Happy Atheist Forum

So I've finally decided to take the step towards quitting my smoking habit. I have smoked for 4 1/2 years now (I know it's not that long), and have actually reduced my smoking over the last 6 months from a pack day to about a 1/2 a pack a day. I have had a bit of trouble cutting it down further. But, for whatever reason, I woke up this morning and decided to really, REALLY quit. I have gone almost 24 hours now, but I know I won't last cold turkey. Something that always takes my mind off things is reading, so I believe that with some really interesting books I can fill my free time and eventually be smoke-free.

Now, does anybody have suggestions as to what I should read. If so, try to keep it narrowed to books dealing with atheism/religion/secular topics. This is what my interest is on big time right now, so....let me hear 'em.

In the 'religion' category, might I suggest God: A Biography by Jack Miles.  I found this book not only fascinating, but highly entertaining as well.  The author uses the techniques of literary character analysis to examine the character of YVHV. I got quite a few chuckles out of it. And of course, if you can find it, A Treatise on the Gods by the immortal H.L. Mencken.  I cannot recommend this book highly enough. There has not been a writer in the American language who has come up to his level yet, in my opinion, and he's always good for a few laughs, as well.
I really wish you all the best with quitting the sot-weed habit.  I've managed to get down to a couple-three cigarettes a day (have been at that level for a few years) but have not yet convinced myself that I should quit entirely.  I started using American Spirit roll-your-own, and that helped slow me down some after over 10 years with my old friends, Camel straights.  One nice thing about the roll-your-own A.S. is that you can take a few puffs and set it down, and the thing will go out, so you can stretch one cigarette out for hours if you want.  Also the papers are very nice 100% flax, close to the quality of the Club papers.

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster


Btw, although I haven't quit all the way yet (I still have 2 to 3 a day), I have found that the Comit lozenges are helpful.  You can also break them into smaller pieces if you don't need the whole thing. I would suggest having them on backup in case reading just isn't enough to take your mind off it some days.

I smoked heavily for over 12 years. What helped me quit was the death of my father. It was an aneurysm; he didn't smoke. Still, it screwed with me, and I lost my taste for cigarettes unless I was drinking. Then I got into a relationship (and subsequently moved-in) with a non-smoker. It just... faded away, after a while.

Guess that doesn't really help, though, huh? Heh.

'Secular' is a pretty broad topic.  The book that came to mind when I saw it probably doesn't fit with what you're looking for (secular humanist writings maybe? if so I'll be no help) but I thought I'd throw it out there, since you aren't getting a flood of recommendations so far.  I know I saw it on MariaEvri's list in this thread about books (http://www.happyatheistforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2291):  A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson.  I seem to recall seeing it mentioned in at least one other thread.  For sheer entertainment, I also highly recommend his A Walk in the Woods. I regret that these suggestions might very well be useless to you, but at least they'll bump the thread.
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Curio, thanks for the story. It actually does help to hear stories of success.

laetusatheos, thanks for the suggestion. I ordered The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and look forward to reading it. I had been wondering about nicotine substitutes. If I get to the point that I can't take it, I will give the Commit lozenges a try.

Recusant, thank you for all of your suggestions. I do apologize, 'secular' was a pretty broad topic to list. I should have been a little more specific with it, but it didn't stop you from making good suggestions. I found and ordered A Treatise on the Gods, which was a very good suggestion from the reviews I have read. As far roll-your-own, sounds like tedious work, haha. Really though, all cigarettes (as of Jan. 1, 2009) are made with a new chemical that causes them to go out pretty quickly (after about a minute) if not puffed. That is actually one reason I am quitting, I think that chemical is giving me headaches.

I am almost certain my dad has End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris, so those will be on my to-read list.

I am a reading monster, so I am still open to suggestions from anybody. Also, as all three listed above have already done, I am open to other helpful suggestions that pertain to quitting.

Thanks everyone!

Quote from: "oldschooldoc"Curio, thanks for the story. It actually does help to hear stories of success.

You can't really look at it as a success story... I never tried to stop smoking. I just quit being around it, quit being around people who do it, and it ceased to be a part of my life. That would be my suggestion to you: make your home a smoke-free home. Sit in non-smoking areas of restaurants. Don't go to bars where they smoke inside. Eventually, it'll just stop being an issue.  

I quit smoking on September 24, 2008, after a 30+ year habit.  I just hit my four-month mark, which to me is a milestone even bigger than getting my driver's license at 16.   Seriously.

I had tried everything, from the patch, to the gum, to the lozenge, drugs from the doctor, hypnosis, you name it.  When I did finally quit, it was cold turkey.  I also had bronchitis at the time, which really helped through the first couple days of withdrawals, because I was frankly too sick to smoke.  Normally I would have just gone back to smoking after I felt better, but this time it stuck.

