A Manual for Creating Atheists by Peter Boghossian

A Manual for Creating Atheists, Peter Boghossian. Durham N.C.: Pitchstone Publishing, 2013. e-book, 224 pps.


A Manual for Creating Atheists in its basic form utilizes the Socratic Method in order to talk people into basing their lives on reason rather than upon faith. This idea of converting people to atheism is a foreign one to me at best and not something that I have attempted to do in any way, shape, or form. Nevertheless, I did read through the entire book.

What I found was more than a bit of repetition which I could have done without, some antidotes which didn't peak my interests, and some clear definitions of terminology. While I appreciated the latter and the amount of research which went into A Manual for Creating Atheists, the premise wasn't my cup of tea. My preference is for each individual adult to believe and put into practice what makes sense to them without the rest of us always having to have an opinion about it. The same objections that I have to street evangelism hold true regardless of the topic being pushed.

sapphoq reviews says: The most valuable point in A Manual for Creating Atheists was the differentiating between faith and reason. Faith works backwards from the conclusion. Reason [and science] works forward from the evidence. I like scholarly attempts but this one by Peter Boghossian falls way short. The most strident atheists among us will appreciate this book and maybe even enact some of the conversation suggestions. The rest of us will shrug our shoulders. And the religious among us will not find anything valuable here. Not recommended.

Your God is Too Small by the citizens of Atheist Republic

Your God is Too Small: 50 Essays on Life, Love, and Liberty Without Religion, Atheist Republic. self-published: Armin Navabi, 2014, e-book, 300 pages.

http://www.atheistrepublic.com/

https://twitter.com/atheistrepublic


Armin Navabi is the founder of Atheist Republic.


     Atheist Republic has blogs, forums, a coming soon podcast, a news section and more on the site http://www.atheistrepublic.com. I didn't know about it until I happened upon the free e-book containing fifty essays by bloggers under the atheist republic umbrella. 

     Published via Smashwords, the common criticism lodged against many of the other self-published authors there does not hold true for Your God is Too Small. I found zero mistakes in grammar and spelling. To anyone who hesitates at the Smashwords label, go ahead and download this free e-book. My only criticism is that the urls to the videos were omitted in the individual essays. I don't know whether that is a stipulation from Smashwords or an oversight by the citizens of Atheist Republic.

     There is a lot to love about Your God is Too Small. I relished the section on Islam. Although some percentage of the populace makes it a practice to not criticize the doings of any religious organizations, the essays included about Islam make it clear that Atheist Republic citizens don't hesitate to take on any topic of necessity. Several essays address the human rights violations and atrocities evident within modern-day Islam as well as the idea that it was not that long ago that mainstream Christian churches also shared in implicit guilt as related to genocide [Rwanda, Hitler, and the Crusades all spring to my mind]. Circumcision of both males [common in Judaism] and females [in some predominantly Muslim countries] is treated as the mutilation that it is. Even slaughtering beef using kosher methods is not given a pass.

     Some of us within the atheist communities who have been experimenting with a "Live and Let Live" laissez-faire approach to more fundamentalist believers have discovered that those believers do not feel bound by the same principle in dealing with us. I don't know of any studies done to support my own anecdotal observations about the clashes on Twitter (tm, no copyright infringement intended) which occur between atheists and believers. Making a statement like "I am an atheist. I don't believe in any gods" or even "Jesus Christ is my personal savior" or "There is no god but Allah" is quite different from "Atheists are scumbags" sort of statements that flow from some Christian and Muslim accounts. Fundamentalism of any variety is dangerous. One only has to research "Charlie Hedbo" to find illustrations of why that is so. Your God is Too Small also reminded me that atheism is punishable by death in some countries today. We atheists cannot afford to sit back and congratulate ourselves on our blossoming presence on social media.

sapphoq reviews says: I have been looking for a new country. I think I will join up at Atheist Republic and observe where the citizenship there takes me. I highly recommend Your God is Too Small to atheists and other freethinkers and to those non-atheists who are interested in an intellectual exploration of what life might be like on our side of logic.

Answering Aunt Bertha by J.A. Steiner

Answering Aunt Bertha...Regarding Her God and Faith, J.A. Steiner. self-published, 2010. ebook, 441 pps.


     J.A. Steiner had an elderly aunt named Bertha [she passed away before he finished the book] who was a sincere Christian woman. He wrote Answering Aunt Bertha in response to her beliefs without any intention of sharing his writing with her. Although my own relatives-- including the elderly ones-- know about my own atheism, I strive to respect my older relatives in particular by not arguing with them. I suspect that perhaps J.A. Steiner is of similar mind.

     The most valuable point that J.A. Steiner made in the e-book is one about control or self-control. From page 219: "Religion imposes rules that may enable you to overcome personal weaknesses and encourage self-control."  I have certainly witnessed evidence of this with people in the throes of active addiction who find peace and a new way of being via a set of ideas related to spiritual practices [including but not limited to the twelve steps as originally written for Alcoholics Anonymous and subsequently altered for other X.A. programs] as well as those who never come to meeting rooms but who seek through their churches or other religious bodies to quit doing what they've been doing. This is the primary reason why I do not seek to argue people out of their belief systems. [There are other reasons also which involve how belief operates as well as basic human respect for others].

     J.A. Steiner goes on to almost condemn this sort of thing by calling those who utilize this tool as weak or lacking willpower or intellectually lazy or suffering from not enough self-determination. That is what I find to be the greatest weakness in Answering Aunt Bertha. Religion has provided many people an impetus to change. While some of those changes may be lethal, other changes are not. To decide that all of the folks who know that they need social supports and find it in religion are somehow lacking is an error in cognitive thinking. Because not all of them are. I suspect that most of them are not lacking.

