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favorite atheist book
#1
favorite atheist book
I'm sure this is a popular subject and has probably been covered before, but what's your favorite book on atheism? I suppose it could be fiction or non-fiction, mine is probably "Why I Am Not a Christian" by Bertrand Russell.
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#2
RE: favorite atheist book
I've read The God Delusion, but other than that I'm not very interested in books on atheism. I see no reason to them.

However, my favorite book written by an atheist would be Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
ronedee Wrote:Science doesn't have a good explaination for water

[Image: YAAgdMk.gif]



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#3
RE: favorite atheist book
Letters to Christian leaders and anything by CJ Werleman
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#4
RE: favorite atheist book
I have not read any atheist books. The closest I have come to reading anything in the same realm is various works of Robert Green Ingersoll.

http://www.infidels.org/library/historic...ingersoll/
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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#5
RE: favorite atheist book
I enjoyed Dawkins' The God Delusion, but I think people make way too much of it. I am currently reading Harris' The End of Faith which I think is excellent so far (about 3/4 of the way through it now). I read Penn Jilette's God, No! and was underwhelmed. There are a few good points scattered near the beginning of the book, but I think it wanders too much and never really seems to focus on the topic.
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."

-Stephen Jay Gould
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#6
RE: favorite atheist book
I've only read The God Delusion, but if you think Harris' book is good i may give it a go, right after i finish cloud atlas
'The more I learn about people the more I like my dog'- Mark Twain

'You can have all the faith you want in spirits, and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don't be an idiot. Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.' - Dr House

“Young earth creationism is essentially the position that all of modern science, 90% of living scientists and 98% of living biologists, all major university biology departments, every major science journal, the American Academy of Sciences, and every major science organization in the world, are all wrong regarding the origins and development of life….but one particular tribe of uneducated, bronze aged, goat herders got it exactly right.” - Chuck Easttom

"If my good friend Doctor Gasparri speaks badly of my mother, he can expect to get punched.....You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith of others. There is a limit." - Pope Francis on freedom of speech
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#7
RE: favorite atheist book
The undervalued Victor Stenger's "The New Atheism". In second "The God Delusion" Richard Dawkins, in a tie for third "Infidel" Ayaan Hirsi Ali, but first on my list for women's rights in all cultures. And also in third "The End Of Faith" By Sam Harris.
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#8
RE: favorite atheist book
(June 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm)Tonus Wrote: I am currently reading Harris' The End of Faith which I think is excellent so far (about 3/4 of the way through it now).

I've read The End of Faith as well and enjoyed it. When it came out I was a mod on another atheist forum and a lot of people were bitching about the ending to the book though.

Harris goes in spiritualism pretty thoroughly there and it ticked off a lot of atheists. It didn't bother me though.

I tried reading The God Delusion but I didn't care for Dawkins' writing style in it. I've read The Ancestors Tale by Dawkins and that was written fine for me.
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#9
RE: favorite atheist book
(June 12, 2013 at 3:36 pm)Rationalman Wrote: I've only read The God Delusion, but if you think Harris' book is good i may give it a go, right after i finish cloud atlas

Read them all don't stop at one or two. I will say that "The Greatest Show on Earth was over my head, I am sure I could find evolution for dummies though.

(June 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm)Tonus Wrote: I enjoyed Dawkins' The God Delusion, but I think people make way too much of it. I am currently reading Harris' The End of Faith which I think is excellent so far (about 3/4 of the way through it now). I read Penn Jilette's God, No! and was underwhelmed. There are a few good points scattered near the beginning of the book, but I think it wanders too much and never really seems to focus on the topic.

What? That may be your opinion, but I was glued to every page from beginning to end. I have more of a problem with some of Hitchens books because he name drops and uses way too many 50 letter words.

"God Is Not Great" was Hitchens easiest read for me and that too, was a book I was glued to every page on.

(June 12, 2013 at 3:51 pm)Rahul Wrote:
(June 12, 2013 at 2:13 pm)Tonus Wrote: I am currently reading Harris' The End of Faith which I think is excellent so far (about 3/4 of the way through it now).

I've read The End of Faith as well and enjoyed it. When it came out I was a mod on another atheist forum and a lot of people were bitching about the ending to the book though.

Harris goes in spiritualism pretty thoroughly there and it ticked off a lot of atheists. It didn't bother me though.

I tried reading The God Delusion but I didn't care for Dawkins' writing style in it. I've read The Ancestors Tale by Dawkins and that was written fine for me.

The beginning of "End Of Faith" was brilliant describing the thoughts of a suicide bomber. But Harris does bother me with trying to compete with religion by trying to borrow "spirituality" from theism. I simply call it "sense of awe" not "spirituality". I wish he would drop that tactic and also his predilections to Buddhism woo.
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#10
RE: favorite atheist book
(June 12, 2013 at 3:51 pm)Brian37 Wrote: Read them all don't stop at one or two. I will say that "The Greatest Show on Earth was over my head, I am sure I could find evolution for dummies though.

While it's not technically what I would consider an atheist book The Greatest Show on Earth was one of my favorite reads in recent years, I loved every page of it and found every excuse to carry it around with me and read bits of it at every opportunity I could manage. When I finished it I wanted to immediately start it over again. Then again, though, I enjoy Dawkin's writing style and the subject matter; I liked The God Delusion, too.

Harris, for me, is better when I listen to him on youtube videos rather than read his books, I find them very dense and somewhat dry and have a hard time maintaining interest/focus while reading them sometimes. Is Hitchens more or less dense than Harris?

I'm reading Dennett's Breaking the Spell right now and am enjoying it and am planning on reading Proving History by Richard Carrier next.
Teenaged X-Files obsession + Bermuda Triangle episode + Self-led school research project = Atheist.
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