscriminate in who it appropriates and then recycles its texts from, to the foundational enslavement by way of a creation story that Raziel is able to succinctly dissect using intellectual reasoning and the Bible's own scripture, and on to the background of popular catchphrases such as, “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” and the reality of what they mean.
Jubei Raziel holds absolutely nothing back in Enemy of Humanity, which I found to be so much more engaging and profoundly honest than the dozens of theses I've collected over the years. The narrative is a well-constructed balance of intelligentsia and the comfortable conversational style of a man who knows what he's talking about. And Raziel definitely knows what he's talking about. My favorite parts were found in chapters eight, Contra-Christianity where contradictions are laid bare in a near-perfect laundry list of tit-for-tat scripture, and twenty-two, wherein the stunting of psychological and emotional expansion results in subservient fixation to the church, “Because they’re catalyst to the paradigm.”
If you're going to read a book that digs deep into the core of Christian theology and rounds up its findings with facts, Enemy of Humanity is your stop. All aboard."
What lies beyond the mysticism of the world's greatest religion?
Prepare yourself for an incredible historic journey!
Hosted on Medium, and uniquely different than the podcast, author Jubei Raziel writes provocative articles that expand on the societal relevance surrounding his award-winning book, Enemy of Humanity.
Go beyond the book and explore prohibited topics about Christianity and the Bible. Discover the incredible science and function behind the world's most influential religion in a groundbreaking limited series available on all major podcast platforms.
Enemy of Humanity has been declined for a Publisher's Weekly review:
"Despite the strength of Enemy of Humanity, our editors have decided not to send it out for review." - Booklife
Unfortunately, no further explanation or reasoning was provided.
