Book Review: Why Religion Matters, Huston Smith

When I found this book I was pretty excited about it. I was hoping it would look at the issue of Religion's place in a society of Science and, generally, I was not disappointed. I did, however, find that maybe this book was a little too long and a little too embellished with personal tales. I couldn't help but get the impression that Smith was trying to write his Legacy more than trying to find an answer to the question he asks in the title. I say this because there are many places where he indicates that he's going to illustrate his point with an anecdote, but then frames it in a very self-serving and self-grandizing way. I have nothing against anecdotes (In fact I enjoy them a great deal) but when they are used more as a device of self-proclamation and less as something that really adds to a discussion, I get tired quickly.

Having said that, I feel he does make some good points, though many of them are similar (or exactly the same as) Ken Wilbur's Marriage of Sense and Soul. I'm not certain about this, but it seems to me that Wilbur's book may have been an answer to Smith's as Smith pines about the loss of the "Traditional" worldview and Wilbur argues of the dangers of doing that very thing.

At any rate, Smith does discuss Scientism a lot and I liked that. I don't know that I learned anything new on that specific topic, but it was nice to read, anyway. One thing that hit home for me was Smith's reference to Michael Polonyi's "Tacit Knowledge", which I know would excite my dad to no end. I remember hearing about tacit knowledge when I was a teenager. I didn't get it then, but I think I do now.

The verdict on this book is that it isn't Smith's best, but it's worth reading, especially if you've never read anything on the subject before.

The next book review will be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.