"Atheism is often considered to be a negative, dark, and pessimistic belief which is characterized by a rejection of values and purpose and a fierce opposition to religion. Atheism: A Very Short Introduction sets out to dispel the myths that surround atheism and show how a life without religious belief can be positive, meaningful, and moral. It also confronts the failure of officially atheist states in the twentieth century. The book presents an intellectual case for atheism that rests as much upon positive arguments for its truth as on negative arguments against religion."
"All my life I've been surrounded by people who believe in God, or say they do. They insist that one must believe in order to be moral, but they themselves are so immoral. They insist that religion is a moral guide, when many of the things that religions advocate are unjust and cruel, or just plain false.
I was seven years old when I realized that I did not believe in God, or that at the very least, something was not right about the whole thing. It wasn't that the stories in the Bible contradicted science. I was perfectly willing to believe in a talking snake. Some of the things God said and did made no sense, and some of the things God did were just plain mean. Either God wasn't all powerful, or God was not good. Or, God wasn't there. I ultimately decided the latter was true. It was morality that made me atheist.
My purpose is not to debate the existence of God. You either believe or you don't. This book is about values.
There are those, such as the former Attorney General of the United States, William Barr, who assert that not only is morality impossible without God, but that belief is required to be a citizen of a democracy! Their project is to use the law to force their religion upon the growing number of those of us who want no part it.
There are impossible things, but atheist morality is not one of them. Every moral decision ever made, by any person in all of time, was made in the absence of God.
This is my testimony."
"The father of the intelligent design movement, Phillip E. Johnson, thinks the new atheists are right! How? They’ve put serious discussion about God back on the public agenda.
Despite their conclusions, folks like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett are asking the right questions. They’re making belief in any religion an issue again, especially in the university context where, for decades, questions about faith and reason have been taken off the table for serious discussion. Open debate is exactly what we need on the topics of God, evolution, and creation.
Together Johnson and John Mark Reynolds help us see the unique opportunity these vociferous and even evangelistic atheists are creating in their attempt to convert us to their unbelief. The authors show that we need not fear or react against these challenges. Rather they point to better ways to engage the opinions of this new, aggressive form of anti-religious activity. With skill and insight they energetically take on the question of whether the evidence leads to a materialistic naturalism or points toward a creator God.
Be informed. Be encouraged. Join the discussion."
"About the Holy Bible
A Lecture
By Robert G. Ingersoll
Narrated by Denis Daly
This aggressive diatribe against the Bible was published in 1894 and is based on an assertion that formed the basis of many of Ingersoll's attacks on organized religion -the concept of divine inspiration and the evils that spring from this contention.
On the title page the author states:
'In the nature of things there can be no evidence to establish the claim of Inspiration.'
Production copyright 2020 Voices of Today"
"From bestselling author and provocateur Christopher Hitchens, the classic guide to the art of principled dissent and disagreement
In Letters to a Young Contrarian, bestselling author and world-class provocateur Christopher Hitchens inspires the radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, and angry young (wo)men of tomorrow. Exploring the entire range of "contrary positions"-from noble dissident to gratuitous nag-Hitchens introduces the next generation to the minds and the misfits who influenced him, invoking such mentors as Emile Zola, Rosa Parks, and George Orwell. As is his trademark, Hitchens pointedly pitches himself in contrast to stagnant attitudes across the ideological spectrum. No other writer has matched Hitchens's understanding of the importance of disagreement-to personal integrity, to informed discussion, to true progress, to democracy itself."
"A leading minister offers an inspiring guide to living a meaningful life by embracing the power of gratitude.
"Galen Guengerich's wise and tender words about belonging, connection, and gratitudeare like keys to unlock our hearts, give us courage, and call us into the kind ofrelationships and community we are all longing for."-Elizabeth Lesser, bestselling author of Broken Open
Galen Guengerich, the charismatic, brilliant leader of one of the nation's most prominent Unitarian Universalist congregations, All Souls in New York City, shares with readers his wisdom on how to lead a purposeful and joyful life through the practice of gratitude. When Guengerich was in his midtwenties, he left the Conservative Mennonite Church, the faith of his upbringing. The prospect of venturing out on his own was daunting, but he needed to find the way of life that was right for him.
For Guengerich, transcendence is not limited to experiences of the divine; it can also be reached through gratitude's ability to take us beyond ourselves and create connection to others and the universe. Through his personal story, poems that resonate with his spiritual message, and guided spiritual practice, including "gratitude goals," this book helps readers discover how the way of gratitude can make them happier and healthier, and provide a new sense of belonging, not only to the universe as a whole but also to themselves."
"Why have Western societies that were once overwhelmingly Christian become so secular? Looking to the feelings and faith of ordinary people, the award-winning author of Protestants Alec Ryrie offers a bold new history of atheism.
We think we know the history of faith: how the ratio of Christian believers has declined and a secular age dawned. In this startlingly original history, Alex Ryrie puts faith in the dock to explore how religious belief didn’t just fade away. Rather, atheism bloomed as a belief system in its own right.
Unbelievers looks back to the middle ages when it seemed impossible not to subscribe to Christianity, through the crisis of the Reformation and to the powerful, challenging cultural currents of the centuries since. As this history shows, the religious journey of the Western world was lived and steered not just by published philosophy and the celebrated thinkers of the day – the Machiavellis and Michel de Montaignes – but by men and women at every level of society. Their voices and feelings permeate this book in the form of diaries, letters and court records.