     While it is true that many horrid acts have been perpetrated in the name of religion, it is also true that religion also motivates people to compassionate and altruistic acts. It is unfortunate that Muslims tend to rely on the "no true Muslim" fallacy when noting that extremists perpetrate acts of terror and also unfortunate that Christians do not recognize folks in the Westboro Baptist Church as being part of what religion can also birth. Although we know today the Vatican's part in covering for the religious who were actively involved in the genocide in Rwanda, the Vatican is reluctant to admit to any wrong-doings on the part of Mother Church [in my opinion] in general until almost forced to.

     No true Scotman or Muslim or Christian or any other word designating a person belonging to a religious sect fails in terms of recognizing the part that religion has played in some of the worst disasters the world has seen. And yet, religion has also done much good. Nothing is all good or all bad. People too. Not one of us is all good or all bad. Even Hitler loved his dog.

sapphoq reviews says: I do applaud the efforts of J.A. Steiner to put forth his thoughts on atheism versus Christianity. Answering Aunt Bertha is not scholarly, thus it is accessible to the average reader. Even so, I hesitate to fully endorse this book. Christians may find it rambling. Atheists will be familiar with much of what it contains. Yet, we need more books for and by the common atheist. Recommended for atheists who are not wanting to be persuaded by the standard attempts to "debunk" Christianity.

The Christian Delusion ed. by John W. Loftus

The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, edited by John W. Loftus. Amherst NY: Prometheus Books, 2010. eBook, 453 pps.


     The Christian Delusion is a collection of essays spanning neuroscience, culture, astronomy, morality, historical research, history of the Holocaust, scientific philosophies, and more. Of the listed authors, I've read stuff by Dan Barker, Valerie Tarico, John W. Loftus, Edward T. Babinski, Paul Tobin, and Hector Avalos. I didn't recognize the other authors but it seems like they are well-established in their fields. The authors are all scholars and experts thus The Christian Delusion is not an easy read. Of all of the essays, the one that I got the most value out of was Chapter 15: Christianity Was Not Responsible for Modern Science by Richard Carrier. Richard Carrier made some excellent points in respect to the history of the persecution of scientists throughout the ages and how scientific progress was often held back by Christian leadership.

     Chapter 4: The Outsider Test for Faith Revisited by John W. Loftus peaked my interest enough to read the book by Loftus. A review of that book is in the offing. Some of the other ideas were familiar to me. I've heard before the expression "Yahweh is a moral monster." I also know that Adolph Hitler was a faithful Roman Catholic and that the "solution to the Jewish problem" that he established and carried out was previously expressed in the writing of none other than Martin Luther. Luther learned this prejudice at the knees of Mother Church which did not treat Jews kindly throughout the ages. [excerpts from his writing may be found at: 
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Luther_on_Jews.html ]. That belief in the tenets of any religion is not required to live a moral life seems to me to be a given. I understand morality and societal laws both as being generated from groups of humans bound together by their culture rather than from divine edict. I am also familiar with the problems involved in a literal interpretation of the Bible and some of the doctrines therein. Even so, The Christian Delusion got me thinking and that in itself is good.

sapphoq reviews says: Although the blurbs about The Christian Delusion indicate that this book may find its way into the hands of Christians who wish to study the arguments of atheists in order to understand us better, I cannot imagine that too many Christians will choose to read this book. The title itself is probably off-putting to the majority of people of faith. As an atheist, I liked this book although I found that parts of it required re-reading and further study. For atheists, highly recommended.

Another Atheist in Recovery by SpikedUp Frog

Another Atheist in Recovery, SpikedUp Frog. self-published, 2014. eBook, 107 pps.

@SpikedUpFrog on Twitter (tm)

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/SpikedUp-Frog?store=allproducts&keyword=SpikedUp+Frog


     Yes, this one is also mine, written under my Twitter (tm) alias. Unlike Up the Rebels!, this one is not fiction. It is about my experiences as a recovering non-theist addict in 12 step programs and also how I had to re-write the steps in order to remain clean. 

     Many people "in the rooms" object to changing the literature in any way. Bill Wilson was actually the first one to give approval to modifying the steps to the first A.A. group of atheist Buddhists in New York City. Some deaf folks years ago modified the twelve steps into a form that they related to better-- these were the twelve ideas of A.A. Charlotte Kasl, in her book Many Roads, One Journey presents several ways in which the steps have been modified for groups of people. And I've been reading books put out by AA Agnostica up in Toronto that illustrate how other atheists and agnostics work the steps, complete with their revisions.

     Another Atheist in Recovery presents the steps in the way that I work them. If you don't like that sort of thing, then stay away from this book. Ditto if you are not interested in addiction matters.

     The deal is that for me to use again is to die. I have done and will continue to do whatever I have to in order to stay abstinent. I don't have an ax to grind with believers. I respect that other people have religious practices. If you are an atheist with sincerely held non-beliefs and you are in recovery-- especially if you are new-- then yeah, Another Atheist in Recovery is for you.

     I am in the midst of my second NaNoWriMo but I will endeavor to post more reviews of stuff I've been reading within the next couple of days.

     Sail Strong!

