Saturday 26 May 2012
Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011) by The Thinking Atheist
Here's an introductory sample of the giant, Hitchens, through a tribute from an excellent source of media, information, support, and more; The Thinking Atheist (Which I have a link to)
I believe he died of very painful cancer which he fought until dying at age 62.
Friday 18 May 2012
Don't Bring Your Sword To A Gunfight
2 - Know your stuff
The inevitable tactic of virtually all religious folk who are active and read in their faith will be to turn discussions from the topic at hand to your own lack of faith. I know that ministers actually teach their congregations to practise this sort of strategy in order to convert unbelievers and authors who promote it certainly know what they are doing. Most church goers will not be able to reason out their faith coherently when tested by an informed mind and this tactic is chiefly designed to shield the average religious layperson from the appropriate level of doubt they should be experiencing. The important thing is to bring the discussion back around and let them know you are interested in exploring the issue rather than getting too far off topic.
More important is the sense of well being you deserve to experience with a well rounded and constantly expanding education not hampered by fear or guilt ridden superstition. The following is a handy list of authors you may want to check out.
http://www.cobourgatheist.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=30&Itemid=44
More than any other author I highly recommend Bart D Ehrman, who is not listed there, a bible history scholar of world renown. He lost his own faith as he studied the physical bible through history and studied the actual manuscripts the modern day bible is based on. his work is earth shattering to ministers attempting to control a discourse. In fact, many have already been taught about the mistranslations, added stories, forged authors, etc but chose to hide this knowledge from average church goers. If they have formal education at all, that is. You will find that without the bible or equivalent holy text to their particular religion, religious promoters and apologists have nothing much to offer. Here is his page, all his work is excellent.
http://www.bartdehrman.com/
For science, particularly evolution, i most recommend reading Richard Dawkins. Though he addresses a wide range of issues from the perspective of an atheistic perspective i find his ability to clearly lay out the facts of science in a way both uniform and understandable to non-scientists like myself. Dawkins has earned his reputation as a tireless advocate for reason and decency around the world and his multi platform material will peel back the layers of false assumptions impressed upon you. There is a reason he is so widely reviled in religious circles and those are the only good reasons to be reviled. Courageous honesty, and humane integrity. A good starter would be his "The God Delusion." Here's his site.
http://richarddawkins.net/
For social philosophy I highly recommend the late Christopher Hitchens. Again, this author and speaker covered a great many issues in his work but unlike the other recommendations I have made Hitchens forged his reputation and developed his ideas on life not just in the classrooms of his extremely good education but most notably in the field of real life. A few highlights include meeting Fidel Castro during the Cuban revolution while still a student, losing his mother in a horrible suicide after she joined a cult, and running for safety in live urban battle zones, giving a frightened woman his flak jacket as they ran. This is the guy who lived the life that would make most intellectuals shit their pants. Yet, an intellectual he was. "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" is amazing and "Hitch 22" is his impressive autobiography. This is an unofficial site for his works.
http://www.dailyhitchens.com/
Finally I'll give Sam Harris. He's the brain man (neurology ;) but his intensive and often overwhelming reason have made him one of my favourite atheist Authors and speakers. You will need to read his work more than once to grasp the fullness of his extensive exploration of the topics he addresses. No one covers the human psychology of religion as well, though some of his social views have been found controversial. I plead with you to read "The Moral Landscape" and check out his site.
www.samharris.org
There. A few good bullets for that intellectual gunfight. Remember these are just a few of my own favourites.
I'll give more next time!
The inevitable tactic of virtually all religious folk who are active and read in their faith will be to turn discussions from the topic at hand to your own lack of faith. I know that ministers actually teach their congregations to practise this sort of strategy in order to convert unbelievers and authors who promote it certainly know what they are doing. Most church goers will not be able to reason out their faith coherently when tested by an informed mind and this tactic is chiefly designed to shield the average religious layperson from the appropriate level of doubt they should be experiencing. The important thing is to bring the discussion back around and let them know you are interested in exploring the issue rather than getting too far off topic.
More important is the sense of well being you deserve to experience with a well rounded and constantly expanding education not hampered by fear or guilt ridden superstition. The following is a handy list of authors you may want to check out.
http://www.cobourgatheist.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=30&Itemid=44
More than any other author I highly recommend Bart D Ehrman, who is not listed there, a bible history scholar of world renown. He lost his own faith as he studied the physical bible through history and studied the actual manuscripts the modern day bible is based on. his work is earth shattering to ministers attempting to control a discourse. In fact, many have already been taught about the mistranslations, added stories, forged authors, etc but chose to hide this knowledge from average church goers. If they have formal education at all, that is. You will find that without the bible or equivalent holy text to their particular religion, religious promoters and apologists have nothing much to offer. Here is his page, all his work is excellent.
http://www.bartdehrman.com/
For science, particularly evolution, i most recommend reading Richard Dawkins. Though he addresses a wide range of issues from the perspective of an atheistic perspective i find his ability to clearly lay out the facts of science in a way both uniform and understandable to non-scientists like myself. Dawkins has earned his reputation as a tireless advocate for reason and decency around the world and his multi platform material will peel back the layers of false assumptions impressed upon you. There is a reason he is so widely reviled in religious circles and those are the only good reasons to be reviled. Courageous honesty, and humane integrity. A good starter would be his "The God Delusion." Here's his site.
http://richarddawkins.net/
For social philosophy I highly recommend the late Christopher Hitchens. Again, this author and speaker covered a great many issues in his work but unlike the other recommendations I have made Hitchens forged his reputation and developed his ideas on life not just in the classrooms of his extremely good education but most notably in the field of real life. A few highlights include meeting Fidel Castro during the Cuban revolution while still a student, losing his mother in a horrible suicide after she joined a cult, and running for safety in live urban battle zones, giving a frightened woman his flak jacket as they ran. This is the guy who lived the life that would make most intellectuals shit their pants. Yet, an intellectual he was. "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything" is amazing and "Hitch 22" is his impressive autobiography. This is an unofficial site for his works.
http://www.dailyhitchens.com/
Finally I'll give Sam Harris. He's the brain man (neurology ;) but his intensive and often overwhelming reason have made him one of my favourite atheist Authors and speakers. You will need to read his work more than once to grasp the fullness of his extensive exploration of the topics he addresses. No one covers the human psychology of religion as well, though some of his social views have been found controversial. I plead with you to read "The Moral Landscape" and check out his site.
www.samharris.org
There. A few good bullets for that intellectual gunfight. Remember these are just a few of my own favourites.
I'll give more next time!
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