Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 1, 2010 at 11:21am

My recommendation today is for you all to check out Andre Comte-Sponville's "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality." It comes in two languages, that I know of: English and French. The original french version is titled "L'espirit de l'atheisme" - for those of you who speak french as a native language.

Sponville is a well known French atheist with a lot of intelligent things to say. He is far less "condemning" of religion than Dawkins, or Harris, or Hitchens. Not saying that those books aren't good, just that if you want to convince an open-minded theist by way of freethinker book; Sponville is a better way to go, as he treats theists with sympathy and gentleness rather than condemnations.

"The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality" first attempts to propose and give reasoning for humanity being able to do without religion, and then goes into the irrationality of believing in the existence of God. He concludes the book by appealing to new atheist deconverts that there IS a way to feel "spirtual rapture" in the natural world, that you do not need God to have such an experience.

I would suggest it to many of you, but especially those who believe that Dawkins and his contemporaries in atheist books are wrong in their idea that religion is too harmful to society to continue to exist, or that Dawkins and his contempories are publishing books that just give theists a distorted view of atheists. [No offense to anyone - And BTW... I don't believe that, I like Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens' proposals and believe that they are true... but think that theists are so blind right now that their minds have to be opened GENTLY before they can truly be affected by books such as the God Delusion.]

Now, this is a picture of "The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality":

You can find this book here:
http://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Atheist-Spirituality/dp/014311443...

Amazon offers it for $9.36 [plus shipping], but from independent Amazon sellers you can get it new for as little as $7.00 or used for as little as $3.16

Permalink Reply by Cindy on February 1, 2010 at 11:37am

"The Bloody History of the Fertile Crescent" By Barry Pomeroy. This is a short easy to read book that takes a fresh and unique look at the bible stories. Atheist will love this book, theist will not.
http://twinenterprises.com/the_bloody_history/buy_the_bloody_histor...

Permalink Reply by Dallas the Phallus on March 17, 2010 at 11:33am

This book is obviously not about atheism, but it does a wonderful job exposing the paranoia and mythology of satanic cults and satanic ritual abuse propigated by fundamentalists. I enjoy the aesthetics of Satanism and witchcraft from a fictional point of view, which is what lead me to this book in the first place, but I obviously don't take it seriously as a philosophy or practice (meaning I don't believe in magic, although I love magical stories, etc.). This is an enjoyable read, and my critique of the book would be better than the one included here from Amazon.com (though I will have to admit that it has been about 6 years since I read it). BTW, I didn't know the author was involved in Themis (whatever that is). - DG

Lure of the Sinister: The Unnatural History of Satanism

Although the furor over allegations of Satanic ritual abuse appears finally to have abated, wild claims inevitably persist. This book aims to put them to rest. Although packaged as a cultural history of Satanism, it is better seen as an apologetic work that seeks to debunk the outlandish accusations leveled against Pagan practices by irresponsible journalists, overzealous evangelists and outright liars. Medway, a freelance writer and a priest of Themis in the Fellowship of Isis, reveals the mundane truths behind "satanic panics" both medieval and modern. On so-called satanic crime, he sensibly points out that it is as foolish to blame occultism for the acts of isolated criminals as it is to blame the depredations of religious maniacs on the Bible. Unfortunately, this book suffers from poor organization (not to mention a terribly clunky title) and reads as a collection of anecdotes rather than as a sustained argument. Medway's discussion of historical incidents such as the elaborate hoax the freethinker L‚o Taxil perpetrated in the 1880s and 1890s on a gullible French public are the best parts of the book. His amply documented criticism of contemporary anti-Satanists is convincing, but the accumulation of detail on so many unrelated episodes bludgeons the point. This book may serve as a useful reference tool for Pagans on the defensive, but it does not make for compelling bedside reading.