A fascinating journey from religion to secular humanism

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	• Imagine No Superstition: The Power to Enjoy Life With No Guilt, No Shame, No Blame Stephen Frederick, Ph.d. Uhl Golden Rule Publishers, 2007 - 190 pages average customer review:based on 8 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

SIMPLE YET PROFOUND

Review of Stephen F. Uhl's Imagine No Superstition
(Golden Rule Publishers, Tucson, Arizona, ISBN 978-0-9793169-0-6)
Reviewed by Philip E. Johnson, Ph.D.

Simple and Profound, December 11, 2006

Stephen Uhl's book is both profound and simple. Profound in that it deals with some of the most important concepts facing the world today; simple in that is clear and persuasive. Dr. Uhl is able to speak from an unusual perspective. He is a former Roman Catholic Priest, and has moved very carefully and thoughtfully to an agnostic/atheist position. His insights are remarkable, and many of us who are increasingly doubtful about the existence of the supernatural, and worried about the effects of a belief in the supernatural, will find the book a very solid grounding for our currently vague concerns. An excellent and thoughtful exposition of important and even crucial ideas.

Philip E. Johnson, Ph.D., Author, Educator

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Light for the unenlightened

I met the author of this book at a conference titled THE AMAZ!NG MEETING, which is organized by the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). We happened to sit together at one of the meeting's luncheons. He gave me a promotional flyer about the book, but the few copies he brought had sold out rather quickly. I ordered it from Amazon when I got home, and I am enjoying it thoroughly. Mr. Uhl writes without bitterness or judgment, and he discusses his subject matter with gentle humor. In fact, several of the chapters are punctuated by subsections which simply contain a joke and nothing more. This book is a wonderfully refreshing read!

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A fascinating journey from religion to secular humanism

America is a schizophrenic place. For all our love of technical wizardry and modern conveniences, we still hold on to extremely traditional morays which make us puritanical in comparison with older societies. Our moral center is formed from a number of influences, but old-time religion plays a significant role in how we embrace life, and how other societies view us.

Stephen Frederick Uhl's Imagine No Superstition; the Power to Enjoy Life with No Guilt, No Shame, No Blame is a treatise on religion in America and its ill-effects upon the human condition. Uhl draws from his background as a former Catholic priest turned atheistic child psychologist in his look at the crippling `don't do as I do, do as I say' attitude of the Christian church and its hierarchy. Uhl is unsparing in his criticisms of Christianity and religion in general showing his former brethren in the church to be one part humanitarian and three parts con men.

Imagine No Superstition begins with a brief autobiography of Uhl, and his decision to join the priesthood based upon his mother's familial connections with the church. Essentially, Uhl was raised to be a priest just as a number of his male progenitors were. This introductory section is brilliantly written. It shows Uhl to be a young man eager to please his mother even though he had lingering doubt about the church throughout his seminary years. The vulnerability Uhl displays during his younger years will be recognized by young people today straddling the fence between full religious indoctrination and a life free of archaic rules meant to keep flocks of believers credulous.

As the chapters on Uhl's personal journey towards atheism ends, Imagine No Superstition examines the ersatz nature of all religions, rooted as they are in anachronistic customs that have no place in the real world of the twenty-first century. With a combination of well documented research and a biting wit, Uhl addresses the futile nature of belief, noting that belief acts more like a shield from adult responsibility than a place where one can find answers to difficult problems. As an alternative, Uhl suggests people adopt The Golden Rule; a belief-free set of paradigms that have had a place in our world for several hundred years. Uhl shows the Golden Rule doesn't discriminate as the religious orders who constantly argue over which of their deities are the true universal forces. While Uhl's presentation of the Golden Rule is admirable, he has some difficulty following it himself throughout the book. In several instances, Uhl makes unflattering judgments about religious people, which is the opposite of the main goal of the paradigms he sites: to treat others as you would like to be treated. So Uhl accidentally engages in a little `don't do as I do, do as I say' himself, tingeing his credibility.

This minor piece of flawed logic aside, Imagine No Superstition is a tremendous achievement as a first work from this author. Uhl hits the right tones in creating an alarm bell to wake the reader from his stupor about the false hope of religion and the skewed vision it creates among the faithful. While it will certainly resonate with the choir of those who've already abandoned faith for reason, it will give much for those on the precipice of faith to think about as they move forward with their lives. It is a textbook for living life for the glory of oneself and ones family, free from the onerous burdens of the rocks of ages. Imagine No Superstition does what all good books are supposed to do. It elucidates and illuminates, entertains. Most of all, it makes you think about the moral compass used on our sojourn for truth, and questions the authority of those at the helm.

