Book Suggestions & Discussion

[bsabel]

We're trying a new forum here.  clunney started a string in the Discussion forum regarding books that interest secularists and it was such a good idea I thought it deserved it's own forum!  Nice work, Chuck!
If I see enough discussion of a title or if something really jumps out at me I'll start it on its own forum.  For example, Jaime reviewed Freethinkers for IS so I gave it a separate heading.  I hope you can suggest or discuss a book that might help other secularists and maybe learn about a new one yourself.
-B

[clunney]

Well, seeing as Brian hasn't posted any books he'd recommend on this list (although I guess the Freethinkers in America book on the homepage could count), I'll get this started.  

One of the biggest problems for secularists, brights and rational thinkers is providing cogent arguments and reasons for our lack of belief in deity and superstition.  Because of that, I'm going to recommend two books that provide good explanations of how humans think, process data and rationalize.  They show how irrational thought and superstition take hold, and provide ways of understanding and "correcting" it.

The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer

I'm curious to find out if others here have read these books, and what their thoughts are about the ideas presented by the authors are.
 

[bsabel]

Well, Chuck, you called me on it!  I have been MIA for a while and I apologize for that.  I've gotten a few projects behind me which will allow for some more activity from me.

Now then, some books:

As Chuck alluded, I offer Freethinkers by Susan Jacoby as a worthy read.  I got a lot of great history from it.  Really worth my money and my time.

Another one of my top recommendations is A Devil's Chaplain by Richard Dawkins.  Many secularists know Dawkins' great contributions to secularist thought and advocacy.  Great read.

The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner is also a good one.  This book has nothing to do with secularism, though.  It is actually about evolution but the implications are obvious.  Written for the layperson, it gives great arguments to support the science of natural selection.

I am currently reading No Sense of Obligation by Matt Young.  It is not the most well-written book I've ever read but it has a lot of well-articulated thoughts in it.  I'll report more when I've finished it.

My wife read A History of God by Karen Armstrong and put that on my list of required reading!  I understand that the content can be rather dense but is an interesting history of the development of the three major monotheistic religions.

Chuck your books are also on my list.  Sagen was a great mind and his ideas are always worth a read; and Shermer has always been a valuable advocate for scientific scepticism.

It's not a book, but I have a subscription to Free Inquiry from the Council for Secular Humanism and I love it.  Granted, there is some stuff that I think is way out there in just about every issue but for the most part there are some great articles.  Also, Scientific American is always a good read.  Michael Shermer has a column in it titled "The Skeptic" (imagine that!) which is always the highlight for me.

On the fiction front I like The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.  Not a secularist book by design but it levels some serious attacks on religion.  Also, not a specifically secularist book but Childhood's End by Arthur C. Clarke is good.  It has some interesting observations about the suppositions of religious people.

Sorry I got a bit long winded on this one.  Thanks for staying with me.  As I read more I will leave more ideas.  Please let me know if you have comments on any of these and if you have titles to share.

-B

[RSchebel]

The Beak of the Finch by Jonathan Weiner is also a good one.  This book has nothing to do with secularism, though.  It is actually about evolution but the implications are obvious.  Written for the layperson, it gives great arguments to support the science of natural selection.
 

I teach English at Valley High School in West Des Moines.  I sit on a committee that allocates funding to teachers with innovate ideas that need funding outside of the normal budget.  Just yesterday I'm proud to say we allocated funds for The Beak of the Finch in one of our biology classrooms.  Despite all the ridiculous garbage we hear virtually weekly about "warning labels" and "Intelligent Design" theory being forced on school districts, evolution teaching is alive and well.   B)

I think the National Center for Science Education's Evolution vs. Creationism is a very handy and up-to-date book as well.  I also love Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker.

Rob

[jsabel]

Hooray!  I'm so happy to hear that at least one Iowa school is doing the opposite of stickers!

[bsabel]

What a credit to Valley.  That book will be a great tool for the students who read it.  It delivers a subject that many people find to be very drab in vibrant and engaging language.  As a non-scientist I can honestly say that I understand evolution and natural selection more completely as a result of that book than all my other education on the subject combined.  Bravo!