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jpbradt's reviews
127 reviews
How to Be a Good Atheist by Nick Harding
4.0
This book says little about how to be a good atheist. It mostly argues against theism, opposing the deceit that one needs to believe in a god to have good morals.
Mind Wars: The Battle for Your Brain by Ian McFadyen
3.0
In Mind Wars, Ian McFadyen invents a new field, ostensibly a science, called tenetics, defining it as the study of tenets and doctrines. Tenetics attempts to explore the workings of ideologies: attempting to eradicate competing doctrines, trying to establish themselves and spread, and doing all the other things which ideologies do to function and interact. In fact, McFadyen goes as far as to identify doctrines as living organisms; whereas obviously, if the author things that doctrines are truly living, he has no grasp on the very most basic biology.
I found the book intriguing enough to finish. It did, however, trash science, academics, and art, intimating that perhaps scholars thought too highly of their education and their ability to think clearly and that they used doctrines (through tenetics) to take advantage. This looked to me like the author's attempt to shove his way into credibility by taking others down a few notches, rather than simply making his point and letting it succeed or fail on its own merits. Maybe he was trying to push a "doctrine."
I found the book intriguing enough to finish. It did, however, trash science, academics, and art, intimating that perhaps scholars thought too highly of their education and their ability to think clearly and that they used doctrines (through tenetics) to take advantage. This looked to me like the author's attempt to shove his way into credibility by taking others down a few notches, rather than simply making his point and letting it succeed or fail on its own merits. Maybe he was trying to push a "doctrine."
Why Our Children Will Be Atheists by Albert Williams
2.0
This book has a specific view of the future which I feel is unrealistic. Religion is not just going to go away. It will evolve, be called something else... and then eventually in this sense, sure, there will be no more "gods--" because we will not have the word anymore. I think the concept itself of God (and other gods) is evolving almost daily, now with information tech and information growing virtually exponentially.
Anyway, the author has a vision of atheism taking over, which can inspire an atheist, so it might be worth reading. I read it, as it cost me nothing, and I would even have paid a dollar if I hadn't known better. Other than libraries, though, I wouldn't bother with books like this.
Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris,... authors like these who attacked faith and religion have their place in history. I don't know about everybody else, but I think now that I have moved on to seeking freethinking direction and guidance, beyond just dismissing gods. I found humanism in the American Humanist Association, decided to join, and now am a contributing part of the worldwide movement more than I was just by buying a few books--
Not that I will stop buying books.
Anyway, the author has a vision of atheism taking over, which can inspire an atheist, so it might be worth reading. I read it, as it cost me nothing, and I would even have paid a dollar if I hadn't known better. Other than libraries, though, I wouldn't bother with books like this.
Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris,... authors like these who attacked faith and religion have their place in history. I don't know about everybody else, but I think now that I have moved on to seeking freethinking direction and guidance, beyond just dismissing gods. I found humanism in the American Humanist Association, decided to join, and now am a contributing part of the worldwide movement more than I was just by buying a few books--
Not that I will stop buying books.
Moral Combat: Black Atheists, Gender Politics, and the Values Wars by Sikivu Hutchinson
5.0
Hutchinson has a lot to say about the black atheist community in the USA.
Kudos, Sikivu!
Kudos, Sikivu!