Tracing the roots of atheism, Ryrie shows that our emotional responses to the times can lead faith to wax and wane: anger at a corrupt priest or anxiety in a turbulent moment spark religious doubt as powerfully as any intellectual revolution. With Christianity under contest and ethical redefinitions becoming more and more significant, Unbelievers shows that to understand how something as intuitive as belief is shaped over time, we must look to an emotional history – one with potent lessons for our still angry and anxious age."
"Brought to you by Penguin.
Should we believe in God? In this new book, written for a new generation, the brilliant science writer and author of The God Delusion, explains why we shouldn’t.
Should we believe in God? Do we need God in order to explain the existence of the universe? Do we need God in order to be good? In twelve chapters that address some of the most profound questions human beings confront, Dawkins marshals science, philosophy and comparative religion to interrogate the hypocrisies of all the religious systems and explain to readers of all ages how life emerged without a Creator, how evolution works and how our world came into being.
For anyone hoping to grapple with the meaning of life and what to believe, Outgrowing God is a challenging, thrilling and revelatory read.
Includes a supplementary PDF."
"Ричард Докинз — выдающийся британский ученый-этолог и популяризатор науки, лауреат многих литературных и научных премий. Каждая новая книга Докинза становится бестселлером и вызывает бурные дискуссии. Его работы сыграли огромную роль в возрождении интереса к научным книгам, адресованным широкой читательской аудитории. Однако Докинз — не только автор теории мемов и страстный сторонник дарвиновской теории эволюции, но и не менее страстный атеист и материалист. В книге 'Бог как иллюзия' он проявляет талант блестящего полемиста, обращаясь к острейшим и актуальнейшим проблемам современного мира. После выхода этой работы, сегодня уже переведенной на многие языки, Докинз был признан автором года по версии Reader's Digest и обрел целую армию восторженных поклонников и непримиримых противников. Споры не затихают. 'Эту книгу обязан прочитать каждый', — считает британский журнал The Economist."
"Have you ever wondered what’s “new” about New Atheism?
Coined in 2006, the term New Atheism has been used to describe the shared sentiments of prominent 21st-century atheists - perhaps most notably the “Four Horsemen” and talk-show host Bill Maher. In popular perception, the term has also garnered a negative connotation - implying hostility towards religion at large.
Now, in this series of 14 one-on-one interviews, you have the rare opportunity to listen in on conversations with some of the leading actors in New Atheism, including Anthony A. C. Grayling of New College of the Humanities (London) and “Horseman” Daniel Clement Dennett III of Tufts University.
Over the course of the interviews, you’ll evaluate some of the most fundamental questions posed by non-believers: Is religion irrational? Does religion have a propensity to lead to violence? Has science superseded the need for God? In other words, have advances in science simply made belief in God unnecessary by accounting for things that mystified our more primitive ancestors?
On the whole, the interviews are light-hearted and jocular. Your host, Dr. Robert Lawrence Kuhn, is practiced in the art of playing devil’s advocate and fostering discussion.
By the end of the series, you will gain insight into all of the usual arguments for and against the existence of God. Discover for yourself how New Atheism has fueled a healthy cultural conversation around belief and non-belief.
This course is part of the Learn25 Collection."
"What drives us to be good? How do we even know how to be good? Philosophers and theologians have dealt with such questions for millennia, but Dan Barker thinks the answers are not so complicated. In Mere Morality, he argues there's no need to appeal to supernatural commandments or the fear of some higher power when considering morality. Stripping “good' and 'evil” down to the basics, he offers a simple compass for navigating life's most difficult moral and ethical dilemmas.
'Former pastor Dan Barker's eloquent and subtle antidote to Mere Christianity shows us by example how a very good person can get along fine without religion, inspiring others, accomplishing great works, and having a lot of fun in the bargain.” —Daniel C. Dennett, University Professor and Austin B. Fletcher Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University
'Dan Barker’s Mere Morality is a potent riposte to C. S. Lewis’ Mere Christianity, a book much beloved by Christian apologists. Barker exposes the myriad of biblical practices that could be deemed immoral today, especially because so much of the Bible was written within a master-slave view of the world. Mere Morality offers a real-world view of morality grounded in behavioral biology, reason, and law.' —Hector Avalos, author of Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence"
"What if Christianity was never about God? When you’re driving along at 85 mph and see a sign that says your speed is being monitored by drone, you’ll probably slow down, even if you don’t see a drone. The reason you’ll slow down is to avoid punishment (a speeding ticket). What if the reason a person told you that God, like that drone, is up in the sky watching your every move, was actually to get you to do some things that he wanted you to do, even though he told you it’s what God wanted you to do? How powerful might that person’s influence over you be, if he told you that you’ll suffer for all eternity if you don’t do those things? Perhaps that person even gave you a book (the Bible) and told you that it documents the things God wants you to do. But, why do those things, which God supposedly wants you to do, change, in the second half of that book? Do you believe another person when he doesn’t stick to his story, or do you think he’s lying to you? Why don’t you think God is lying to you when He changes His story? Are you sure God won’t change His story again and write a new chapter for the book - perhaps a Third Testament, which tells you to do entirely different things? Are you even sure it was God who wrote the story? Perhaps it was just people who wrote it, without any help or inspiration from a god. These are the types of questions explored in Status Quon’t. Rather than provide answers to them, Katilyn Pulcher asks her readers to think for themselves and help establish a widespread, ever-evolving state of critical thought and personalized belief systems (a 'Status Quon't'). She does not ask her readers to abandon their beliefs in God. Though she does not believe in the Christian god, she does believe there could be a god or a higher power of some kind somewhere, or maybe even everywhere and within all of us. What do you think?"
![[Russian] - Бог как иллюзия Audiobook](https://covers.audiobooks.com/images/covers/large/9785389141605.jpg)
