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Rational Atheist Book Club

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This is a profile for the Rational Atheist Book Club. This is a book club for friends of rationalatheist.com. We will be diving into many interesting books, some of which will include The God Delusion, God: The Failed Hypothesis, Letter to a Christian Nation, The End of Faith, Breaking the Spell, The Science of Good and Evil, The Demon-Haunted World and more. It doesn't matter if you've already read the books we will be reading/discussing. It's always good to stay up-to-date on the issues they raise and get the input of others.
We will be addressing a book for a specific length of time - posting comments WHILE we read the book, however, the topics will be left open indefintely so individuals can always post comments on a book that we have already read. Please help spread the word by adding the Rational Atheist Book Club Profile as a friend. Thanks!
APRIL 1 – JULY 1
THREE BOOKS TO COVER

Plato and Platypus Walk Into A Bar
Here’s a lively, hilarious, not-so-reverent crash course through the great philosophical traditions, schools, concepts, and thinkers. It’s Philosophy 101 for everyone who knows not to take all this heavy stuff too seriously. Some of the Big Ideas are Existentialism (what do Hegel and Bette Midler have in common?), Philosophy of Language (how to express what it’s like being stranded on a desert island with Halle Berry), Feminist Philosophy (why, in the end, a man is always a man), and much more. Finally —it all makes sense!“I laughed, I learned, I loved it!” Roy Blount Jr.
Parenting Beyond Belief
Foreword by Michael Shermer, Ph.D.Contributors include Richard Dawkins, Penn Jillette, Julia Sweeney, and Dr. Donald B. ArdellIt’s hard enough to live a secular life in a religious world. And bringing up children without religious influence can be even more daunting. Despite the difficulties, a large and growing number of parents are choosing to raise their kids without religion.In Parenting Beyond Belief, Dale McGowan celebrates the freedom that comes with raising kids without formal indoctrination and advises parents on the most effective way to raise freethinking children. With advice from educators, doctors, psychologists, and philosophers as well as wisdom from everyday parents, the book offers tips and insights on a variety of topics, from "mixed marriages" to coping with death and loss, and from morality and ethics to dealing with holidays. Sensitive and timely, Parenting Beyond Belief features reflections from such freethinkers as Mark Twain, Richard Dawkins, Bertrand Russell, and wellness guru Dr. Don Ardell that will empower every parent to raise both caring and independent children without constraints.
Why I Am Not A Christian
Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself -- questions about man’s place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous. These qualities make the essays included in this book perhaps the most graceful and moving presentation of the freethinker’s position since the days of Hume and Voltaire."I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue," Russell declares in his Preface, and his reasoned opposition to any system or dogma which he feels may shackle man’s mind runs through all the essays in this book, whether they were written as early as 1899 or as late as 1954.The book has been edited, with Lord Russell’s full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial "Bertrand Russell Case" of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared "unfit" to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York.Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russell’s views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read.
WHAT’S COMING UP JULY 1 – SEP 1
Infidel By Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Blasphemy By Douglas Preston
Coincidences, Chaos, and All That Math Jazz: Making Light of Weighty Ideas By Edward B. Burger, Michael Starbird
Past Books
God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist, By Victor J StengerMeet the Author Preface Chapter One: Models and Methods Chapter Two: The Illusion of Design Chapter Three: Searching for a World Beyond Matter Chapter Four: Cosmic Evidence Chapter Five: The Uncongenial Universe Chapter Six: The Failures of Revelation Chapter Seven: Do Our Values Come From God? Chapter Eight: The Argument from Evil Chapter Nine and Ten: Possible and Impossible Gods & Living in the Godless UniverseDarwinism and Its Discontents by Michael RuseDarwinism and Its Discontents Meet the Author Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter One Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Two Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Three Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Four Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Five Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Six Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Seven Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Eight Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Nine Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Ten Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter Eleven Darwinism and Its Discontents Chapter TwelveThe Science of Good and Evil by Michael ShermerMeet Michael Shermer, author of The Science of Good and Evil The Science of Good and Evil Part One The Science of Good and Evil Part Two
LIFE! Why We Exist... And What We Must Do To Survive by Martin G. WalkerMeet the Author Discussion on the Book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything By Christopher HitchensDiscussion on the Book The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God by Carl SaganDiscussion on the Book
Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. DennettDiscussion on the Book The Top 10 Myths About Evolution by Cameron M. Smith and Charles SullivanMeet the Authors Discussion on the Book What We Believe but Cannot Prove: Today’s Leading Thinkers on Science in the Age of Certainty By John BrockmanDiscussion on the Book
The Golden Compass By Phillip PullmanDiscussion on the Book

Scientific Atheist


100%

Militant Atheist


75%

Spiritual Atheist


58%

Apathetic Atheist


50%

Angry Atheist


42%

Agnostic


33%

Theist


25%
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Blasphemy

We will be covering Blasphemy starting in July, but I received confirmation today that the author of the book, Douglas Preston, will be stopping by our book club from July 20-26 to answer any question...
Posted by Rational Atheist Book Club on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:15:00 PST

Plato and Platypus Walk Into A Bar: Philosophical Funnies

THESE EXCERPTS TAKEN FROM Plato and Platypus Walk Into A Bar An optimist thinks that this is the best of all possible worlds. A pessimist fears that this is so.**********************************The op...
Posted by Rational Atheist Book Club on Fri, 18 Apr 2008 09:03:00 PST

Darwinism and Its Discontents

Click on the links below to join in on the discussion!May 7th  June 16thDarwinism and its Discontents By Michael RuseDarwinism and Its Discontents Meet the AuthorDarwinism and Its Discontents Chapter...
Posted by Rational Atheist Book Club on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 07:57:00 PST

God: The Failed Hypothesis

Discussions for God: The Failed Hypothesis God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist, By Victor J StengerMeet the AuthorPrefaceChapter One: Models and MethodsChapter Two: ...
Posted by Rational Atheist Book Club on Wed, 16 May 2007 12:19:00 PST