Taking Steps Beyond The Heated Debate

books:


	• Natural Atheism David Eller American Atheist Press, 2004 - 352 pages average customer review:based on 40 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Taking Steps Beyond The Heated Debate

This is a great book but I want to focus on one thing this books does at the end that other books on atheism I have read don't seem to do. It seems some people begin reading about atheism based on some negative interaction they had with religion. Of course the author brings out the usual point/counterpoints and presents them in a smart and reasonable way. But after a reader gets past his/her outrage, and sarcasm, and finger-pointing, and mind-opening... what's next? So you don't believe in X, what DO you believe in then? David Eller takes a step towards that.

Are all atheists dry, analyical, snooty, intellectuals who have no humanity or faith in anything? Or are all atheists hippie, human lovers who dance around the maypole and hug strangers on the bus? Neither. Atheists are people like you and I. And the author shows us it is okay to celebrate the great things humans do and decry the awful things humans do. And how there isn't really any need to bypass humanity and nature and attribute good OR bad things to some supernatural force or tradition. Then he wonders aloud about what atheists stand for besides just being anti-religion and pro free-thinking. And where it can all go from there. It is a fairly uplifting presentation that sneaks up on you as you complete the book. One of those "hey, that's right!" kind of moments you won't forget.

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God is not the problem

David Eller misses the point entirely as do most atheist, god is not the problem.

Of course atheism is a reaction to theism, to the god belief, but god is no worse than Santa Claus or the Great Pumpkin, all of them are figments of human imagination. The problem is the clergy, that self-selected band of god representatives on Earth. They have taken a perfectly innocent fiction and have used it for their own vile purposes. The purposes, of course, are the accumulation of wealth and power as we can see in the Vatican and in other seats of religious power.

As David Eller points out, god and religion are part of human culture. If every culture has one or more gods then there must be a good reason for it. I figure that it was some kind of survival mechanism, a way to fill a void of knowledge. Our brainpower developed faster than out initial ability to fill it with facts and instead we filled it with superstition and myth including the god myth. As we developed science and our knowledge grew, we replaced myth with facts and we continue doing so. Atheism is just one more step in this path.

Natural Atheism aims to help the reader convert to atheism by first setting out a twelve step program and complementing this program with instruction about logic, reason, the burden of proof, history of religion, the founding fathers and many other topics that will help you argue with theists. But I'm not sure you want to argue with them, to what purpose? I mostly just avoid the subject. First of all, there is absolutely no need to justify ones atheist position to anyone. I'm an atheist because I decided I wanted to be one and no one on this whole Earth can deny me that. Second, most arguments about atheism center on religion. But if god does not exist, why bother arguing about god and religion? Think of it this way, the clergy is selling you a product you don't want or need. Would you get into a prolonged philosophical discussion with a salesperson in a store or would you simply say: "Thank you, I'm not interested." The clergy has no right to question you about your morality or about anything else, it's non of their business. But this is precisely the technique they use to intimidate you. Just say "No."

The only real problem that remains is morality. Morality is part of culture. Morality is not restricted to religion, religion does not have an exclusive or a trademark on morality even if the clergy would like to take that position. This is why I don't have a problem with most of the ten commandments, the ones that don't include god but only your fellow man. I'm happy not to be killed and I would be happy if you didn't seduce my wife if I had one. These are the laws that we have given ourselves over the centuries and they work quite well in my opinion.

If you still feel that you have to explain and defend your atheistic position to anyone you don't need to study atheism but assertiveness instead. The book that helped me a great deal in this quest was When I Say No, I Feel Guilty by Manuel J. Smith

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Natural Atheism

Absolutely wonderful book by a great author. This should be read by all who have an interest in living a meaningful life, whether one is a believer or not!

WOW!!! You MUST read this book!

This book is absolutely beautiful in its reason and argumentation. I liked the fact that arguments from Biblical authority are dismissed in just about one sentence by recognizing that they are just arguments from authority (a fallacy).

My only complaint is that the book was a bit wordy at times. I think that the points could have been made with 1/2 the text. But that is a minor compliant from someone who is just a lazy reader sometimes. Overall, this book is one to keep and then buy as a gift for a freethinker friend. I doubt that a Theist friend would understand the reason and logic.

By the way, my minor compliant simply reduces my rating from 6 to 5. It deserves the highest possible rating on Amazon. It's really that good. Read it!

Eller: if you read this review, please create an audio book version!!

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perfect paganism

Natural Atheism is a brilliant book that effectively discusses everything a person needs to know about the conflict between religion and reason. A tribute to rational thinking and a handbook for those who have always been suspicious of fairy tales, superstitions, and all similar malarkey. Eller makes it clear that the burden of proof must always be borne by those making the outrageous claims, as opposed to those intelligent enough to be skeptical. A perfect book, and perhaps the final word on the issue, because once you understand that we're not obligated to prove that there's no such thing as Santa or the Easter Bunny, then there's not really a lot more that needs to be said about either, and the same principle applies to religion.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

NATURAL ATHEISM contains an introduction explaining "What is Atheism?" plus 12 chapters and a bibliography.

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