The Reason Revolution by Dan Dana

The Reason Revolution: Atheism, Secular Humanism, and the Collapse of Religion, Dan Dana. self-published, 2014. e-book, 43 pps.

https://www.mediationworks.com/dmi/biodan.htm

https://www.mediate.com/people/personprofile.cfm?auid=308

https://www.dandana.us/atheism/

https://twitter.com/Dana2atheism


     Dan Dana earned a PhD and founded M.T.I. [MTI, Mediation Training Institute]. MTI offers both seminars in various places and online training in mediation at the worksite. The mediation works website have a large variety of offerings for lots of money. Dan Dana has since retired but does still plug his books and videos on Twitter (r).

     I had several huge problems with The Reason Revolution. The first problem was the hype produced by the publisher which was either someone at Smashwords or Dan Dana himself. The book simply did not live up to it in my estimation. The second problem I had was the note on page 4 stating that there are no sources cited, leaving the problem of verifying any statements made up to the reader. This is largely unacceptable in atheist circles when christians and muslims do it. And it is unacceptable to me when an atheist does the same thing. Period. Uncool. Cite your sources next time, please. It makes a difference.

     The third problem I had was the writing itself. It simply was not up to the level of PhD writing. I think of PhD writing as the kind that I find in any of the Oliver Sacks books or in Scientific American magazines. And although attempts were made to illustrate why one should either reconcile one's faith with science or come over to the skeptics' side, I did not find the reasons listed to be persuasive. And as an atheist, I am part of "the choir!"

     The predictions of how wonderful the United States and the rest of the world will be when religious believers finally become a largely ignored minority didn't set well with me at all. I hated that list. It sounded like brainwashing. 

sapphoq reviews says: While Dan Dana has been recognized for his outstanding in the field of mediation, his short e-book The Reason Revolution fell far below the mark for me. Atheists and religious folks alike can certainly do better than this book. Give it a miss. Even for free, the thing is simply not worth the time it takes to read it.

How I Unfriended God by Joel Douglas

Average Joe(l): How I Unfriended God, Volume 1, Joel Douglas. self-published, 2014. e-book 15 pps.


     "Why do people believe in god?"

     That was the question asked of a religious instructor who was teaching in Average Joe's classroom of captive children. That got him thinking. He began asking himself why he harbored that belief. As a teacher, he knew he had never researched this question or even read the bible totally through.

sapphoq reviews says: I hope to read more by Joel Douglas. Although short, How I Unfriended God makes several good points about why people believe [it's easier, for sure] and what happens when an adult turns a critical eye towards religion [nothing is guaranteed, anything can happen]. Highly recommended for those who want to read about atheism for everyday people.

"Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived." Issac Asimov said it. I took the picture of the garden spider and altered it using my copy of legally obtained software. You may download the picture and save it to your "My Computer," rename the picture for your files, upload it to the internet at will. No credit or link-back is necessary to use this picture. Copyright trolls and copyright monopolists, you are not welcome here. Go away. Far far away. 

     

Why Are You Atheists So Angry? by Greta Christina

Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless, Greta Christina. San Francisco: Dirty Heathen Publishing, 2012. e-book, 366 pps.

     Anger has been given a bad rap. In some recovery rooms, it is popular to claim that anger is a "secondary emotion." If one is angry, then somehow one is "less spiritual." Or at the very least, something is wrong with the way that one is working the program. Some christians lay the charge of anger at the feet of atheists. Similar to recovering people everywhere, the validity of anger is not recognized.

     Greta Christina gives atheist and believer alike a solid list of reasons why many of the us in the no-gods camp are angry. She addresses fundamentalists, progressives, new age woo-woo followers, ecumenicals, and even those who claim to be spiritual but not religious. She wraps up her tome with some reasons why she does not believe in any gods-- solid references to current events-- and then exhorts atheists to get involved with atheist activism. A solid list of resources round out the book.

sapphoq reviews says: Greta Christina has penned a thought-provoking book. Why Are You Atheists So Angry? should be read by all christians. Atheists too will like the succinct writing that expresses what is at the heart of atheist anger so well. Highly recommended.

     

Spiritual Snake Oil by Chris Edwards

Spiritual Snake Oil: Fads & Fallacies in Pop Culture, Chris Edwards. Tucson AZ: See Sharp Press, 2011. e-book, 148 pps.


     Spiritual Snake Oil is a very thorough and readable book. The author takes on the New Age and much of the silliness [and outright fraud] to be found there. The first chapter explains why debunking is important. The rest of the book takes on individual guru types and their specific "teachings" or "revelations." Many of the sellers of feel-good snake oil use their gross misunderstanding of science and specifically quantum physics to pedal their wares. Vibrations, secret antiquated manuscripts, and a dressing up of the pseudo-christian prosperity gospel are popular. Chris Edwards holds each item to a high standard: what is the evidence for each claim?

sapphoq reviews says: I really liked this book. Spiritual Snake Oil demonstrates the dangers of wrapping crap into palatable formats. Highly recommended. Suitable for teens as well as for adults.

Reimagining Church by Frank Viola

Reimagining Church: Pursuing the Dream of Organic Christianity, Frank Viola. Colorado Springs: Cook, David C., 2012. e-book, 251 pps.

     Frank Viola is a well-known name among those within the house church movement [H.C.M.]. In the preface of Reimagining Church, he says that he left the institutional church [I.C.] in 1988. He refers to:
          "...the tyranny of the status quo...[and] oppressive 
           leadership structures...so that Jesus Christ can be made                  central and supreme in His church again." (p. 9)

     Reimagining Church is composed of two parts, fifteen chapters, an appendix, an extensive bibliography, notes, and a bio. At the end of each chapter under the heading of "Questions That Must Be Faced" are several questions which the reader may choose to answer. The problem with the questions is that the answers seem to me to be self-evident. In other words, the reader is led to accept the premise of the chapter just read or asked to share on experiences which back-up the suppositions of the chapter. Leading phrases such as "Do we really have a spiritual and biblical...?" and "Does it bother you that...?" and "Are we not obligated by Scripture to...?" are hardly examples of open-ended questions. I found the questions to be annoying.

