Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Voices of Reason, October 25, 2009
This is a very refreshing and stimulating book for three reasons. First, It was written by 50 authors - some philosophers, some physical scientists, some biologists, some science writers and some journalists. The diversity of the authors' background provide an exhilarating multiview of the subject, the non-existence of god. Secondly, the individual contributions were written in short, precise, and lucid styles. The reader will have his pick as to which would be his favourite pieces. I like Stephen Law's bold assertion that one can easily prove the non-existence of god; and he did so in fine surgical manner, cutting away the assertions of god's existence. Adele Mercier's critical analysis of the first and second orders of belief was fascinating, pointedly stating that 'most people who claim to have religious beliefs have scarcely ever analysed the contents of their belief, and indeed are reluctant to do so, even when prompted.' She explained that the belief in the existence of god is a first order belief; the belief that one's belief in god is a second order belief. She employed the two orders of belief to explain persuasively why theists always end up with non-answers when questioned about their god. Victor Stenger exposed the ignorance of science of some Christian apologists such as Michael Craig; and in the case of Craig, a stubborn persistance in repeating a false claim even when proven wrong (see pg.113) Some of the authors like Tamas Pataki injected a bit of their personal experience and early introduction to religion, explaining how their came to reject the belief in god. The third reason I found this book to be refreshing is that none of the 50 voices came from either Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, or Sam Harris. This is a very handy book for atheists, born-again atheists, and people wishing to learn more before they accept or reject the belief in god.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thank God For Atheists, Thank Atheists For God, October 30, 2009
I must say, truly, this book really is a gift from God! Pardon the irony, but I truly enjoyed reading the whole book with the testimony of 50 not-so-popular Atheists that are not really as mainstream as say Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennet, and even Dan Barker and the rest of the popular Atheistic gang. They are a breath of fresh air in many ways due to their honest-to-God (pardon the pun) testimonies on how many left their faiths (faith meaning "trust" from it's Latin root "fides") and converted to Atheism or Agnosticism to acquire many newer faiths they never previously had or didn't include or combine with their previous faiths in deities. One account even tries to argue for "Humanism" as "religion" believe it or not. This still should not be so surprising since Atheistic religions have been quite popular among many cultures around the world and Humanism as an alternative "religion" is becoming a reality with Greg Epstein at Harvard University, who sits on the executive committee of the 38-member interfaith corps of Harvard Chaplains, and other Atheist (Humanist) Chaplains emerging in campuses and pushing for military legislation that allows for Atheists in the armed services to consult and deal with Atheist Chaplains in the same ways that pastors and priests comfort Christians. Greg Epstein writes on the issues faced by humanists on the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post and has been interviewed by NPR on Atheistic naturalistic celebrations during the holidays in the report called "Removing Religion from Holidays a Tall Order".
In this rare batch of Atheistic testimonials, you will find insights from Atheists who are very reasonable to "religion" and even to the "religious", with some horrible diatribes against "religion" too. This book can be taken as a sociological study of Atheism and see manifestations of Atheism in these people's lives. As can be expected of anyone who is human, some of the multiple perspectives among fellow Atheists will be complimentary and contradictory, subjective and objective, rational and irrational, wise and foolish, great and small, philosophical and "scientific", insightful and obsolete, long and short, true and false, tolerant and intolerant, caring and indifferent, loving and hating, liberating and burdening, even discriminating and accepting on a few too. What can we say? They are human too of course.
This book shows the diversity in Naturalistic Atheism and Atheistic thought as is the same for diversity among other belief systems due to culture, experience, and education. These 50 people are mostly from American or European cultures, but there are a few who shed light and give experiences from their Nigerian culture (Peter Adegoke), their Indian culture (Sumitra Padmanabhan), and their Iranian culture (Maryam Namazie), and even their Australian culture and upbringing (Emma Tomm). The international non-Western testimonies should be enough to get anyone to buy this book since Atheisms in other cultures vary in approach and intensity. For example, American Atheists are more prone to be impulsive or annoyed with their cultures due to pressures from their cultures, while European Atheists and Asian Atheists seem to be more indifferent or accepting due to their cultural indifferences or integration and combination to deities as simply spirits, respectively. Asian beliefs are very diverse and not so unified, or concentrated I should say, so more room exists, or so it seems, to choose what one desires to believe. In one of the references below (Society without God) you will see that in some of the most Atheistic European countries, "religion" is much more appreciated than here in the United States since many, though not believers in deities per se, still give lots of income to the churches they no longer believe in. Also, it is interesting how lack of belief in deities does not equate to lack of beliefs in ghosts or other entities that are supernatural. Then again, "More-than-Nature" Atheisms are like Buddhism or even many types of animisms are popular in Asian, aboriginal, and native international cultures.
