Bookreview of “What is All The Fuss About Religion?” EarthTrek volume 1

By Anita Herawati Moormann.

WCM Press 2009.

Bookreview by Arnold Yasin Mol, DeenResearchCenter November 2009.

www.deenresearchcenter.com

Moormann’s book is an interesting and pleasant work to read. It is a disclosure of the personal questions Moormann asked herself over the years about life and meaning, and these are questions shared by most humans on earth. Being a product of a pluralistic society and child of an ambassador, from childhood on the different ideas and beliefs mankind has were exposed to her which all claimed to be truths. From this, a list of questions emerged which she slowly found answers for. Questions as ‘what is religion?’, ‘is religion necessary?’, ‘does God exist?’, ‘there are so many religions, which is the right one?’, and many more of these common questions. Self-study and reflection created a set of answers, which she started to explain in her book, the first of a three volume series. As her questions are shared by many people, she wanted to help other people by sharing her own journey.

As myself having had an academic education in Science and Theology and long self-study on Philosophy, Islam and Qur’anic interpretation, I was surprised by the professional level of many of Moormann’s explanations, although her being an amateur on these subjects. Her story of her youth showed the universality of mankind’s journey of being confronted by the diversity of thought. Although coming from a Muslim background, she started to research other religions and wanted to know if there was a common ground between them, and if there really was a conflict between modern thought and religions. Her answers on there being proof of a Creator are well explained, and shows her ability to present sophisticated ideas to a normal audience.

After reflecting there being only one Creator force, she skips non-monotheistic religions in her assessment as these are disproven by scientific philosophical thought. So she then focuses on a comparative studies of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. As the first two share mostly the same book, the comparison is made between the Bible and the Qur’an. She examines the history and development of the three religions, the influences of pagan beliefs on them, and then goes into a step by step subject comparison of the Bible and Qur’an. These are done very professionally and thorough. She shatters the myths that the Qur’an is a violent, hate-mongering and primitive book, and shows the Bible is far more focussed on violence, and has many contradicting ideas about God. Her conclusion that the Qur’an has a logical view on God, and its focus and ideas of righteousness, liberty and justice represent the best of what a human can be, and thus that the Qur’an is an asset to mankind, are very convincing.

Although she makes a few amateuristic mistakes and discusses some new-age ideas that are too simplistic, these can be overlooked as her book is a valuable work for the every day person. Many people do not take being alive very serious, and just accept what their upbringing has given them. Moormann’s journey shows the importance of honestly reflecting all ideas and discoveries created by mankind, and thus entices people to start their own journey, but also gives them an idea of what direction to go to.

Her work is compelling and convincing for a person just telling her own journey and I was happy to walk along.

You can buy the book on Amazon:

“What is All The Fuss About Religion?” by Anita Moormann