Books - Suggestions?
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I did not particularly like the chapter on child abuse in The God Delusion. It was pretty absurd. Richard Dawkins had one experience of uncomfortable touching as a child and thinks that makes him some kind of expert on what the majority of sexual abuse is like. He claims that Religion itself is worse than sexual child abuse. That's a pretty inane statement to make and absurd to even choose to make such a comparison. Obviously it depends on the circumstances of the religion and of the sexual abuse. He thinks that it's wrong all the people that have come forward to report the vast amount of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic church, and thinks people should just leave the priests alone and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in peace since many of the crimes happened long ago (but it was the silence and control and fear that kept the children silent for so long, and allowed the abuse to continue, so he is wrong about that). Anyhow, I've discussed it with other Atheist friends online that love Richard Dawkins and when I shared an article that he wrote elaborating on it, everyone agreed he was way off the deep end when he discusses that topic. So, he is good for evolutionary biology and atheism, but a bit of a ding bat when discussing child abuse.
I prefer this atheist on the topic of child abuse in churches. Explicit lyrics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sph8Qu8wLAk
Also, I did read some more recent stuff from Richard Dawkins in which he does explain himself a little better. He's no expert on child abuse or empathy. And he does have his own issues from his own experience. So, he doesn't represent any good knowledge on the subject, he's just like any other person that has his own unique experience and feelings about that, which is different from the experiences of other people (that were abused more extensively and with other harmful elements such as betrayal). And he does seem more supportive of child abuse prevention in the church. And I guess it's a good thing that he does speak openly about his experiences.0 -
I did not particularly like the chapter on child abuse in The God Delusion. It was pretty absurd. Richard Dawkins had one experience of uncomfortable touching as a child and thinks that makes him some kind of expert on what the majority of sexual abuse is like. He claims that Religion itself is worse than sexual child abuse. That's a pretty inane statement to make and absurd to even choose to make such a comparison. Obviously it depends on the circumstances of the religion and of the sexual abuse. He thinks that it's wrong all the people that have come forward to report the vast amount of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic church, and thinks people should just leave the priests alone and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in peace since many of the crimes happened long ago (but it was the silence and control and fear that kept the children silent for so long, and allowed the abuse to continue, so he is wrong about that). Anyhow, I've discussed it with other Atheist friends online that love Richard Dawkins and when I shared an article that he wrote elaborating on it, everyone agreed he was way off the deep end when he discusses that topic. So, he is good for evolutionary biology and atheism, but a bit of a ding bat when discussing child abuse.
I prefer this atheist on the topic of child abuse in churches. Explicit lyrics.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sph8Qu8wLAk
Also, I did read some more recent stuff from Richard Dawkins in which he does explain himself a little better. He's no expert on child abuse or empathy. And he does have his own issues from his own experience. So, he doesn't represent any good knowledge on the subject, he's just like any other person that has his own unique experience and feelings about that, which is different from the experiences of other people (that were abused more extensively and with other harmful elements such as betrayal). And he does seem more supportive of child abuse prevention in the church. And I guess it's a good thing that he does speak openly about his experiences.
People expect a lot from Dawkins.... he's a great atheist voice as well as expert in evolutionary biology, but he's certainly not particularly progressive when it comes to social issues. A lot of his thoughts are clearly coming from an aged educated white British man, and as such, tend to fall in line with the stereotypical aged educated white British man. I am not his biggest fan, but appreciate him for what he is....0 -
I did not particularly like the chapter on child abuse in The God Delusion. It was pretty absurd. Richard Dawkins had one experience of uncomfortable touching as a child and thinks that makes him some kind of expert on what the majority of sexual abuse is like. He claims that Religion itself is worse than sexual child abuse. That's a pretty inane statement to make and absurd to even choose to make such a comparison. Obviously it depends on the circumstances of the religion and of the sexual abuse. He thinks that it's wrong all the people that have come forward to report the vast amount of sexual abuse that occurred within the Catholic church, and thinks people should just leave the priests alone and allow them to live out the rest of their lives in peace since many of the crimes happened long ago (but it was the silence and control and fear that kept the children silent for so long, and allowed the abuse to continue, so he is wrong about that). Anyhow, I've discussed it with other Atheist friends online that love Richard Dawkins and when I shared an article that he wrote elaborating on it, everyone agreed he was way off the deep end when he discusses that topic. So, he is good for evolutionary biology and atheism, but a bit of a ding bat when discussing child abuse.
I prefer this atheist on the topic of child abuse in churches. Explicit lyrics.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sph8Qu8wLAk
Also, I did read some more recent stuff from Richard Dawkins in which he does explain himself a little better. He's no expert on child abuse or empathy. And he does have his own issues from his own experience. So, he doesn't represent any good knowledge on the subject, he's just like any other person that has his own unique experience and feelings about that, which is different from the experiences of other people (that were abused more extensively and with other harmful elements such as betrayal). And he does seem more supportive of child abuse prevention in the church. And I guess it's a good thing that he does speak openly about his experiences.
People expect a lot from Dawkins.... he's a great atheist voice as well as expert in evolutionary biology, but he's certainly not particularly progressive when it comes to social issues. A lot of his thoughts are clearly coming from an aged educated white British man, and as such, tend to fall in line with the stereotypical aged educated white British man. I am not his biggest fan, but appreciate him for what he is....
Yeah, it's true.0 -
Met him last year, awesome young man. He was at Skepticon this weekend in Springfield but I was sick and could not go
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Julian Walker is an atheist and a yogi. He wrote two books.
Awakened Heart, Embodied Mind: A Modern Yoga Philosophy Infused with Somatic Psychology and Neuroscience
Devil in the Details: 3 Keys to Thinking More Clearly About Spirituality.
I haven't read these books yet. I am familiar with a lot of the content from reading his articles and what he has shared on his facebook pages.0 -
I've just purchased The Brick Bible, a New Spin on the Old and New Testaments which is a warts and all depiction of many of the bible stories done completely in Lego.
It's hilarious and very clever. The author and artist is an atheist and he has certainly upset the conservatives resulting in books being removed from the shelves of certain Walmart stores. It's worth reading some of the reviews on amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Brick-Bible-Spin-Testament/dp/1616084219
He certainly doesn't gloss over the violence and hypocrisy in the bible. It's been an interesting read.0 -
I've seen the online version of that, I didn't know there was a whole book. That's awesome!0
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I've seen the online version of that, I didn't know there was a whole book. That's awesome!
I saw that online also and also did not know there was a book!
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Some of the books listed here are worth looking at, in regards to raising your children to be better at critical thinking.
http://www.atheistrepublic.com/blog/karenloethen/books-your-skeptical-children
A couple from the list which I will most likely purchase:
Maybe Yes, Maybe No by Dan Barker
What Do You Believe? by DK0 -
I really enjoyed learning about the ancient origins of the Abrahamic religions:
The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel (The Biblical Resource Series), Mark Smith.
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts
by Israel Finkelstein0 -
I keep a couple copies of Carl Sagan's Demon Haunted World by my front door. They go to the Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons that come knocking every now and again. Probably the most tame "atheist" book out there.0
