Customer Reviews

Then Why Do I Have Toenails?: How To Be The Best Atheist You Can Be.

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a hidden treasure. If you are at all interested in Atheism as a religious point of view, you must buy this book. More pragmatic than Sam Harris and 100 times funnier than Chris Hitchens. This is the best book on the subject to come out in the last 26 months. If you are a die-hard atheist who wants to find more arguments for your next Thanksgiving dinner with your Evangelical family, you must buy this book. If you are a questioning agnostic who wants to feed an intellectual debate, you must buy this book. If you are a rigid Fundamentalist Christian, you must buy this book, if only to burn it. This powerful book will change minds and change the religious debate in this country. It is sublime, it is subversive, it is clever, and it is quite possibly one of the most subtly radical and dangerous books on the market today.

This book is full of hilarious anecdotes as it takes a thoughtful view into the controvercial topic of religion. The author doesn't try to be politically correct; it's an honest insight into being an atheist - without bashing religion.

I'd recommend the book - it will get you thinking for long after you read it. If this doesn't get the book club talking I don't know what will!

Much more than a good read, the author really engages the reader in the book through his stories, witty quips, well researched references and cartoons.

This is top of my list for its imaginative approach and sheer readability.

Thom Phelps has written a clear, humorous, winding tale of his logical decision not to have faith. While pointed at times, and focused at tearing down "literalist" walls, this honest expression of his lack of faith and frustration with those who do believe is a must read for believers, non-believers, and the undecided. While I don't agree with his content, the book made me think about a lot of core beliefs I have. It's a must read for Youth Ministers, Missionaries, and others dealing with unbelievers. [...]

I normally restrict myself to reading technical books, but this one I thoroughly enjoyed. I never considered myself an atheist, but now I guess I need to admit it. I don't remember when I first said "this is bulls**t", but the more they tried to brainwash me and the more I learned about life in general, the less I believed. And now, the older my friends get, the more they believe (hoping they won't burn in hell after living a life of "sin" I guess) and the more crap they send me via email. I think I will start replying with a link to this book. It has always amazed me how so many "intelligent" people believe in religion of any kind and NOT believe plausible things like "aliens" landing here on earth, after all, we travel in space. With all the reality shows out there, it's time we took a good look at ourselves and our religious beliefs. Whether this book or one like it changes or confirms ones beliefs, you owe it to yourself to read it. It will answer or pose questions for you to seek answers to. To refuse to read it is like being an ostrich with its head in the sand shutting out the "real" world. And as a bonus, it is humorous.

THEN WHY DO I HAVE TOENAILS? is a thoroughly enjoyable romp beginning with its cover art. A great diversion from my heavy reading pile - 100 Years of Solitude ended up taking a back seat to Mr. Phelps quick read. That was a bit ironic, given that Phelps suggests that what we'll have after death is an entire eternity of solitude. Sound depressing? Not the way he presents it. From the serendipitously acquired caveman superstitions through the power-hungry manipulators of today's fundamentalist leaders, Mr. Phelps gives us reason to pause before buying into fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible.

Phelps manages to use the Bible as the primary source of argument against taking itself at face value. I never would have guessed that Jesus would actually encourage his followers to steal - read THEN WHY DO I HAVE TOENAILS? To find out about that one - Phelps presents evidence taken straight from the King James Bible.

The interactive nature of the book seemed to work with the conversational tone. I didn't do any cartooning, but I found myself imagining what I'd draw. I'm not one to write in books - I rarely allow myself to break their spines. Testing and retesting literalism was fun, and a good exercise, but again, I didn't write in my book.

There were a few passages where Phelps may be interpreted as being unduly harsh on Christians as a whole (what publisher doesn't like a bit of controversy) but Phelps makes reasonable, well-meaning, well-thought-out arguments in favor of atheism.

Because of its strengths and its author's wonderfully accessible use of language and humor, I think this book deserves a wide audience. Maybe even high school comparative religion classes. It's fun and yet informative. Readers of the various slap and slap-back books: religion advocates/detractors, evolution vs. creationism, etc. will find this one refreshing with its lighter approach more like Christopher Moore's Lamb: the Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal.

The book's scope doesn't go very far beyond Christianity. I would have loved to have a few examples of fallacies or hypocrisy of other religions to balance it out, since the premise applies to all religions (superstitions to explain the unexplainable). There's something in here for Christians and non-Christians alike. A thinking man's book that is also entertaining. Don't give it to your Christian friend for Christmas, though, unless she has very good sense of humor!
Karen Albright Lin

Phelps writes this book out of pure opinion and honesty. It's nice to know I am not the only Atheist on the planet and helps me with the fear I have of admitting my beliefs to others. I am in an extremely religious community and it drives me nuts. So many decisions are made based off of people's faiths it seems so rediculous to me. Anyhow, off my rant, I loved the book and plan to keep it in the family!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was pleasantly surprised at how respectful Mr. Phelps is in presenting his arguements. Rather than trying to persuade people into following his line of thought, the author simply presents HIS position and reasoning against ORGANIZED religion in particular.

This book strikes a very nice balance between being quite aceessible to the casual reader and challenging to those who are a little more inclined to dive deeper into the philosophical and social role that religion has played throughout our history. At times Mr. Phelps almost goes a little overboard trying to ensure that he does not offend anyone with his position but that is understandable given the delicate nature of the subject matter.

Great book that really explains the concept of atheism in a clear and concise way. If your looking for a complex argumentative book that logically and rationally debunks Christianity look elsewhere. Otherwise, a great introduction to atheism.

Aetheism -- With humor, the author does an excellent job of provoking serious thoughts with regard to the delicate and highly personal subject of not believing. He didn't try to change persuasions, but simply told why he was a non-believer in religion and posed questions for the readers to consider in making up their own minds. Even right wing Christian warriors would benefit from an evening spent reading this little book. After all, all good war leaders seek to learn as much as they can about their enemy, and the Christian right surely has gone to war with the non-believers.

As it turns out, Paul didn't have a vision after all. Instead, one of the kids whose family Paul was going to persecute got fed up, threw a rock at Paul, and hit him in the noggin. The kid got thug's remorse and took Paul home to recuperate. As Paul got better, he had a change of heart. Impressed with the sincerity of his host family mixed with liberal parts of entrepreneural spirit, Paul saw his opportunity to get in on a new religion on its ground floor. Certainly he could do better than the minimum wage he was making with those cheap Pharisees.

Our author admits he doesn't have any documentation for his view, but hey, he says, neither did whoever wrote the gospels several decades after the fact. Although not all his facts are right - he credits Paul with writing 13 of the NT books whereas most scholars would credit him with only 7 - most of them are. Although his organization and continuity leave a little to be desired, he makes up for it with an entertaining style, humor, interesting stories, and cartoons.

On top of that, he's pretty convincing in his thesis: that our ancestors made God in man's image and the world works pretty much like it would if there were no God. Highly recommended for every heathen and Christian!

DB