zappy

I just finished reading "Stranger in a Strange Land" by Robert Heinlein and I can easily say it is one of, if not, the best books I've ever read. Any non-religious person would instantly love this book; it blatantly and overtly mocks religion, however anyone with a good imagination and a philosophical mind would love it too. The plot goes a little like this.
An expedition to Mars results in the disappearance of a full ship of scientific professionals - all are presumed dead. Twenty-five years later a second ship is sent to investigate, leading to the discovery of an intelligent alien race who have raised the one survivor of the previous expedition as their own. The survivor named Michael Valentine Smith, is the child of two genius crewman who presumably conceived on the 3-year trip to this planet. Smith is human in the physical sense however psychologically alien. He is innocent and pacifist in his alien nature - he wouldn't hurt a fly. When Smith is brought to earth he truly is a stranger in a strange land. He has never even laid his eyes on a woman. His interactions with this strange new world expose the illogical nature of religion and social conformity. He makes us question all of our beliefs at the deepest philosophical level, while doing so in a uniquely innocent way.
Here's a good quote that kinda sums up the themes in the book:
"Religion is a solace to many and it is even conceivable that some religion, somewhere, is Ultimate Truth. But being religious is often a form of conceit. The faith in which I was brought up assured me that I was better than other people; I was 'saved,' they were 'damned' — we were in a state of grace and the rest were 'heathens.' By 'heathen' they meant such as our brother Mahmoud. Ignorant louts who seldom bathed and planted corn by the Moon claimed to know the final answers of the Universe. That entitled them to look down on outsiders. Our hymns was loaded with arrogance — self-congratulation on how cozy we were with the Almighty and what a high opinion he had of us, and what hell everybody else would catch come Judgment Day. (FE)"
And another: "A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws. You are almost entirely free of this prevalent evil."

Awesome book, read it and you wont be disappointed

Jaketacular420

That sounds really interesting. Ill look it up for sure.

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"The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are. You trade in your reality for a role. You give up your ability to feel, and in exchange, put on a mask." -Jim Morrison

negaDuck

Hey zappy, if you grok that book, then you should check out heinlein's Future History series...Jubal Harshaw and a few others are sprinkled liberally throughout them and they are easily as well written as this book is.

Absolute favorite author. Not even in class with other authors...like Tool, there are none that even come close to comparing. I could ramble on for days about RAH, stranger in a strange land is where i began my love for him too.

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Buzzby

Stranger in a Strange Land has been a favorite of mine since the day it came out in paperback in 1961.

I disagree. Nothing RAH published after Stranger even came close, other than Glory Road (1963) and The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (1965).

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negaDuck

Then you have yet to truly read and understand all that went into Time enough for love.

only time i would ever use tha words Tour de force