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.

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.