What to buy next?

When I commented the other day on a blog comparing the fallacy of atheism compared to Christianity, the guy fired back that I sound like a disciple of Dawkins and Ehrman, and then he blocked me. But the truth is, I have never read either of them. If the reasons I left faith are the same as they’ve written about, I guess you can figure it out on your own using you good old fashioned brain, minus what’s lacking in religion with sugarcoated faith. Prayers don’t get answered. Ever! But you all know the excuses. “God knows best”, or “he’s just testing your faith” or ” you pray in our time, but god answers in his time”. B frickin S! Then the scripture is an elastically moral fraud that demands ones full attention and years of endless debate and conjecture. The unsolvable religious Rubiks’s cube. I gave it my full attention. The reason I left is simple. Things never added up the way they were supposed to. Nothing made sense unless it was explained over and over. Then someone would explain the explanation so the explanation made sense. But in the end it is a charade that people believe only because they want to. They feel the need to. If you have a quiet few days you can figure this out. Looks like I need to buy some Dawkins and Ehrman? I really got a lot from John Zande’s 2 books and am science and physics fan. What should I read next as a relative newbie?

Author: jimoeba

Alternatives to big box religions and dogmas

13 thoughts on “What to buy next?”

  1. I’ve never read any “atheism” literature, either. I did read Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene in Uni, and it had a profound impact on me, but that was a biology book. Being a hopeless sci fi fan, I devour books from the likes of Reed and Egan. Their post-singularity, post-religion future human scapes are inspiring.

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  2. I also recommend “The Selfish Gene”. Great science writing, and a chance to learn some new stuff about biology. He’s written a lot of other biology books that are good (I like “The Ancestor’s Tale” especially) but Selfish Gene is the place to start.

    When I read “The God Delusion” it didn’t have anything I hadn’t already been thinking for years. It was refreshing to see somebody else saying those things, and saying them with style, but that’s not the book to turn to if you want to learn something.

    For Ehrman, I recommend “Lost Christianities” (fascinating stuff they don’t tell you about at church) and also “Misquoting Jesus” is a good one.

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  3. There is a ton of good atheist literature out there – Michael Onfray, David Eller, The Christian Delusion, etc. These are good and stout efforts, all well-written and worth anyone’s time.
    If you really want to test yourself (warning – you have to have a good sense of your own hold on reality with this one) I am recommending horror writer Thomas Ligotti’s non-fiction book “The Conspiracy Against the Human Race.” It’s atheist philosophy, yes, but so intense you might have trouble sleeping when you are reading it.

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  4. I’ve read a ton of atheist literature and the only thing that I can say it’s ever done for me personally is given me the courage to come out publicly as an atheist. I gained that from reading “The God Delusion.”

    I also recommend the Selfish Gene if you are interested in genetics and evolution. I wouldn’t claim that it’s necessarily atheist literature though. It’s written by a well known atheist but it’s not an attack on faith in my opinion.

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  6. the guy fired back that I sound like a disciple of Dawkins and Ehrman, and then he blocked me.

    Sounds like a thought-stopper to me.

    Are people disciples of everyone with whom we happen to share a handful of ideas?

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    1. Yes according to them. No man can serve two masters. (Lie) multidisciplinary study creates balance) It goes along with your other comment. Each conclusion has to stand on its own merits. One being wrong doesn’t make the other right. They think that if they prove us wrong it will prove them right. Hey isn’t that the scientific method? Lol

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  7. Since I am just now plowing through your posts from beginning to current, you may have had this book suggested. But also since I cannot see into the future from this point in past posts, I’ll suggest it!

    Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari

    It changed my life.

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