This true sense of wonder or awe, I believe, is the essence of "religion," and I do think it is about equally frequent -- or rare -- among so-called "unbelievers" as it is among so-called "believers". Theism is but one of its possible expressions and/or betrayals. It all boils down, perhaps, to what we're most deeply looking for: questions, or answers. "God" may be a good question to ask the world but a poor answer imo.
I Am An Atheist
by Abandoned 25 Replies latest jw friends
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Blueblades
I'm into chapter three, so far, so good. I'll have to read the whole book to comment any further.
Blueblades
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kid-A
Three much older, but absolutely essential reads:
"Totem and Taboo" by Freud.
"The Anti-Christ" and "The Geneaology of Morals" by Nietszche
"Escape from Freedom" by Erich Fromm.
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OpenFireGlass
haha... congratulations.... Now you can Live, an stop being mad at imaginary characters...
PEACE. Mike
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GetBusyLiving
Hey, welcome to reality Abandoned! Great to hear you are reading this book, I also recommend "The Blind Watchmaker" and of course the classic, "The Selfish Gene".
One point that really sticks out for me from "The God Delusion" is Dawkin's compassion for those who don't understand evolution and who choose not to because of religion. He mentioned how it is such a tragedy for people to live and die and never understand the wondrous process of evolution.
GBL
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RunningMan
Welcome to the club. Now we can teach you the secret handshake and let you in our plans for world domination.
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Seeker4
I think atheist is most accurately defined as one who has no belief in a god, as opposed to the idea of believing there is not a god. That's a small difference, but makes sense if you think about it.
Some other suggestions: I totally agree on Sam Harris. Also, if you go on YouTube you can find a couple of Dawkins' documentaries on there. Also some great film of Dawkins' answering questions at a college, where some kids from a nearby "Christian" college question evolution, and he rips them a new one. He tells them they need to quit and go to a "real university." Sam Harris also has some clips on YouTube that are great.
Daniel Dennett is also excellent. He's got a reputation for not being quite as confrontational in his personal style as Dawkins and Harris, who put off a lot of people, including other atheists and naturalists, by their style.
Dennett and Dawkins are part of a group called The Brights, which contains a lot of interesting thinkers. If you go to their website (you can link to it from Dennett's) there is a list of dozens of books their members have written. I joined the group, which is not quite as lame as its name indicates! (Actually, in their discussion board, they request that you not start a thread on how much you hate the name Brights, as it's been done to death!)
There is also a documentary DVD called The God Who Wasn't There, with some other writers and thinkers interviewed. The additional features on the DVD are as good as the film itself.
Welcome to the wonderful world of freethinking! And OFG, good to hear from you. Out of the wilderness for the winter?
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lonelysheep
Welcome to the jungle, Abandoned! It's not so bad, is it? I really enjoyed "The God Delusion" and am glad all of you are, too.
The only certain thing in life is change.
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Little Drummer Boy
Count me in. Good author, that Dawkins. Blind Watchmaker is nice. Working on God Delusion at the moment. I got it for Christmas - which strikes me as quite amusing.
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DanTheMan
I'm enjoying the book also.
In these days of Creationist museums, privately funded Christian paramilitary groups operating in and outside of the US, radical preachers taking over the chaplaincy in almost all the prisons and increasingly in our armed forces, Senator Sam Brownback running for president, etc., I found South Park's recent satirization of Dawkins to be so sadly misplaced. That show is losing me fast, they seem to come down on the side of the righties all too often, and I think they (and most Americans) don't recognize just how sinister of a force the radical Christian right is.