I have been considering reading a "new atheist" book.

[ZombieHorde]

Which one is your favorite and why?

[lob1]

1. Wouldn't know. I'm an old atheist myself.

[ZombieHorde]

2. I have read a lot of de Sade, who is an old atheist. nt

[FiveGoodMen]

3. Of the ones I've read so far, 'The God Delusion' is my favorite.

[ZombieHorde]

5. Which other ones have you read? Why did you like The God Delusion? Well written, funny, ...?

[FiveGoodMen]

9. Well organized, I thought

Full of appropriate questions that never seem to get asked.

Others I've read include Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation (also very good, and short), Dennet's Breaking the Spell (good but a little dry), Dawkins' The Blind Watchmaker (good, but you have to really concentrate to follow some of it).

There are probably others I'm not remembering right now.

My overall impressions were that 'Letter' says a lot in a short space and 'Delusion' covers the ground pretty well.

[ZombieHorde]

10. Thanks, I will look into those. nt

[ChadwickHenryWard]

16. "Blind Watchmaker" isn't specifically about god, it's about design.

Or rather the lack thereof. I'm just finishing up the tail end of it, and I've liked it much better than The God Delusion. There's more science. There is some theology, specifically Paley's "divine watchmaker." That argument is dispatched, of course, by the theory of natural selection.

[trotsky]

15. 'God Delusion' is the only one I've read entirely.

Probably because it was the best.

[LakeSamish706]

4. Curious, as an Agnostic, what do Atheists believe in? n/t

[ZombieHorde]

6. We often believe in the seperation of church and state, church and science, etc.

Side note-->

Being an agnostic and being an atheist are not exclusive. A person can be an agnostic atheist or an agnostic theist.

Theism and atheism is about belief while agnosticism is about knowledge. For example, I can not prove the Incredible Hulk is imaginary, but I do not believe the Incredible Hulk is real. This would make me an agnostic atheist towards the god, the Incredible Hulk.

[LakeSamish706]

7. Sounds logical, thanks for the response... n/t

[LakeSamish706]

8. "We often believe in the seperation of church and state, church and science, etc."

I totally beleive in the separation of both church and state and church and science....

[dmallind]

20. What do agnostics believe in?

Since agnosticism is a position on an epistemological issue, the question of what ontological position its adherents take is far more meaningful than asking atheists, which is in and of itself stating a position on an ontological issue - the position of "no I don't believe in gods". Atheists are completely free to believe or not believe in ESP, alien anal probes, a hollow earth, and compassionate conservatism. They are not, accurately defined, free to believe in any gods while remaining atheists.

All agnosticism says is that you reject mystically revealed certainty. You can still believe in gods or not believe in them, or anything else. You simply can't claim to be sure based on internal revelation.

I am 100% agnostic and 100% atheistic. The imaginary "conflict" between those positions is a modern canard. It's exactly equivalent to incredulously asking a football player what baseball team he is a fan of, as if that were some deft inescapable syllogism.

[Deep13]

24. In short: nothing based on insufficient evidence. nt

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. AN oldie but goodie.

Bertrand Russell Why I am Not a Christian.

[ZombieHorde]

12. Why do you like it? nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

13. I've heard good things about Victor Stenger's God: The Failed Hypothesis

Stenger is a physicist and philosopher, but just doesn't seem to have got the publicity than the other 'new atheist' authors have. Reviews say he isn't quite so combatative as others.

http://www.amazon.com/God-Failed-Hypothesis-Science-Shows/dp/1591024811

Summary of Arguments

But it's hard to find the book in shops here in the UK, or libraries, and I've never got round to ordering it online without seeing it.

He's also just produced a book called 'The New Atheism': http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/

[FiveGoodMen]

14. I read that one and liked it...

...but when I tried explaining Stenger's we-have-something-rather-than-nothing-because-nothing-is-inherently-unstable idea, it quickly became apparent that I wasn't going to be able to use any of it in conversation with anyone else probably ever.

[ZombieHorde]

17. Thanks for the links, I will check them out. nt

[laconicsax]

18. The Bible has been turning people from belief in the Abrahamic god for a while.

But in case you've already read it, The God Delusion is my favorite of the five 'new' atheist titles (the others being Breaking the Spell, God is not Great, End of Faith, and Letter to a Christian Nation).

The only ones of the five that I don't recommend are Hitchens' God is not Great and Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation. God is not Greatt has its moments, but as a whole it's not that great and Letter to a Christian Nation isn't really that captivating a read if you're not the target audience.

[pokerfan]

19. a short list

Christopher Hitchens: God Is Not Great

George Smith: Atheism (The Case Against God)

Sam Harris: Letter to a Christian Nation

Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion

Bertrand Russell: Why I am Not a Christian

Thomas Paine: The Age of Reason

[NotTheist]

21. What?

Go read reviews on amazon.com

There are literally thousands.

Google has a booksite too.....

Why would you only want to read 1 non-theist book?

Read them all or atleast 22 of them.

[edhopper]

22. "The God Delusion"

is very good at showing the illogic of religion and the concept of God most have.
"The Blind Watchmaker" also by Dawkins, is a wonderful, reasoned argument about why there is no need for the concept of God to explain the universe.

[Deep13]

23. Hitchens, God Is Not Great

Whatever you think of him generally, he is an excellent writer and he makes his point forcefully, poetically and without being dry. As much as I like him, Dawkins' explanation of meme theory made my eyes glaze over. He does, however, present a coherent explaination of how god in incompatible with evolution and modern cosmology. I like Harris too, but I find he really went off-mission in discussing the ethics of torture and the need for non-myth-based mysticism. Nevertheless, I can still recommend Harris and Dawkins without reservation.

The only thing new about New Atheism is an unwillingness to shut up or to give religion the social deference it has always insisted on. Otherwise, it is the same old nonbelief.