Well first off id like to say hello, just found this site and was defianitly happy to find it.
But yeah on to the topic
i recently finished the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
enjoyed reading it, and find myself using direct examples in my agurments/debates..
i was hoping to gets yalls opinions as well as any other books similiar that yall might suggest reading
thanks
nick
Hi nick, I liked the book too. I also liked his movie by the same title. Two other books I really enjoyed are by Carl Sagan (not as directly anti-theistic, but more scientific, although he gets a good point about religious belief across). I'll give you the Amazon links just so you can see the books (i.e. I'm not pimping Amazon):
The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark/dp/0345409469)
The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God (http://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark/dp/0345409469)
Cheers!
i just started the book. so far so good.
I enjoyed "The Blind Watchmaker" by Richard Dawkins...other than that I haven't read many atheist or anti-religion related books; except for the types which cover basic arguments for dis-belief.
I wasn't all that impressed by The God Delusion. It's readable because of Dawkins' pleasant writing and wit, but not a ground-breaking work is it?
A great book on atheism is 'Atheism: A Short Introduction' by Julian Baggini (part of the Penguin 'Short Introduction' series). As the title suggests, it's short (ie. pocket-sized). It's well written, convincing and it covers pretty much all the fundamentals of the subject. He isn't as negative as Dawkins either, it really makes you feel good about atheism afterwards.
Quote from: "Scott"but not a ground-breaking work is it?
I guess not really. But, for me, I'd left this sort of topic a long time ago, and have only recently become "re-engaged". The first half of the book covers ground well trodden (that I none-the-less enjoyed reading), but I found a lot of things that were "new" (at least to me) in the later half. And, as you mention, his style is very agreeable - I enjoy his humor and his presentation.
Seems to me he was really just trying to get this sort of discussion into the mainstream. "Popularize" it, if you will. I hope it works.
I had read the first 2 chapters before I had to return it to the library and since I kept wanting to highlight a few things, I ordered a used copy from E-bay rather than renewing it from the library, so I haven't finished it yet. They had "What on Earth is an Atheist!" by Madalyn Murray O'Hair so I read that. It was interesting but I found things she either (in my opinion) shouldn't have done or should have done differently...
Quote from: "Scott"but not a ground-breaking work is it?
Haha no it shouldnt be. Religion has always been a bunch of bull-shit, unfortunitely. If you [not you personally, just in general about the religous] only just stopped listening for a moment and though for yourself there isnt much to think about.