José Saramago

[100 Years of Solitude]

(Sorry in advance if there is already a thread about this)

If any fellow atheist (or religious) wants an author who highly criticises Christianity and the notion/concept of God then i recommend you the Portuguese Jose Saramago.
His writing style is hard at first but then as the poet Fenando Pessoa said (when he first tasted Coca Cola in 1927) "At first it's unfamiliar, then it strikes root."



Here are some quotes from him (books,drafts..):

"... it is dreams that keep the world in orbit. But dreams also form a diadem of moons, therefore the sky is that splendour inside a man's head, if his head is not, in fact, his own unique sky." - Baltasar and Blimunda

"Perhaps only in a world of the blind will things be what they truly are." - Blindness

"God, the devil, good, evil, it's all in our heads, not in Heaven or Hell, which we also invented. We do not realize that, having invented God, we immediately became His slaves."- from an interview to El País (2009)

"Deep down, the problem is not a God that does not exist, but the religion that proclaims Him. I denounce religions, all religions, as harmful to Humankind. These are harsh words, but one must say them."- from an interview to Globo (2009)

Among his stellar work i recommend:



Baltasar and Blimunda- a novel set in a time where the church had absolute and undisputed power and through inquisition sent thousands, man and woman, children acused of heresy to the stake. A man, whose left hand is missing, a woman, who has magical powers (it's not fiction but magic realism) and a priest, who questions the existance of God; defy the conventions of the time and dare to fly, dare to dream.
It details meticulously the barbarities perpetrated by the inquisition during the "autos de fé" (where the acused were executed, burning at the stake) through gritty irony, always present in his writing and denounces the excesses and hipocrisy of the monarchy and the cleric (Church).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltasar_and_Blimunda


Thanks for devoting time to read all this.

[Alex K]

Ah my wife's read blindness...that's where I know the name from.
Very interesting

[Dystopia]

I'm yet to read Ensaio sobre a cegueira (Blindess) - It's really just a shame he was a communist (pun intended) - Still better than being a nationalist neo-fascist prick, there's no worse than that. I end up respecting the communist party for its atheism and position on social justice - Just not on economics and their extremely strict concept of equality as well as the conception of classes

I remember when the Church tried to ban some of his books and their proposal was refused by the government.

[100 Years of Solitude]

I'm yet to read Ensaio sobre a cegueira (Blindess) - It's really just a shame he was a communist (pun intended) - Still better than being a nationalist neo-fascist prick, there's no worse than that. I end up respecting the communist party for its atheism and position on social justice - Just not on economics and their extremely strict concept of equality as well as the conception of classes

I remember when the Church tried to ban some of his books and their proposal was refused by the government.

I too understand where your coming from in regards of communism because it does not reward merit. It's an utopic concept far too improbable to work on the current world (maybe as he said in the future the state will ceize to exist, i can see that happening if we achieve a level of development so high it no long is required).
However the roots of comunism, socialism, i stand by despite believing that the country has to produce enough for the system to work perfectly (here in Portugal it doesn't work because we aren't self sustainable).
It all goes around money, if it's abundant things might work, if it's not then we are screwed.

PS: I have no affiliation to PS (Socialist party here in Portugal for you dirty foreigners) since i don't believe that what they stand for is socialism but rather their own personal interests.

[Dystopia]

I'm yet to read Ensaio sobre a cegueira (Blindess) - It's really just a shame he was a communist (pun intended) - Still better than being a nationalist neo-fascist prick, there's no worse than that. I end up respecting the communist party for its atheism and position on social justice - Just not on economics and their extremely strict concept of equality as well as the conception of classes

I remember when the Church tried to ban some of his books and their proposal was refused by the government.

I too understand where your coming from in regards of communism because it does not reward merit. It's an utopic concept far too improbable to work on the current world (maybe as he said in the future the state will ceize to exist, i can see that happening if we achieve a level of development so high it no long is required).
However the roots of comunism, socialism, i stand by despite believing that the country has to produce enough for the system to work perfectly (here in Portugal it doesn't work because we aren't self sustainable).
It all goes around money, if it's abundant things might work, if it's not then we are screwed.

PS: I have no affiliation to PS (Socialist party here in Portugal for you dirty foreigners) since i don't believe that what they stand for is socialism but rather their own personal interests.

I call myself a social democrat (not for PSD party but rather my personal conception of social democracy) - I believe in social justice and equity, but also in democracy (representative and participative) - I'm also a pragmatic capitalist - Capitalist because I haven't seen evidence of an economic system that works better, pragmatic because I think capitalism and the the free market economy aren't nearly enough to ensure development and growth occur and therefore I gladly accept some socialized or socialist measures that provide helpful to give people basic human dignity (like labour laws, minimum wages, some positive discrimination, free healthcare, etc.)

[Alex K]

I also consider myself a social democrat. Now, if only I could say the same about our social democrat party, voting would be so much more fun. Sadly, they decided to throw the very people under the bus they should show solidarity with 15 years ago.

[100 Years of Solitude]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpxoD9KFpHI

7:06 and you can see his opinion on religion

[Dystopia]

And apparently he was a gnostic atheist - Fucking awesome.