Nearly a decade ago, Adam Lee's "Ebon Musings" website, subdivided into "The Atheism Pages" and "The Evolution Pages", was probably the greatest resource I had during my relatively quick process of deconversion from Christianity. Most of the book I am now reviewing is content taken from The Atheism Pages -- from Adam's own essays, from the essays of others, and from deconversion stories. The title of the book is identical to the title of Adam's blog. None of this is to say, however, that one should pass up the book for the online content. The book is wonderful, and unlike the writings on Ebon Musings, it is written as a cohesive whole, with the website's essays included herein updated to a degree. A book, physical or digital, also makes for a better gift than a URL, I dare say.
Adam explains that atheism, and, in retrospect, the loss of one's theistic beliefs, should not be scary. In fact, they can make one's life much more meaningful, moral, wonderful, and fulfilling. He talks about religion at its best and at its worst, and that the good things it does it is not exclusively entitled to. Perhaps jarringly for most believers in the Abrahamic god, he quotes and analyzes biblical verses that conclusively demonstrate that said god, if it exists, is unarguably supremely evil -- fortunately for everyone, no one has sufficient reason to believe it exists.
He devotes an entire chapter to morality, as many believers inevitably end up asking how morality is even possible for an atheist. Unfortunately, this is the one part of the main text of the book that I think doesn't deserve that last star. While I applaud the effort Adam has gone to in creating his system of Universal Utilitarianism, I think his writing shows in no uncertain way that he is not a moral philosopher. I don't quite remember every objection I had to UU while reading, but perhaps the biggest of them is that, at least without further explanation, it seems to violate Adam's prerequisite of practicality. He says that we should consider the consequences of our actions, but does not say anything about the scope or depth of the consequences we need to consider (think about "the butterfly effect": should the butterfly have refused to flap its wings?). I realize that a mere chapter in a book not wholly concerned with morality can't possibly indulge, to their utmost satisfaction, those who have studied the subject in-depth, but I think a bit more detail is needed before a true and rigorous analysis of the system can be made. As it stands, it's a form of consequentialism, so it will probably be victim to objections to the same. Deficiencies in this system, however, should not be interpreted by the theist as evidence that theistic systems of morality are superior -- Adam also deftly and thoroughly explains why this is and justifiably dismisses such systems. In the end, the fact is that morality is a complex phenomenon that there is no academic consensus on.
My only other problems with the Kindle edition of the book are: 1) the formatting at the very end: the text from "Acknowledgements" onward is messed up -- most people probably won't ever flip/click back there, but it's still a mess; 2) there are no page numbers; and 3) the endnotes aren't linked to, which creates problems for those who wish to read them when they are referenced.
I never like to finish negatively in describing something I wholeheartedly support, so I want to restate what I say in the title: if you want a thorough and positive book on atheism, you can't go wrong with Daylight Atheism, and you probably won't find a better book now or in the near future that serves the same purposes. Adam Lee is a very insightful, uplifting writer, and a very important asset to so many atheists. You'll be doing yourself -- and Adam -- a big favor by getting this book.
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Heathcliffe
An excellent argument for a post religious world
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