     Viola readily admits that there are problems within home churches. He states that the early Christians also had problems within their home churches. He says all of the home churches in one community were known by the name of the town. He offers countless bible verses and Greek words to back up his theorems.

     I have not read Viola's other books which may include more history behind the home church movement. Criticisms of the H.C.M. on the Internet link it or parts of it to the Third Wave, Toronto Airport Revival, dominionism, and the gospel of accommodation.

sapphoq reviews says: One of the criticisms frequently found on the web is the idea that some percentage of folks in the H.C.M. are somehow antagonistic or against discipline and correction because the roles of pastors, elders, and deacons are changed or rotating or absent. In the preface, Frank Viola references:

          "...the tyranny of the status quo...[and] oppressive 
           leadership structures...so that Jesus Christ can be made                  central and supreme in His church again." (p. 9)

     Yes I know I quoted the same passage early on in my review but it did stand out to me.

     As an atheist with a pagan "soul," I have not attended any H.C.M. nor am I likely to. At first Reimagining Church was attractive to me precisely because of the claim of doing church in the manner of the early christians. Then my rational thinking kicked in.

     I have had the misfortune of stumbling upon several "pagan circles" which purported not to have any set "leader." They were appealing to the public precisely because they accommodated anyone's beliefs-- no matter how whacked out those beliefs might be. You believe that you channel aliens? No problem. Want to show up drunk and then puke on the carpet in the middle of the place? Hey, welcome. And the utmost "pagan sin" of mixing gods and goddesses from a variety of pantheons along with the same silly chant "Come to us. Come to us. Come to us." was mind-numbing but soothing in its rhythms. 

     It's nice (I guess) that Frank Viola offers seminars and instruction to folks who want to do the home church/organic christianity thing. He claims that people are not ready or don't know how to make the idea work if they are not trained. I wasn't impressed.

     The thing is that in any group, natural leaders will emerge when leaders [or pastors etc.] are not appointed. I found the idea that there are no authorities in the H.C.M. to be unbelievable. While there is certainly evidence that cults or cult-like or controlling situations can evolve out of I.C.s, I maintain that the personal mysticism that H.C.M.s foster [even if "based" upon the New Testament, or justified by verses cherry-picked from the N.T.] is fertile ground for a gospel of accommodation and worse. The movement is perhaps too much in its infancy to tell what will come of it in the long-term. Yet to me, the indicators are there. Isolated bodies of people, particularly those who are perceived of as Other, tend to actions which can be detrimental to the whole of society. Here I am thinking of various christian sects involved with communal living. There is a certain risk involved with being pioneers. Frank Viola claims that heresies are quickly routed out of home churches. I am not quite certain that it is that easy. Feelings are not facts. Relying on feelings alone-- even claims of "feeling" the movement of the Holy Spirit-- is dangerous. Anyone who claims special knowledge is suspect to my way of thinking. And this is true of folks in home church movements as well as "New Age" white lighters. [I am not a fan of the New Agers but that is subject for another blog post some other time perhaps].

     Isolated reports that Starhawk [a witch who founded Reclaiming] is involved with one such home church group which has become ecumenical ought to be disturbing to any christian. In an "institutional" church, there is usually a check and balance system in place. Excesses are [usually] avoided. Pastors and others who stray off the christian path can be counseled on their error and brought back into the fold. The Bakkers and Jimmy Swaggert come to my brain here along with Ted Haggert. [Ted Haggert now subscribes to the third wave].

     I ended up not liking Reimagining Church. Although the writing was competent, I cannot recommend this book. Those who are curious about the H.C.M. who can get through the quotes of rather [I found to be] stuffy theologian-types may enjoy this book. I didn't, for reasons that had very little to do with my atheism. Not really recommended.

Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? by Charles Bufe

Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure?, Charles Bufe. Tuscon AZ: See Sharp Press, 1997 (revised). 208 pps.


For those who are unfamiliar with See Sharp Press, the company self-describes as a "Publisher of anarchist, atheist, music, and science fiction books." Anyone expecting essays that are unabashedly 'pro-Alcoholics Anonymous' should look elsewhere for reading matter. Those in recovery who are willing to concede that twelve step programs may not be the only way to recover or the best way for all addicts to find recovery should consider reading this book.

A.A. does have some characteristics of a cult. And while A.A. has been successful some of the time, there are some alcoholics who do not recover in a 12 step program. Some atheists who come into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous [and other programs using the 12 steps] do find some sort of higher power. Others do not. A few believers who come into the rooms discover after a time that they no longer believe. 

While the rehab market has almost entirely bought into the "Higher Power" stuff, I suggest that a disservice is being done to two sets of their clients. There are some people who are atheist and/or agnostic in orientation. They have carefully evaluated a variety of religions and religious thought. They are sincere about their non-theism and ought not to be pressured by clinical staff into accepting a brand of spirituality that is not genuine to who they are as human beings. There are others who are marked by their beliefs and their religious practices as belonging to the label 'fundamentalist.' Fundamentalist Christians, the born-againers, and those who accept a literal interpretation of their holy literature-- whether Christian, Muslim, or Jewish or other-- will find that the 12-step version of a Higher Power pales in comparison to what they are used to. Additionally, the emphasis by professionals and by folks who bring meetings into the institution on 'keeping an open mind' is something that neither the non-theist nor the fundamentalist will relate to. Are these people to be lost to their addictions?

