Thread: Atheist/Humanist/Skeptic Book recommendations

I'm after some reading recommendations on anything to do with challenging religion and it's influence in society.

To date I've read:
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens
Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris
Infidel, Nomad and The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Invisible Women - Qanta Ahmed
Missionary Position - Christopher Hitchens

There's a few others but I can't remember them just now (I'm getting old )

I'm currently reading "Religion for Atheists".

I'm interesting in reading anything that provides a critique of any or all religions.

Cheers!

Here are a few more that you can download for free:

'The Age of Reason' by Thomas Paine.

'The Origin of All Religious Worship' by Charles Dupuis.

'The Devil's Pulpit' and also 'The Diegesis' by the Reverend Robert Taylor.

All of these were banned by the Church at some point and with good reason, because they did a grand demolition job on organised faith.
I particularly like Taylor. He realised that what he was expected to preach from the pulpit was total fiction. Instead he started to preach what was then called infidelism and we would now call atheism. For his sins he was imprisoned for blasphemy in Oakham Gaol England from where he started to write his books. He was almost certainly influenced by Dupuis when writing The Diegesis. On his release he went up and down England trying to teach the real truth behind Christianity.
For me he is a saint of the Church of Atheism.

http://archive.org/details/devilspulpit00tayl

http://archive.org/details/diegesis00unkngoog

http://www.scribd.com/doc/103543743/...is-Dupuis-1872

http://www.deism.com/images/theageofreason1794.pdf

I

"Humanist Anthology" by Margeret Knight, is a good selection of readings from various thinkers from antiquity to now, and a great spring board to further reading.

"The Sacred Depths of Nature" by Ursula Goodenough, is a biologist's journey of appreciation for the wonders of nature and awe far greater than any religious text. If you are an atheist that feels spiritual (as I often do) this book might be for you.

Thanks, some of those sound really interesting!!

I'm especially interested in ones that provide a critique of a particular religion, not so much the existence of a deity. (Read: I can't bring myself to actually read the Bible or Koran - I won't make it through - so I'd like someone else to read it for me and provide a critique )

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Thanks, some of those sound really interesting!!

I'm especially interested in ones that provide a critique of a particular religion, not so much the existence of a deity. (Read: I can't bring myself to actually read the Bible or Koran - I won't make it through - so I'd like someone else to read it for me and provide a critique )

Then you might like the works of Karen Armstrong, she's a Catholic nun who's studied and written a lot about other religious. She sometimes gets deservingly criticized for soft-peddling the worst parts of the dominant religions, but her writing is clear and she does a good job of pointing out the differences and often provides rich context for why people believe as they do. Warning she's a half full glass type person who finds much to love about every religion so you won't find strong critiques-you might even come away with an appreciation for the value of ceremony, tradition and some form of faith that many atheist people automatically reject but most people need--and they wonder why secular ideas struggle so much to earn credibility (duh!). You'll find a lot of her in TED talks and other vids as well if you want to get a taste.

Originally Posted by Lynx_Fox

Then you might like the works of Karen Armstrong, she's a Catholic nun who's studied and written a lot about other religious.

Err..she was a Catholic nun. She was born in Worcestershire England, about 6 miles from where I am writing this.
She went into the convent straight from school. She was disappointed. She was bullied. When she argued for the Resurrection she found that some other nuns didn't even believe in it!
She wrote a book called Through A Narrow Gate describing her experiences at the convent. When she escaped she went to Oxford University and wrote a book called Beginning the World.
A third autobiography was called The Spiral Staircase, in recognition that she had turned from theism to atheism and then back again.
She found a good living from writing books about different religions to include the 3 monotheisms and buddhism.
Her books are well written but they are biased and it is easy enough to dispute them.

I found Carl Sagan's Book: The Demon-Haunted World and Michael Shermer's:The Believing Brain good reads.

Originally Posted by Eleven11

{remember that Mormons believe that people become Gods after death, and recieve a planet to rule...}

Do they really?!

Wiki

joseph smith taught that the celestial kingdom itself is subdivided into three "heavens or degrees".^[9] only those individuals who are sealed in celestial marriage to a spouse in a temple while alive (or after death by proxy) will be permitted to enter into the highest degree of celestial kingdom.^[10] these individuals will eventually become "exalted"^[11] and will be permitted to live "the kind of life god lives" as literal gods and goddesses,

Originally Posted by MrMojo1

I found Carl Sagan's Book: The Demon-Haunted World and Michael Shermer's:The Believing Brain good reads.

Definitely A Demon-Haunted World by Sagan. Much more mild than some of the others, but at least as well reasoned. The man really had a way with words.

Originally Posted by KALSTER

Definitely A Demon-Haunted World by Sagan. Much more mild than some of the others, but at least as well reasoned. The man really had a way with words.