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Personal Experience

I find this book to be a winner. I am no longer religious and have trouble explaining the long process that got me here. This book has been a great help. It is just the thing to give to a friend or family member who really wants to know how one could change. It is not overly academic but still explains very clearly how the "faith journey" can lead one out of faith altogether. Peggy L. Gray

Understanding My Journey

I was a truth believing Protestant until I was 18 years old. Then I converted to Catholicism after another course of instructions in Christian truth at age 20. After 28 more years, I found that I could no longer accept either set of the old dogmatic truths. What a relief it was for me to read Dr. Stephen Uhl's little book, Imagine No Superstition; The Power To Enjoy Life With No Guilt, No Shame, No Blame. It was really comforting to me to find such authoritative understanding of my personal journey.

The book flows through the serious subject of religion and the battles between faith systems; it accomplishes this with clear knowledge, common sense and fitting humor that had me laughing out loud at times. Dr. Uhl, a former Catholic priest who left the church and became a psychologist, shows that he is very well qualified to deal with matters spiritual and psychological. He shows both patience and understanding in his guidance dealing with life's important issues.

Early in the book, Dr. Uhl, an experienced clinical hypnotist, shows how prayer that is effective is very similar to ordinary wish fulfillment with self-hypnosis playing a major role. He shows clearly how the wonderfully empowering mechanism of hypnosis makes it easy for the praying believer to accomplish more than she/he thought she/he could. The believer then finds it very easy to attribute this accomplishment to God or some Higher Power.

Dr. Uhl deals with an extensive list of reasons why most people believe in God, Allah and the like. Then after a thorough analysis of the most generally accepted of the "proofs" of God's existence, he admits that thinking man, confined to this universe and limited to knowledge of only this universe, cannot know if there is something outside this universe. So there can be no conclusive logical proof of God's existence or non-existence. Philosophical agnosticism is the logical result. At the same time, witnessing "the problem of evil" and the standard painful economy of the fox crushing the rabbit while the big fish eat the little fish, the author admits that there cannot possibly be a loving, compassionate, caring personal God. This, of course, leads him to reasonable, pragmatic atheism.

Such a practical atheism is strongly reinforced by the sometimes bizarre and quite commonly contradictory beliefs of those who believe so strongly that they "know" the existence and the mind of their own God. Societies down through the centuries have used their Gods to help them commit genocide after genocide. Likewise down through the centuries almost all but one of these thousands of Gods have been cast out of existence. Dr. Uhl cites many examples throughout history and to the present where faith has led mankind into devastating consquences. Yet the sectarian believers in only one God continue to kill each other and distrust deeply those who cannot accept such divisive sectarian dogmas today.

After showing an impressive series of ways human life would be better without any superstitious mysteries or sectarian wars, this outstanding book concludes that nothing works as well for human freedom and happiness as the tolerant and completely natural Golden Rule: "Treat others as you would reasonably want and expect to be treated if your roles were reversed." When one spouse makes the other look good, that caring love washes right back on the first spouse; when that caring family helps the neighbors, the neighbors help right back and the neighborhood improves for everyone. Such reasonable caring answers clearly the popular but shallow question: "How can you be a good person if you don't believe in God?"

Imagine No Superstition is small in size but impressively powerful, grippingly interesting and a sorely needed read for our time.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Imagine No Superstition is for modern doubters of ancient truths. The book first reveals how a priest found true love without guilt. Then it shows the modern questioner how s/he can enjoy shucking guilt and doubt. The humor is earthy at times, but it makes the points. This book is not for the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Tim LeHaye, nor James Dobson; they are already sure of their answers to life's important questions.

After dealing briefly with the author's personal journey from faithful priest to rational atheist, the book shows the modern doubter how to enjoy his or her own exciting journey from childlike credulity to secure maturity.

After the reader gets free of the shackles of traditional superstition based guilt, shame, and blame, he can stand on the shoulders of giant scientific thinkers and see much farther then grandma and grandpa could see. This leads to truly enlightened selfishness that looks like selfless generosity. Richer family life and better neighbor relations result without customary sectarian divisions. The book makes clear how the reader can make himself happy and generous without supernatural help.

The book literally sparkles with humor. It shows the pragmatism of the farmer's son, the organized thinking of the former philosopher and the deep insights of the experienced psychologist. The book shows the questioning reader how to help significant others progress and how they are then more likely to help the reader look good. So a truly virtuous cycle of neighborly caring expands to make the world a more joyful place to live a naturally exuberant life. This happy situation is much more likely when there are no supernatural or sectarian axes to grind. For the questioning reader this book will be a true delight!

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