New Agey 'feel-good' affirmations are not appropriate to offer to an atheist or to a fundamentalist in early recovery. The pop psychology brand of 'treatment' replete with New Age trappings like affirmations, yoga, showing of the film The Secret, lectures on The Course in Miracles or attendance at a Unity service, a strong insistence that 'there are no true coincidences and all of the rest are foreign to both groups. The interesting thing about James Christopher's S.O.S. secular sobriety groups is that both atheists and fundamentalists have found some common ground there. One set of members don't have any sort of gods or higher powers. The other set recognize a very specific God and don't want their religious beliefs or practices to be altered. The S.O.S. meeting in my town is a place where both non-theists and fundamentalists peacefully co-exist.

Addiction is fundamentally a behavioral problem. As such, we do not know enough about competent treatment of people who have it and who are looking for their way out of the mess. Instead, what we have is pretty much the entire recovery industry and 12 step groups who have jumped on the disease concept bandwagon. The practice of the twelve steps has saved many lives from the bondage of addiction. But there are more lives to liberate. 

Ideally, a treatment program ought to grant their clients access to a variety of options: A.A. and all of the other A's [Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Cocaine Anonymous, Methadone Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, Dual Recovery Anonymous, Double Trouble [a separate organization which currently has meetings in NY, NJ and PA], Alanon, Alateen, Alapup, etc...], Women for Sobriety, Smart Recovery, Secular Organizations for Sobriety, Red Road groups [for indigenous Americans], Overcomers Anonymous [specifically for fundamentalist Christians] and others. Non-traditional clients who are returning to hometowns that do not have anything other than the traditional twelve step programs around ought to be taught how to network with others in order to form a group that will help them. They should also be given information on recovery options which are available on-line. 

This cookie-cutter approach to abstinence must stop. If rehabs and drug courts are to offer true intervention, then the individual addict [which includes those who are addicted to the drug alcohol] must be considered in the intervention and in the services being offered. "Individualized treatment plans" which do not take into account that the customer of rehab services is a viable human being with his or her own life and way of being are worthless. Those good members of traditional 12 step groups who scream and yell about the evil inherent in alternative notions of spirituality or even of recovery are partly responsible for a perception that A.A. may in fact be cult-ish or a form of group-think.

This book has research and stats to back up its' conclusions. It offers hope to people who have not found A.A. to be the welcoming fortress that others have found. We are talking about people here. We are talking about people who will continue to die because of our shortsightedness. 

sapphoq reviews says: Kudos to Charles Bufe for the willingness to go against the grain. We need and deserve alternates to 12 step recovery. Although Alcoholics Anonymous: Cult or Cure? is an older book now, it is worth reading. 

P.S.: Those who want examples of how to individualize the twelve steps can read Charlotte Kasl's most excellent Many Roads, One Journey. Those who are interested in on-line arguments pro- and con- twelve step programs can turn to http://www.green-papers.org/  and to http://www.orange-papers.org/  for starters.

50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True

50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True, Guy P. Harrison.  New York, Amherst: Prometheus Books, 2012.  e-book, 473 pps.

http://www.prometheusbooks.com

http://www.guypharrison.com/

@Harrisonauthor on Twitter

If you are an atheist and you are unfamiliar with Prometheus Books, you owe it to yourself to check out their catalogue.  The publisher focuses on books written by and for freethinkers and cover a variety of topics.  The catalogue itself is organized; something that I very much appreciate.

50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True is also very organized.  Guy P. Harrison employed subheadings in order to organize his subjects.  The subheadings read: Magical Thinking, Out There, Science and Reason, Strange Healings, Lure of the Gods, Bizarre Beings, Weird Places, and Dreaming of the End.  Each belief has its' own chapter.  At the end of each chapter is a reference list of other books and websites if the reader wishes to explore a particular topic in-depth.  The author takes on predictable topics-- creationism, astrology, my god is better than your god, and the end is near.  There are a few topics which are not so predictable-- "All Scientists Are Geniuses and Science Is Always Right" and "Biological Races Are Real" are two examples of those.

sapphoq reviews says:  Guy P. Harrison exhibits the best of rational thinking in 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think Are True.  This is an engaging book especially for those who are new to skepticism.  Freethinkers who have been around for awhile may want to also check out this book.  I did.  Highly recommended. 

The Happy Atheist by PZ Myers

The Happy Atheist, PZ Myers.  New York: Knoph Doubleday Publishing Group, 2013.
e-book, 167 pps.

The book is called The Happy Atheist but I keep wanting to turn it into "The Happiest Atheist" instead.  Go figure.

This is a picture of a cartoon-ized fish with a background suggestive of sand and sky.  The fish bears three stubby legs complete with the suggestion of shoes-- something that is not present in the original plate.  The fish was a derivative work based on a singular plate hanging on someone's Maine kitchen wall.  The original artist is unknown to me.  This picture actually resembles the original very very little.  The background was legally included in my legal copy of PaintShop Pro 10.