HOWEVER....I was able to get through the worst of it by eating.  I had a decision to make:  be a dead smoker, or a fat nonsmoker.  I chose fat.  I decided that I would not give myself a hard time if I substituted food for my addiction, and although I gained 12 pounds (which is way less than I thought I would), it was worth it.  Now I'm working on getting those 12 pounds off, and hopefully more after that.

It's still hard at times.  I still get some pretty serious cravings.  There's a gal at work who still smokes (she's the last holdout in my company) and I've even thought of bumming a smoke off her at times.  But the cravings really only last a couple of minutes.  Eating crunchy stuff like carrots and celery helps.  Changing your activity when you get a craving helps.  Getting support from friends and family is huge.  My best friend still can't believe I finally did it.  Sometimes she'll just look at me and say "I just can't believe you're not smoking.  I never thought you could do it."  Neither did I, frankly.

So good for you for quitting.  Believe me, if I can do it, anyone can.  And for those of you still trying to quit, let me tell you that it is totally worth it.  No more bad breath, stinky car, stinky house (I never did smoke in my house, but my family does), burn holes in clothing, carpet, furniture, no more ashtrays, smelly butts.  But the most noticeable thing was how much money I'm saving!  I was going through a carton a week or more at about $200 a month.  I just saved myself about $2500 a year.  And that's a result you can take to the bank!

okay heres some books from my amazon wishlist and also the books i already have
religion themed:

Atheism Advanced: Further Thoughts of a Freethinker by David Eller
Blind Watchmen And The Fall of Biblical Christianity by Henry L. Bechthold
Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan Barker
 God the Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist by Victor J. Stenger
 God is Not Great: The Case Against Religion by Christopher Hitchens
 Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
Me of Little Faith by Lewis Black
Nothing's Sacred by Lewis Black
Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer by Christopher Hitchens
Science and Nonbelief by Taner Edis
The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam Harris
The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief by Richard Dawkins
The Atheist's Bible: How Science Eliminates Theism by Geoff Linsley
The Atheist's Introduction to the New Testament: How the Bible Undermines the Basic Teachings of Christianity by Mike Davis
Then Why Do I Have Toenails?: How to be the best Atheist you can be by Thom Phelps
 The Counter-Creationism Handbook by M Isaak
Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity by John W. Loftus
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects

And good luck on the quit-smoking business

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"

Quote from: "oldschooldoc"Curio, thanks for the story. It actually does help to hear stories of success.

You can't really look at it as a success story... I never tried to stop smoking. I just quit being around it, quit being around people who do it, and it ceased to be a part of my life. That would be my suggestion to you: make your home a smoke-free home. Sit in non-smoking areas of restaurants. Don't go to bars where they smoke inside. Eventually, it'll just stop being an issue.  :D

MariaEvri, thanks for the list...and what a list it is. The two books by Lewis Black sound interesting.

Question - Do any of you have any of the DVD's that Dawkins has put out? I am seriously considering pouring some money into them, when I have the money, and want to know if it would be worth it. Most likely I'm going to buy them no matter what anybody says, but I wouldn't mind input on them.

I've been smoking for about 10 years now. I hate it, and am constantly trying to quit. I don't have that hard of a time quitting, to tell you the truth. I've been told many many times that the first 3 days is the hardest while quitting. For me that is not the case. The hardest part about quitting for me, is not starting up again. I can go a few days to a few weeks without smoking very easily, but I soon get to a point where I feel like I can just have one, and leave it at that.
I would like to warn against that line of thinking. If only I could take my own advise, I would have quit a long time ago.
Fight the urge to just have one, if you succeed in quitting for any length of time. Also, since it typically comes with the social aspect of smoking with someone else, I would advise you to stay away from anyone smoking and designated smoking areas. The more access you have to them, the more you may get the urge to say, "oh, what the hell! I'll just have one and leave it at that." Also, realize that it may take some failing to succeed in quitting. I haven't been able to stay off them, but that doesn't mean I'm going to keep fighting it. If you do have a break down, do not get down on yourself, but use it as motivation to fight harder.


And good luck! I'm rooting for you!  

Quote from: "Ihateyoumike"...I can go a few days to a few weeks without smoking very easily, but I soon get to a point where I feel like I can just have one, and leave it at that... If you do have a break down, do not get down on yourself, but use it as motivation to fight harder.


And good luck! I'm rooting for you!  :crazy: and .

I smoke while I read. Now the neurones are fused and the sight of a book, like drinking or standing in bus shelters, makes me want to smoke. And I'm studying english literature and creative writing, unfortunately. My house has more books in it than bricks. Not a good situation for the old lungs!

Anyhoo, a youtube video got mentioned on this site ages ago to do with God and brain-science. When I was in the uni library earlier this week I spied The Biology of God by Alister Hardy, which revived the memory, so I got that out and I've been reading it today (I'm 3/4 the way through chapter three, 'behaviour and evolution'. It's quite an old book but no less interesting for it). I should say, though, that he isn't actually trying to denounce the concept of God, which he emphasises in the intro; just figure it out scientifically and in terms of evolution. He's been fairly ambiguous about his own religious status so far, only hinting at actual atheism (I'll have to do some more research on him, I think).