I agree. The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan proves that we should not put too much faith in anything other than science.
Even so, you can't disprove religious faith 100%, but you can disprove it say, 99.999...%. And amazingly it is that 0.001% where it finds its existence.
The Dalai Lama more or less challenged Sagan to disprove reincarnation. He couldn't of course. We can't really prove that the Eucharist does not turn a thin wafer and some wine into the body and blood of a saviour, even if the chemical composition remains unaltered. We can't prove that Mormons have not gone to inhabit other planets, or the reason for the sunrise is a sacrificial rite.
Sagan discusses if prayer works. Again, we cannot say for certain that it does not, but look at the odds. Statistics show that there is only about a 1 in a million chance of being cured at Lourdes. In a century there were only 65 miraculous cures acknowledged by the RC Church and 59 of these were women. Compare this to the spontaneous remission rates of cancer at up to 1 in 10,000.
Millions pray for the long life a leader or monarch. They is no evidence that they live any longer than any others of a similar class.
Sagan also turns his attention to faith healers and how these guys can kill if you prefer them to surgery.
A belief in UFO's is not much different from a belief in any old religion. Extraterrestrials by some sort of warped definition must be superior.

Originally Posted by ox

[We can't really prove that the Eucharist does not turn a thin wafer and some wine into the body and blood of a saviour, even if the chemical composition remains unaltered.

Er, actually the fact that the chemical composition remains unaltered IS proof that the wafer is still a wafer (and, therefore, NOT the body of Christ).

Statistics show that there is only about a 1 in a million chance of being cured at Lourdes.

Statistics show that the chance of "miracle cures" is somewhat lower at Lourdes than just about anywhere that's not Lourdes.

Originally Posted by Dywyddyr

Er, actually the fact that the chemical composition remains unaltered IS proof that the wafer is still a wafer (and, therefore, NOT the body of Christ).

Yes, but not until you have consumed it, so you are missing the point. You get the warm glow of your saviour when he is inside you, but only if you really believe it and you are a Catholic and not a Protestant. Even I can testify to this. It is the classic case of mind over matter, and who's to say it never works?

Statistics show that the chance of "miracle cures" is somewhat lower at Lourdes than just about anywhere that's not Lourdes.

Reference please.

Since Sagan wrote the book the statistics have been updated. Since the Marian Apparitions in 1858 about 200 million have visited Lourdes and the RC Church has claimed 68 cures. The chances of a miraculous cure at Lourdes are therefore 1 in 3 million, and 3 times higher than that claimed by Sagan. But compare this to the chance of winning the Euromillions Lottery at 1 in 76 million!
The springwater from the grotto is the source of the healing, so really we have to ask as to why the holy water only works in so few cases. I have visited Lourdes myself on 3 occasions. It is a tourist trap with a long line of souvenir shops, but what it does do is bring people together and give them hope, and that is probably where the real healing lies.

BB

May I recommend that you read the religious texts themselves?

Why waste your time on/with someone else's critique(s) when you can formulate your own?

Originally Posted by ox

Since Sagan wrote the book the statistics have been updated.

I wasn't using Sagan's statistics.

Since the Marian Apparitions in 1858 about 200 million have visited Lourdes and the RC Church has claimed 68 cures.

67.

The chances of a miraculous cure at Lourdes are therefore 1 in 3 million

That's over the last 150 years.
Since 1978 only 4 "recognised cures" have occurred.

Lourdes - The Skeptic's Dictionary - Skepdic.com

Originally Posted by sculptor

BB

May I recommend that you read the religious texts themselves?

Why waste your time on/with someone else's critique(s) when you can formulate your own?

I think I would lose the will to live if I tried to read the Bible or Quran. At the risk of sounding thick the words have to capture my attention and hold it otherwise I very quickly am thinking about what to make for dinner or my son's swimming lessons etc whilst my eyes are just running over the words and I'm not taking anything in.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

I'm after some reading recommendations on anything to do with challenging religion and it's influence in society.

To date I've read:
The God Delusion - Richard Dawkins
God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens
Letter to a Christian Nation - Sam Harris
Infidel, Nomad and The Caged Virgin - Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Invisible Women - Qanta Ahmed
Missionary Position - Christopher Hitchens

There's a few others but I can't remember them just now (I'm getting old )

I'm currently reading "Religion for Atheists".

I'm interesting in reading anything that provides a critique of any or all religions.

Cheers!

Oh, glad I found this thread tonight! I have looked a bit on amazon.com, through my kindle...but, it's good to see some of your recommendations, here. I'm Agnostic, was once Christian. I've been looking for some worthwhile reads that counter religion, and are well written. Thanks for the suggestions!

While somewhat of a political/religious read, you might enjoy, Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi. I loved it, thought it was excellent.

If you want an easy read, try PZ Myers The Happy Atheist. It's really a collection of blog posts edited into an essay format rather than a book with a coherent, start here and work your way to the end, single book divided only by chapters.

