How (Not) to Be Secular: Reading Charles Taylor

Notes from second round: Skip this on audio and read the print version. The narration was fine. But this is a book that is constantly referencing something else, whether Taylor or another author or subject and the constant reference without the visual cues of what is being referenced make comprehension difficult. Also the constant references to pages of A Secular Age, which make sense in print, do not make the same type of sense in audio. There were paragraphs that referenced specific pages number 4 or 5 or maybe even more times, which made the ability to follow the point difficult.
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Short Review: I am appreciating James KA Smith more with every book of his I read. That is not to say his books are easy reads, but they do seem to hit important issues. This is also the type of book I wish there were more of, popularizing important but dense academic ideas. Charles Taylor's A Secular Age seems to be important, but at 900 pages most will not even attempt it. But Smith has written a 148 pages summary of the larger book. And the summary is fascinating. (I am still wary of undertaking Taylor's original, especially because I have seen several authors that I like, but find dense themselves say how dense and difficult they find Taylor.)

The short version of the book is that the traditional tale told of secularism is that as society progresses it inevitably becomes more secular. As Taylor says it is a story primarily of subtraction. But Taylor says it is much more complicated and what is important is not the loss of belief in God (because many people still believe). What is important is that the terms of what belief is understood to be has changed. Smith has done a good job bringing those ideas forward to the masses and offering slight critique and further explanation.

My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/how-not-to-be-secular/
Second full review on my blog http://bookwi.se/how-not-to-be-secular-2/