Good books about atheism and nonbelief.
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Janna
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Aug 18, 2009 11:14AM
Do these have to be non-fiction?
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How many of these books are not about atheism or non-believe? I count 4 but of course haven't read them all. Small Gods for instance is predicated on the existence of gods. No gods no story.
The idea of an atheist canon is kind of funny, as atheism is not dogmatic by definition. It is true, however, that Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, and Dennett are very popular right now.
I'm so glad I found this list! :D It's great to see Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris so high up on the list, but I wish Robert G. Ingersoll was higher on the list, too.
His Lectures Of Col. R. G. Ingersoll-Latest is a must-read for everyone who agrees with these three authors and likes their books.
Just stumbled across the God Delusion in my local library. Probably on of the books least likely to show up in a heavily religious community.
I feel like this list is a bit Ayn Rand-heavy. Not all atheists are Randroids, and from this list you'd think she was the new Messiah!
I agree with you, Therese. I have just now cleaned up the list a bit, removing obvious outliers. I think some fan boy got a little excited. I usually comb through every couple of months to keep it on topic. Thanks for the heads-up.Personally, I find Rand repugnant. I have left several of her books on this list as I understand other people have different opinions. Luckily, she doesn't show up until #74 on this list (as of this writing). Remember, you can vote other items up on the list.
Thanks Gary, that's an improvement I think! By the way, I've recently had an atheism-themed novel of my own published. It's called A Lost Argument and has a Goodreads page. I hope you'll consider taking a look at it. If you like, I'd be happy to send you a free review copy of the e-book - and if you enjoyed it, you could then recommend it to your atheist friends?
Will wrote: "The God Delusion isn't a very well-written book. god Is Not Great is a much better read."Well, it's hard to beat Christopher Hitchens. I didn't make it all the way through God is not Great just because with me he was preaching to the choir, but I made sure to read at least a couple of chapters just to savor his ass-kicking prose for a bit ...
Therese wrote: "Well, it's hard to beat Christopher Hitchens. I didn't make it all the way through God is not Great just because with me he was preaching to the choir, but I made sure to read at least a couple of chapters just to savor his ass-kicking prose for a bit ... "Yes, I've been itching to get some of his essays. I'll probably get Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens as soon as it's available in paperback.
HelloI just created (only cause I couldn't find one) a freethinkers list for YA fiction. Can anyone add to the list with books they have read that are freethinking in nature? thanks!
Tai
Tai wrote: "HelloI just created (only cause I couldn't find one) a freethinkers list for YA fiction. Can anyone add to the list with books they have read that are freethinking in nature? thanks!
Tai"
Very cool, Tai! The whole "His Dark Materials" trilogy could go on that.
Thanks for the tip!
Here is the direct link for anyone who is interested:http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13...
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/13704.Freethinkers_Skeptics_Agnostic_YA_Fiction
I noticed that The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is on this list. Even though Adam Douglass referred to himself as a radical atheist (using radical just so people would stop asking him if he meant agnostic), that book wasn't really about atheism in particular. There were occasional atheist-type jokes (i.e. God disproved his own existence when he created the Babel fish), and I don't personally object to it being on the list, but I felt I should point out that it isn't strictly about atheism.
There are *FAR* too many books on the list that are not actually about atheism, or are so but only in passing. I love Douglas Adams as much as anybody, and the Hitch-hiker books are fantastic, but why are they here? The same goes for a lot of the listed books. The one omission I am /very/ surprised about is there is no sign of the bible itself, from conversations I had with, and reading about atheists around the world from now going back many years. I would say the bible has created more atheists than all the books on this list put together.
Interesting that The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is in first place and also in 67th place. Is it a miracle?
I find books for athiesm to be pretty pointless. I kind of get the political side of the argument, but to 'prove' god doesn't exist seems kinda silly.
Hi, Andrew, atheism does not attempt to 'prove' gods don't exist. It simply rejects the belief that gods do exist.Which atheist books have you read?
Andrew wrote: "I find books for athiesm to be pretty pointless. I kind of get the political side of the argument, but to 'prove' god doesn't exist seems kinda silly."The distinction is pretty important. No one can prove a negative. You can't prove that there are no gods in the same sense that you can't prove there are no fairies. I haven't read a book yet 'for atheism' that says they can prove a god doesn't exist. That's not the point and that's not what atheism means.
Although one can never totally disprove an "Intelligent Designer" of the universe, I claim that the god of the bible, Yahweh, is indeed a Myth. The age of the earth as being 6,000 years approx can be proven without any doubt to be a lie and a proof of this fact does not need to rely upon the fossil records, carbon dating or other similar techniques. Indeed I have also claimed in "The God Myth - How Knowledge Destroyed the Almighty" that the Ark and the Tower of Babel are utterly impossible, particularly Babel - since the construction was impossible, the futility of such is described in detail.
It is also quite clear from the texts of Daniel, Isaiah and Job that there is further lack of inspired "citric knowledge" from the Apple of Adam - ignorance and contradicton abound, even the date of the Iron Age is false in the bible. There is much that could be written here obviously but I will avoid doing so; I will simply state that the only conclusion that can be deduced from biblical studies, other research and mathematics is that the bible is most definately not "the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth" - it could never be considered as the "inspired word of god".
hey its danial tanvir from pakistan and i have read the book by ibn warraq and liked it,i am very good friends with dan barker and i have read three of his books twice including godless.i have many such books in my room in islamabad.
i have all the christopher hitchens books in my room in islamabad and the God delusion is available in most book shops in pakistan.
i am also a sam harris fan and have read end of faith two times \bye
i am a very big fan of christopher hitchens. i loved all these writers that have been mentioned above.
i have all these books with me in my room.
i have gotten dozens of emails from dan barker and am very good friends with him and i loved his book, called "god less".
i have also been able to read michel onfrays book called
Atheist Manifesto
it is great book by a french writer and i read it years ago.
i also want to become a writer...
Someone changed the title of the list, and I have reverted back to the original title. The list creator mentioned in the comments above that fiction is welcome.
Hi Gary, I changed it back. There's a particular person going around changing dozens of other people's Listopia lists. If you check the change log, you can see someone switched it yesterday, and I switched it back.
I see it now. Thanks, Rainbowheart. I did not know just any librarian could go around changing list names.
They can, although it's against Listopia etiquette to do so. Normally if a librarian makes changes, they should ask permission if the list has an active creator or at least make a note in the comments that they are changing something. I'm not sure why this person has taken it upon herself to commandeer lists.
“Liberated from Religion” and “Wasting Time on God”, by Paulo Bitencourt, are, in my opinion, the best books on Freethought, Humanism and Atheism. Bitencourt writes from experience and, although the subjects are serious, making use of humor.
Go and Preach No More: A Legacy Abandoned My Life ReclaimedWould you be interested in adding my book to your list. In a nutshell: I was a believer for sixty years. A minister for thirty -five. I've been an atheist for over a decade.
Thank you
Bill (Wm Raff)
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