It is also astonishing that in European countries where lack of belief in deities is found a good chunk seem to not have really thought out in a rational and critical fashion why they do not believe in a deity. They take cultural Atheism for granted just as Christians take Christianity in the United States for granted too - without much questioning and general acceptance of cultural norm. What another reviewer has claimed from one of the essays by Adele Mercier that "most people who claim to have religious beliefs have scarcely ever analyzed the contents of their belief, and indeed are reluctant to do so, even when prompted" fits atheism well too. The difference is in the religion of choice here, namely the religions of Atheism. Cultural Atheisms spoil their people too in that very little critical thought is given to personal Atheisms because it is the norm in that culture (Society without God). We should balance our thinking here to give justice to the human experience. Most Asians do not consider much of their atheistic Buddhism before believing it; neither do atheistic ancestor worshipers define why they give reverence to dead ancestors (ancestors are not deities by the way, thus these fit under atheistic beliefs if no deities are believed to exist by the worshiper); neither do Taoists consider much of the Taoist views before believing them. I am sure some of you have met fellow Atheists who don't even have a good understanding of the word "Atheism" and yet call themselves Atheists and misrepresent the whole system. Tander Edis in "50 Voices of Disbelief" slightly addresses this in that in secular cultures, secularism will be taken for granted as the truth for people in that culture. In that sense Atheistic societies and Theistic societies are not so different at all. It's the same phenomenon.
It should be remembered that the word Atheism just means "lack of belief in a god" from it's greek root "a-" (lack of) + "theos" (god) + "-ism" (belief in), after that anything can be believed in no matter how realistic or absurd it sounds. Atheism has quite a few denominations and can be divided into "Supernatural Atheisms" (with spirits or ancestors, but no deities), "More-Than-Nature Atheisms" (animisms), "Naturalistic Atheisms" (nature is all there is), or combinations of these Atheisms. This book has nothing but Naturalist Atheists, but this should not impede further research into other forms of Atheism from different cultures such as Taoism, Confucianism, or even the Church of Satan, for example, since we should investigate the diversity of Atheism just as some investigate the diversity in Theism.
Just because someone is an Atheist, does not mean in any way, shape, or form that they deny things that are "more-than-nature". Some do, but others don't. For example, Existence of ghosts or spirits or omens are not necessarily denied by Asian Atheists or Latin American Atheists. It should be remembered that Atheism only requires lack of belief in deities only. That's it. After that anything can be added or subtracted from an Atheist's own belief system - no matter how realistic or absurd it may sound to others. Even rituals such as weddings, funerals, and baby dedications are not exclusive to Muslims or Hindus. Fellow Atheists do these too (Funerals Without God: A Practical Guide to Non-Religious Funerals and A Humanist Wedding Service). Some, of course, don't participate in some of these formal rituals in the same way that some Christians and Buddhists never participate in weddings in a church or temple. Humans show excellent mix of beliefs in their respective environments and their cultures give them options to choose what they consider worth believing in or denying. A bit of in depth research on other cultures and reading some primary texts form their cultures should show this to be objectively true.
Back to "50 Voices of Disbelief":
Wait! There is more! You will see the view and testimony of a magician and his expertise in trickery and illusions (James Randi), the testimony of an ex-exorcist (Austin Dacey), and the testimony of an ex-parapsychologist who had an out-of-body experience herself (Susan Blackmore).
Of course you will also have your philosophers (Nicholas Everitt, Michael Tooley) and your decent mix of scientists too (Taner Edis, Victor Stenger), but you will also have the testimony and insights from the leader of the Skeptic Society (Michael Shermer) too! One set of authors (Michael Rose and John Phelan) also argue for the idea of God emerging as an evolutionary feature that we need to go above and beyond.
Throughout the book you will also find good approaches (Michael Tooley, Frieder Otto Wolf) to possibly raising Atheism to another level by making Atheism friendlier and more approachable for non-non-believers that seem to be sometimes at pointless odds on moot points with some Atheists.
The insights, by Taner Edis and his balanced views on how pure Secularists may take for granted secularism and cease to think critically on bigger issues due to their getting used to a secular environment (if they were raised in a secular environment or by worldly parents) and thus cease to be curious and entertain other possible approaches to reality, are noble and wise to consider.
Victor Stenger's view that the evidence we have on cosmology from Physics fits many models and thus many theories exist that can be appealed to ignore the "necessity of a first cause", is very interesting since there are no models that are unique in terms of a definite answer to how our...
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Essays, October 30, 2009
Great book on how different walks of life came to the conclusion they could live well with out gods in their lives. Great writing on the reasons to live a rational and scientific way of life and how to reconcile with other people who don't share the same views. Great book for any one who likes to think for them selves.
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by Victor J. Stenger
by Darrel W. Ray
by Dromedary Hump
by Richard Dawkins
by Mike Davis
