After the surprising publishing success of the so-called New Atheists it has become clear that there is a market for critical discussions about religion. A religion is much more complex than a set of beliefs which cannot be proven, as the New Atheists argue. There is, in fact, much more to religion and much more to the arguments about its truth claims. This book seeks to bring together a range of discussions, both critical and apologetic, each of which examines some part of religion and its functions. Half of the contributors are critical of some element of religion and the other half are apologetic in nature, seeking to defend or extend some particular religious argument. Covering a wide range of topics, including ethics, religious pluralism, the existence of God, and reasonableness of Islam, these pieces have in common arguments that are made in careful and scholarly ways they represent reasonable perspectives on a wide swath of contemporary religious debates, in contrast to the unreasonableness that creeps into discussions on religion in American society.

Millions of people now know the main arguments for the thesis "9/11 was an inside job", starting from the controlled demolition of the World Trade Center buildings No. 1, 2 and 7. Even a champion of orthodoxy like Time Magazine was obliged to note that the "9/11 Truth Movement" is no longer "a fringe phenomenon. It is a mainstream reality." Kevin Barrett takes this now-familiar thesis as a springboard to new territory in this book. Like Jack Kerouac in "On the Road", Barrett has written a gospel for a new generation of post-9/11 sceptics. This ebullient book strikes a confident keynote for this sudden coming of age. It is a tonic draft of courage for millions of disenfranchised 9/11 truthers -- and for the uneasy majority who sense that America, once a beacon of ideals for humanity, is no longer on the right track. "Truth Jihad" is the first "9/11 Truth" book that is not primarily tasked with proving 9/11 was an inside job to our fellow humanity, who remain blindly trapped inside the mainstream media bubble. For millions of us the facts are already painfully clear now -- as is the frustration of trying to convey the harsh truth to those who aren't ready for it. This book is a sharing of that experience, and an affirmation of life and literature after 9/11 -- a lively celebration of art, freedom, truth and protest.