The Happy Atheist was published in e-book format on August 13, 2013-- just several days after the PZ Myers / Michael Shermer fiasco which erupted over at P.Z. Myers' blog Pharyngula-- a slim volume chock full of atheist goodness.  For posterity's sake, the post in which PZ brings to light accusations of sexual assault/rape/misconduct by several women currently exists at: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2013/08/08/what-do-you-do-when-someone-pulls-the-pin-and-hands-you-a-grenade/comment-page-1/#comments : at least until a take-down notice is activated.  [Mirrors of the post and comments probably already have been made all over the Interwebz].  This bombshell has all the appearance of an ensuing court battle between the two of them.  Some guy has organized a raise finances for Michael Shermer's legal services campaign.  PZ reportedly has employed the assistance of blogger Popehat in procuring his own legal representation.

PZ Myers is no stranger to controversy.  I do remember with clarity the university student who carried his Jeebus cracker back to his church pew instead of ingesting it and the outrage that caused.  P.Z. was along for the ride.  And so was I...

 This is a picture of the white paw with orange kitty stripes at the "ankle" of the late great Twinkle reaching for what appears
to resemble a white unmarked Jeebus Cracker which has been laid to rest on one of my black pocketbooks.  Twinkle is dead but he was mine and I was his for way too short a kitty life.  The props in the picture are things that I own legally.  The picture frame came from my legally owned copy of PaintShop Pro 10.  The fonts were also included legally in said legal copy.  Fuck off copyright terrorists and information monopolizers.


"The Great Desecration" is humorously recounted beginning on page 20.  I stand by my original opinion.  The student did not steal the Jeebus cracker.  Once the priest or lay clergy handed the thing to him, the student was perfectly free to do with it as he wanted to.  I've yet to see a church setting where the mouths of parishioners are checked to ensure that vigorous swallowing of the Greatest Offering on Earth has occurred.  But yes, I digress.


One of the things that I like about the stuff I've read that PZ has written is his willingness to take on the issues of the day as related to religion-- all religion-- in his blog and in The Happy Atheist.  The chapter titles are darling and curious.  The writing is pithy and delicious.  I appreciate expertly applied snark.  After all, why should the fundamentalists have all of the fun?  Here is one such gem lifted from page 125:
     Perhaps the cruelest aspect of conservative 
     religions is their insistence that all people 
     must follow one straight and narrow path...
     By fostering fear of deviation, they impose 
     endless misery on so many people.  It's the 
     Chinese foot-binding of the human mind.
And another from page 126:
      I'd like to see the hippies win.  Peace and freedom, man...
     Besides, it makes the fundies and Republicans freak out.

One of the things that all of us ought to keep in our brains, readily accessible when we need any such reminder, is that it is not only the Republicans and the fundies "freaking out" these days.  Over on Twitter, the Unite the Blue crowd have regular twitniptions along with everyone else over well, pretty much everything everywhere.  PZ does well to mention that some folks in the less literal religions also have some batshit ideologies.  The line is crossed whenever anyone anywhere begins to loudly proclaim that there is only one way to view things, think about things, experience things.  Suddenly, a bunch of religious folks has become mystical and magical.  Because it is not enough to believe that some deity or deities somewhere dictated stuff to human beings to write down a long time ago.  The mystics among us demonstrate our willingness to do whatever we have to in order to make old time religion appetizing to the masses.  We've become evangelical in our delusions that said deity or deities communicate with us directly as if we were all secretaries waiting for the latest and greatest jibberish to arrive over the live wire.   

The ugliness of religious belief occurs when people decide that religion, religious traditions, and religious mysticism ought to dictate political policy.  To state, "This is what I believe and I believe it regardless of the scientific canon, dammit" is quite different from the twisting of science to fit a religious mold.  PZ covers the dilemma that some folks feel regarding the science / religion split in a chapter titled "Science is What We do to Keep from Lying to Ourselves."  I am free to believe whatever I want to.  If I want to believe that there is a tree spirit residing in the crab apple tree, I'm free to do so.  Involving others in my belief system and then lobbying so that my idea about a tree spirit out back is included in science textbooks to be taught in public schools is a bit over the top.  [N.B.: By the way, the Lemon Test is what is currently supposed to guide public school education policies, not decision-making strictly on the basis of what belief systems the majority of public students in public schools-- or their families-- hold.  This is part of why home-schooling is a viable choice for some percentage of families.].   We have a past president who supposedly ordered an invasion based on a sincerely held belief in end time theology and biblical prophecy.  We have a current president who attends church services on Sundays and spits out the most errant nonsense concerning his belief that we all ought to bend over and take willingly up the ass what the N.S.A. is doing to us and in our name because privacy is the direct opposite of security.  

Reality and truth are objective, not subjective.  Science serves to reign in the worse of the cray which is sleeping beneath our feet.  Calling on the Invisible Pink Unicorn, bless her holy hooves, to save us when we are required as adults to save ourselves from our own stupidity is bad form.  Yet, religion comforts many people who are not looking to some hereafter in order to escape current adult responsibilities.  At one time, it comforted me to some degree.  Visualizing "eternity" or "nothingness" or "ceasing to exist in any form" is mind-blowing.  My knowledge that it is almost certain that I will never be re-united with Twinkle across some fabled rainbow bridge forces me to appreciate the happy memories that I do have of him rather than look to the relief of my grief in some fictional future after I also expire.  Most of us are free to hold contradictory opinions about nonsense.  As long as we also take on the mantle of our adult responsibilities instead of holding out for hand-outs, we are probably satisfactory human beings.  Yet, ancient tribal identity required a certain amount of imperialism.  Our brains are not entirely modernized.  It is indeed our brains that inform us that the fables we grew up with are superior to those of our neighbors across the ocean, desert, or mountain range.  The shrill screaming that "My god or gods is or are better than your god or gods" is the stuff that has to stop if we are to survive well on Space-ball Earth.  There is no mothership waiting to blast us away to a new home once we nuke this one.  If only the whole lot of us can advance enough to learn how to stop endeavoring to kill each other off.