What I found interesting about it is that he's very careful to avoid controversy around the subject of God... yet he off-handedly dismisses creationism in chapter two, essentially as something only doddery old senile people are loyal too because they haven't kept up to date with what's going on, and bare in mind he was writing that chapter in the late 60s. I get the impression that he would have been very surprised to learn that the idea still persists today, 40 years later, and hasn't simply been phased out; that people my age with at least the potential for reason still believe it. He seems to think it's already just dying embers in his day. I suppose creationism has undergone a bit of a revival in recent years (I partly blame the arrival of the internet because it's such an easy way for idealists to smear misinformation about the place) and today, it seems to me, it's considered just as controversial to be that brazenly evolutionist with any form of media as it is to be brazenly anti-God. EDIT: To second-guess myself a little, I mean mainstream media, really. Media aimed at scientific academics - which I think this is, despite its being accessible to a person with a modern highschool education - is most likely a different story.

Anyhoo I recommend reading it. I've enjoyed it so far.

Quote from: "Mister Joy"I smoke while I read. Now the neurones are fused and the sight of a book, like drinking or standing in bus shelters, makes me want to smoke. And I'm studying english literature and creative writing, unfortunately. My house has more books in it than bricks. Not a good situation for the old lungs!

Apparently, smoking actually makes you slightly more intelligent. The nicotine sort of supercharges neurons, making them fire faster. Stephen King always used to smoke when he was writing. Coincidence? I think not!  

Quote from: "oldschooldoc"MariaEvri, thanks for the list...and what a list it is. The two books by Lewis Black sound interesting.

.

thanks Ive recently started taking interest in atheist books so I started wihslisting away
Theres also another book called "illustarted stories from the bible"
The cover reminds me of a child's book, but from what I undrestood, it contains all the cruel stories in the book

I used to smoke in my art studio, until I gave myself asthma. Now I volunteer for the American Lung Association and try to give smokers support in quitting. They say quitting takes practice. I think the average person who eventually succeeds in quitting has between 4-6 false starts. Any time you spend breathing air that isn't laced with 4000 chemicals, hundreds of which are known toxins, is good for you. Did you know that one out of every three smokers will die of smoking related illness? That's like playing Russian roulette with two bullets in the barrel! And for every 20 smokers who die of smoking related illness, they take one non-smoker with them. My mom was one of those collateral damages.

Need any more scare tactics? Lemme know. Best of luck!

Sorry I don't have any books to recommend.

Quote from: "oldschooldoc"I've had only two cigarettes in the past 48 hours.

If you can do that for a couple weeks you'll be able to quit completely without a problem. Word of warning, do not allow yourself to be convinced that it is okay to smoke than that no matter what rationalization you come up with.  Otherwise before you know it you'll be smoking every day again.

Unlike Faithless, I decided not gaining weight was more important than quitting smoking.  I gained way too much weight when I was actively trying to stop, so I started again.  So, now I have the extra weight but don't smoke nearly as much as I use to.  I guess I should have just gone ahead and gained a bit more but quit since I had already done weight damage.

Quote from: "curiosityandthecat"

Quote from: "Mister Joy"I smoke while I read. Now the neurones are fused and the sight of a book, like drinking or standing in bus shelters, makes me want to smoke. And I'm studying english literature and creative writing, unfortunately. My house has more books in it than bricks. Not a good situation for the old lungs!

Apparently, smoking actually makes you slightly more intelligent. The nicotine sort of supercharges neurons, making them fire faster. Stephen King always used to smoke when he was writing. Coincidence? I think not!  :banna:  Stevie boy thinks its good for you :hmm: ) by substituting it for cranberry juice ....does anyone know where I can buy cranberry ciggarettes

Quote from: "oldschooldoc"Really though, all cigarettes (as of Jan. 1, 2009) are made with a new chemical that causes them to go out pretty quickly (after about a minute) if not puffed. That is actually one reason I am quitting, I think that chemical is giving me headaches.

That is great information!  I have noticed that my cigarettes keep going out!  The first couple of times I freaked out thinking I'd lost my cherry and was setting something on fire.  I tend to hold on to them as habit and am not actively smoking, I guess I need to actually puff every now and then.  Good luck on quitting.

Here, have an electronic cigarette:

(https://www.happyatheistforum.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fcache.gizmodo.com%2Fassets%2Fresources%2F2007%2F05%2Fe-cigarette_from_the_raw_feed.jpg&hash=dd24c0416a02a871be35f565e41e86af7fed5f3a)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-cigarette

You can buy them on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/NJOY-ELECTRONIC-CIGARETTE-WHITE-STARTER/dp/B001EQRDA4/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1233424861&sr=8-1).  :D