I know why it's not (lingering influence of Christianity on local governments and teaching for standardized tests instead of to create educated people), but this book should be required reading for every 11th grade student in the United States.

"The Age of Reason" challenges a lot of the misconceptions that people have about the Bible and Christianity that have developed over the centuries and that somehow still persist today. It was really hard for me to read this and realize that it was published 200 years ago, but I still grew up with a distorted idea of what the Bible is.

To sum this book up, I would say that Paine clearly shows what other academics have shown: the Bible is a conglomeration of texts of dubious origin that contradict each other and don't paint a clear, coherent, or even positive light on Judaism, Christianity, or God. Paine argues that the real expression of God is creation itself and that educating ourselves in mathematics and the sciences are the only way we can commune with and show devotion to the driving force behind existence.

That's a pretty interesting idea. I like it, and it's something that's going to influence how I look at the world from now on.