sapphoq reviews says:  I like P.Z. Myers and I don't give a damn about the controversy regarding his latest remarks concerning what women have alleged regarding Michael Shermer.  Actually, I support PZ's exposure of what women have alleged, even if I fear that the involvement of the legal system will make things end rather badly.  Fact:  Reporting a rape, sexual assault, or other to the authorities does not always result in justice or even in relief for the victims.  Been there.  Done that.  Got the t-shirt. 
We have all become too nice in the arena of civil discourse.  We are hawks at war but chickens in public.  Disagreement is now a sign of trolling.  Trolls are bad, m'kay.  And of course we ought to be willing to hand over our wallet info to any jackass interwebz service that comes along.  And these new atheists are big meanie poo-poo heads.  Sigh.
     The Happy Atheist is a pretty good collection of PZ Myers' writing that is representative of his clear-headed thinking about stuff.  The only criticism I have is that it is individuals on all sides [not just the Republicans] who are guilty when it comes to politicking for inane bullshit.  So yeah, get hold of the book and read it.  Yeah, and read it before writing your "reviews" on the book sites offering the startling revelation that PZ is going to your version of Hel along with the rest of the heathens in your glorious hereafter.  As always, the salt pits are most dangerous to those that show a predilection toward a type of high blood pressure that is sensitive to salt.

       

Daylight Atheism by Adam Lee

Daylight Atheism, Adam Lee.  self-published via Smashwords.com under Bigthink.com, 2012.  e-book, 609 pps., with footnotes beginning on page 532.

note: Adam Lee's blog can currently be found here at:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/daylightatheism/
and Adam Lee himself can be found on Twitter as @DaylightAtheism.


Atheists certainly aren't winning any popularity contests [as of yet].  There is an assumption that only a belief in a deity can provide an individual with a moral compass; that the atheist is void of any sense of goodness or direction.  Atheists are denied the right to run for public office in some places, and sentenced to death in others.  The atheist knows that false perceptions are harmful.  Adam Lee has a blog from the perspective of an atheist and has followed up with a book by the same name.

Here in Adam Lee's own words, on pages 6 -7 from the Prologue of Daylight Atheism, are what an atheist is and what an atheist is not:
   
          Yes, I am an atheist.  No, I don't kick puppies or steal
    candy from babies.  I don't hate God, but I don't have
    any secret desire to worship him either.  Nor do I worship
    Satan.  I haven't had any bad personal experiences with a
    church, nor did a religious person do something to hurt me
    at some time in the past, nor did I have a bad relationship 
    with my father.  I don't hate any country, and I'm not a
    communist, an anarchist, a nihilist, or a moral relativist.
    I don't want to outlaw religion.  I'm not angry or depressed.
    In fact, I'm a person just like you.  You probably wouldn't
    recognize me as an atheist if you passed me on the street.

       But I am indeed an atheist.  What this means, very simply,
    is that I don't believe in any gods. ...they're all imaginary--
    mere products of the human imagination and nothing more. 

Adam Lee goes on to address the objections to atheism-- apologetics, superstition, synchronicity of all belief systems into an uneasy product and why that fails, which god, facts and interpretations, logical fallacies-- and also the advantages and hope that atheism holds out to the world.  It is heady stuff.  Adam Lee handles many threads of information rather well.  His arguments are logical and easily understood.  He is knowledgeable about both religions and atheism.

sapphoq reviews says: Fans of Adam Lee's blog Daylight Atheism will feel quite at home here with his book.  Those who tend toward fundamentalism more than likely will not find anything good in its pages and that is a pity.  Those mystics who scour the internet for references to Jesus and anti-Jesus in order to defend their god against "personal" attacks will likely want to stage a book burning with this book as the center.
     Folks who might be interested in gaining a better understanding of what it is like to be an atheist in today's present-day society would do well to read this book.  Common myths are easily shattered.  The disadvantages to using mysticism as a basis for belief along with literal interpretations of old texts are carefully delineated here.  
    Atheists as a whole tend to be well-informed about various religious teachings and sects and their sacred books-- sometimes better informed than the believers.  There is no use of ad hominem in Daylight Atheism.  Athough some believers on Twitter and elsewhere degenerate into name-calling on a regular basis, Adam Lee sticks to arguments from reason.
     Highly recommended for thinking high school students on up to the most ardent believer and the most dedicated atheist alike.           

The Church of Fear by John Sweeney

The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology, John Sweeney.   London: Silvertail Books, 2013.  e-book, 290 pps.


John Sweeney is an investigative reporter.  He is the "tomato face" who lost it in front of several Scientologists during an interview.  To his credit, he rapidly admits his faults and apologizes where due.  Following outsiders around and spying on them is rather creepy.  "Creepy" is a word that Sweeney uses a lot in The Church of Fear.

The Church of Fear re-counts Sweeney's experiences with high-ranking Scientologists [N.B. but not David Miscavige] in various places.  There is a torturous anti-psychiatry exhibit, films which are too long, and a lot of history in this book.  During the course of the book itself, several of the officials which Sweeney had contact with split from Scientology.  A split means leaving behind loved ones who are still bona fide Scientologists along with leaving behind Scientology the organization itself.  Even the outs who are not out outs-- out outs are people who no longer take stock in any of the Scientology dogma; singular outs regret that the dogma of which they are still fond has gotten corrupted by bad practices throughout the years-- have had to be disconnected from friends and loved ones.  