But a lot of it is amusing, some of it is pretty sarcastic/ snarky, plenty of it is witty and entertaining.

And it's already released in ebook format.

What do you hope to learn about atheism by reading more books? Is there more to it than simply not believing in religion? What is the relationship between atheism and humanism?

Originally Posted by Harold14370

What do you hope to learn about atheism by reading more books? Is there more to it than simply not believing in religion? What is the relationship between atheism and humanism?

Connections via social issues brought upon by religious doctrine, I.E stances on abortion/gay marriage/etc. Humanism doesn't like social injustice, ergo humanism does not like religious infringement upon human rights. I would suspect that being an atheist also raises the plausibility of one being a humanist.

Originally Posted by Harold14370

What do you hope to learn about atheism by reading more books? Is there more to it than simply not believing in religion? What is the relationship between atheism and humanism?

Personally, I like to read books that offer me insight as to why someone abandoned his/her faith and is now an agnostic or atheist. It wasn't all that long ago that I practiced Christianity, so hearing and reading stories or perspectives of others who hold the views that I now do, can be both educational and somewhat comforting to me. If the author was never a believer and always held an atheistic view, it still intrigues me as to ...why.

Originally Posted by shlunka

I would suspect that being an atheist also raises the plausibility of one being a humanist.

I'm do not understand this portion of your post. Could you clarify?

Another good short and good read that's well partitioned into bite sized assays is "Meditations for the Humanist" by Grayling.

--

I agree with shlunk, at least in Western nations (not sure about others), a lot of atheist turn to secular humanism. In my experience it filled a hole left by Christianity and replaced it with a much more reason based philosophy about how to treat and respect people, and on a larger scale, the environment--in many cases alright closely akin to my love and science based fascination and often spiritual (as in emotional awe) connection with nature.

David Hume's Enquiry is brilliant.

(I thought I would bump this since humanism is such an important topic, especially in this forum)

Originally Posted by sculptor

BB

May I recommend that you read the religious texts themselves?

Why waste your time on/with someone else's critique(s) when you can formulate your own?

It's often helpful to have insight you may not pick up on yourself.

I liked this in college
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time: Michael Shermer, Stephen Jay Gould: 9780805070897: Amazon.com: Books

I would highly recommend staying away from the New Atheists for any knowledge on religion since they are very unscientific and inaccurate in much of what they present. I hope this list helps anyone who is interested in understanding more about religion. Many of these authors are scientists or historians writing books on their own field (whereas the "new atheists" don't perform research on religion and have credentials not related to religion). Sam Harris has done I think one study of religion which is an exception but most of what he writes about is not about his field of neuroscience. Anyways, I hope this list helps anyone who is really trying to understand religion as I am.

Cognitive science of religion
Religion Explained by Pascal Boyer
Faces in the Clouds by Stewart Guthrie
Why Would Anyone Believe in God by Justin Barrett
Rethinking Religion by Lawson and McCauley
Cognitive Aspects of Religious Symbolism by Pascal Boyer
The Naturalness of Religious Ideas by Pascal Boyer
Ritual & Memory by Harvey Whitehouse and James Laidlaw

Evolution of religion
The Evolution of God by Robert Wright
The History of God by Karen Armstrong
The Religion of the Semites by W. Roberson Smith
The Elementary Forms of Religious Life by Emile Durkheim
The Ghost Dance by Weston La Barre
Evolving God by Barbara King

Comparative Religion
Comparative Religion by E.O. James
Patterns in Comparative Religion by Mircea Eliade
The Golden Bough by Sir James Frazier

History of religions
The History of Heaven by Jefferey Russel
The Origin of Satan Elaine Pagels
A History of the Devil by Gerald Messadie
Asimov's Guide to the Bible by Isaac Asimov (A 1300 page beast of a book!)
Islam by Karen Armstrong
Jesus, Interrupted by Bart Ehrman
Jesus: Apocalyptic Prophet of the New Millennium by Bart Ehrman
How Jesus Became God by Bart Ehrman
Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
Did God Have a Wife? By William Dever
The Bible with Sources Revealed by Richard Friedman

Anthologies on Religion
The End of Christianity edited by John Loftus
Portable Atheist Edited by Christopher Hitchens
Critiques of God edited by Peter Angeles
Faith in Faithlessness edited by Dimitrious Roussopoulos
The Christian Delusion edited by John Loftus
Intelligent Design Creationism and It's Critics edited by Pennock

Understanding Superstition
The Science of Superstition by Bruce Hood
Superstition by Robert Park
Believing in Magic: The Psychology of Superstition by Stuart Vyse
How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker
The Believing Brain by Michael Shermer

Originally Posted by ReligionOfTheSemites

Snip<> snip

Lets not forget Virus of the mind. - Richard Brodie and Genes, memes, and temes. - Susan Blackmore.