Sweeney endorses Robert Jay Lifton's work throughout The Church of Fear.  [I also have Lifton's definitive work Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism in my possession.  It is slated for review at a future date].  Sweeney provides a framework for understanding the pull of Scientology upon its members.  It is not so easy to pack it all in and leave Scientology, particularly if one is a member of the Sea Org.

Who to believe?  On one side, there are prominent public Scientologists like Tom Cruise and Juliette Lewis.  [I never much cared for Tom Cruise as an actor.  I've been a fan of Juliette Lewis.  I like her because she can be said to be quirky.  And I like quirky].  On the other, there are some ex-Scientologists who have written very poignant memoirs.   And there are words that keep appearing.  Dead Agent, Estates Project Force, Fair Game, Xenu.  Then also, the legendary [legal word: alleged] temper of David Miscavige.  To those who are still in Sea Org, these questions must be asked: Did he ever strike you? Did he ever strike someone you know?  Is he verbally abusive? 

Xenu.  I will not fault anyone for believing in Xenu.  After all, the claims of other religions are equally fanciful.  Those other claims are somewhat embedded in American culture.  Indeed, many of us grew up with them.  A belief in Xenu is no more absurd than believing that a deity knocked up a virgin, donkeys and snakes talked, or that some deity or deities communicate directly with certain human beings.  Whether the mysticism occurs out in space or in the cargo cults of Polynesia or at the internal altars of the faithful matters not.  There is something to be said for the temporary appeal of a personal mysticism.  A sense of getting some real answers coupled with a feeling of being a deity's special snowflake can be intoxicating.  Been there some years ago.  Done that.  Got burnt out.  This mystical stuff is hard work-- a definite downside to it.  At any rate, I maintain that belief in a space opera sort of gospel is no more odd than belief in the tenets of any mainstream religion. 

Sweeney's book points up some differences between the influence of Scientology in England versus its' influence in the United States.  In England, Scientology is not considered to be a religion by the powers that be.  In the United States, it is.  Because Scientology is considered to be a religion by the laws of this land, Scientology has a certain legal standing.    Does religious standing matter in the United States?  Most assuredly it does.  In the United States, the rights of a religious body exceeds the rights of its' detractors.  What else?  England does not have an assemblage of actors and actresses who have converted.  Scientology in Hollywood has been successful in recruiting actors and actresses for the cause.

Scientology has a bundle of lawyers and loyal adherents who have proven able to deliver more than sufficient butt-hurt to its' critics.  Ex-Scientologists, reporters, journalists, investigators, and bloggers have all suffered.  The specific and precise use of the word "creepy" in The Church of Fear is rather telling. 

Scientology does not have the monopoly on twisted tales of deviance.  Genocide committed in an African country involving in part a Roman Catholic church with members of "the wrong tribe" inside being bulldozed to death upon the direct orders of a priest.  Child brides and rape.  WWASPS.  Suicide bombers.  The refusal of a government influenced by fundamentalists to embrace stem cell research.  Not allowing AIDS organizations to tell adults in foreign countries that the use of condoms can and does prevent some percentage of HIV-related deaths.  Acting upon a belief that the life of an unborn fetus takes precedence over the life of a mother or a rape victim.  Those atrocities have been addressed in other places.  It is my sincere belief that we must force ourselves to talk about these things no matter where we find evidence of them.  The perpetrators count on our silence and our shame.  Denial of basic human rights will continue to occur within Scientology and elsewhere for as long as we cower and shrink away from these unpalatable truths. 
  
sapphoq reviews says:  The Church of Fear is useful to those who are seeking outsider information on Scientology, to folks looking to get out, to ex-Scientologists, and to students of comparative religions and/or totalitarian regimes.  Sweeney's writing is crisp-- if a tad repetitive in places-- and his history of psychiatry is succinct.  The repetitive dialogue and introspection within illustrate how even the brain of a seasoned war journalist can get twisted when Scientologists are talking.

This book continues to bear witness to certain [legal word: alleged] practices of the Church of Scientology which to us as outsiders appear to be part of a widespread culture of abuse within its' ranks.  Much safer to read this book than to actually visit any Scientology center anywhere in the world.

They are words.  They are copy-left.  If for some reason, you want this thing, clicky to save to your computer.  

 
Am I a Suppressive Person?  I am probably one of the worst sort-- I am an atheist.  My non-theistic status makes me persona non gratis in many places where believers of all kinds gather.  Not only do I prefer natural explanations to supernatural or preternatural explanations, I am also a supporter of Anonymous.  For anyone who has been living in a vacuum, Anonymous is [an idea] known for its' OpChanology protests near the Scientology Headquarters in California some years ago.  Anonymous continues to campaign against Scientology as the epitome of thought control.  [These days, some politicians and federal agencies in the United States are also doing a pretty fair imitation of thought control in my unasked for and unwanted opinion].  On the plus side, I am not in contact with any Scientologists [as far as I know] and I intend to keep it that way.      

So yeah.  The Church of Fear is highly recommended.


     If we as a race of humans are to evolve beyond a 
     need for belief in childish tales, we must create our 
     own meaning.  Because life itself is devoid of meaning.  
     We are not special snowflakes.  We are each of us 
     alone in our own skins.  Once we get with that, 
     we will perhaps be less subject to the many seductive 
     and false promises of the snake oil sales forces.   ~ sapphoq