50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists |  | Creators: Russell Blackford, Udo Schuklenk
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
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Media: Paperback
Pages: 360
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Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 1405190469
Dewey Decimal Number: 211
EAN: 9781405190466
ASIN: 1405190469
Publication Date: October 26, 2009 (New: Last 30 Days)
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Product Description
50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a collection of original essays drawn from an international group of prominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who offer carefully considered statements of why they are atheists. - Features a truly international cast of contributors, ranging from public intellectuals such as Peter Singer, Susan Blackmore, and A.C. Grayling, novelists, such as Joe Haldeman, and heavyweight philosophers of religion, including Graham Oppy and Michael Tooley
- Contributions range from rigorous philosophical arguments to highly personal, even whimsical, accounts of how each of these notable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives
- Likely to have broad appeal given the current public fascination with religious issues and the reception of such books as The God Delusion and The End of Faith
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| Customer Reviews:
50 Voices of Disbelief November 17, 2009
Gary R. Bosworth (Malibu, CA USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Quick delivery. Quality binding. Very thought-provoking. A good assemblage of intelligent writings by honest individuals. Makes more sense than most religious doctrines. Good to keep with you in troubled times. Well worth the price. Very happy customer.
Thank God For Atheists, Thank Atheists For God October 31, 2009
F. Ramos (Ontario, CA USA)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I must say, truly, this book really is a gift from God! Pardon the irony, but I truly enjoyed reading the whole book with the testimony of 50 not-so-popular Atheists that are not really as mainstream as say Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennet, and even Dan Barker and the rest of the popular Atheistic gang. They are a breath of fresh air in many ways due to their honest-to-God (pardon the pun) testimonies on how many left their faiths (faith meaning "trust" from it's Latin root "fides") and converted to Atheism or Agnosticism to acquire many newer faiths they never previously had or didn't include or combine with their previous faiths in deities. One account even tries to argue for "Humanism" as "religion" believe it or not. This still should not be so surprising since Atheistic religions have been quite popular among many cultures around the world and Humanism as an alternative "religion" is becoming a reality with Greg Epstein at Harvard University, who sits on the executive committee of the 38-member interfaith corps of Harvard Chaplains, and other Atheist (Humanist) Chaplains emerging in campuses and pushing for military legislation that allows for Atheists in the armed services to consult and deal with Atheist Chaplains in the same ways that pastors and priests comfort Christians. Greg Epstein writes on the issues faced by humanists on the "On Faith" section of the Washington Post and has been interviewed by NPR on Atheistic naturalistic celebrations during the holidays in the report called "Removing Religion from Holidays a Tall Order".
On a related note, the possible roots for the word "religion" are the Latin: "religio" (committed or obliged in promise or oath) was used by Julius Cesar twice, for example, in his works and in each case the word is used towards humans, not deities at all. The other option is "re" (again) + "ligare" (to fasten onto, to tie on to, to bond with) used by Augustine for example. In neither case do the words, from which the word "religion" is formed, have anything to do with deities since deities are NOT part of their definitions at all. Our cultural experiences and norms sometimes give us the wrong impression that "religion" MUST include deities when in reality the term "religion" has nothing to do with deities by definition. Just because many "religion" with deities does not mean that the word "religion" MUST include deities, in the same way that just because the word "discrimination" is usually used to imply or include hatred or prejudice, it does not mean at all that the word "discrimination" MUST include hatred or prejudice. If that was the case then, why do some of my Calculus and Chemistry exam questions read "Discriminate accordingly to develop an approach to solve for....". I don't think Engineers, Mathematicians, or Chemists have a hatred or prejudice of numerical approaches for numerical solutions.
There is more to words and their history than people realize.
In this rare batch of Atheistic testimonials, you will find insights from Atheists who are very reasonable to "religion" and even to the "religious", with some horrible diatribes against "religion" too. This book can be taken as a sociological study of Atheism and see manifestations of Atheism in these people's lives. As can be expected of anyone who is human, some of the multiple perspectives among fellow Atheists will be complimentary and contradictory, subjective and objective, rational and irrational, wise and foolish, great and small, philosophical and "scientific", insightful and obsolete, long and short, true and false, tolerant and intolerant, caring and indifferent, loving and hating, liberating and burdening, even discriminating and accepting on a few too. What can we say? They are human too of course.
This book shows the diversity in Naturalistic Atheism and Atheistic thought as is the same for diversity among other belief systems due to culture, experience, and education. These 50 people are mostly from American or European cultures, but there are a few who shed light and give experiences from their Nigerian culture (Peter Adegoke), their Indian culture (Sumitra Padmanabhan), and their Iranian culture (Maryam Namazie), and even their Australian culture and upbringing (Emma Tomm). The international non-Western testimonies should be enough to get anyone to buy this book since Atheisms in other cultures vary in approach and intensity. For example, American Atheists are more prone to be impulsive or annoyed with their cultures due to pressures from their cultures, while European Atheists and Asian Atheists seem to be more indifferent or accepting due to their cultural indifferences or integration and combination to deities as simply spirits, respectively. Asian beliefs are very diverse and not so unified, or concentrated I should say, so more room exists, or so it seems, to choose what one desires to believe. In one of the references below (Society without God) you will see that in some of the most Atheistic European countries, "religion" is much more appreciated than here in the United States since many, though not believers in deities per se, still give lots of income to the churches they no longer believe in. Also, it is interesting how lack of belief in deities does not equate to lack of beliefs in ghosts or other entities that are supernatural. Then again, "More-than-Nature" Atheisms like Buddhism or even many types of animisms are popular in Asian, aboriginal, and native international cultures.
It is also astonishing (I say "astonishing" because generally fellow Atheists assume that if you are an Atheist, you have thought out your Atheism and have researched multiple options well, which is of course false when it comes to everyday experience since the common Atheist is just a common man, not necessarily a well researched man or woman of reason who is educated in multiple fields) that in European countries where lack of belief in deities is found a good chunk seem to not have really thought out in a rational and critical fashion why they do not believe in a deity. They take cultural Atheism for granted just as Christians take Christianity in the United States for granted too - without much inquiry and general acceptance as cultural norm. What another reviewer has claimed from one of the essays by Adele Mercier that "most people who claim to have religious beliefs have scarcely ever analyzed the contents of their belief, and indeed are reluctant to do so, even when prompted" fits atheism well too. The difference is in the religion of choice here, namely the religions of Atheism. Cultural Atheisms spoil their people too in that very little critical thought is given to personal Atheisms because it is the norm in that culture (Society without God). We should balance our thinking here to give justice to the human experience. Most Asians do not consider much of their atheistic Buddhism before believing it; neither do atheistic ancestor worshipers define why they give reverence to dead ancestors (ancestors are not deities by the way, thus these fit under atheistic beliefs if no deities are believed to exist by the worshiper); neither do Taoists consider much of the Taoist views before believing them. I am sure some of you have met fellow Atheists who don't even have a good understanding of the word "Atheism" and yet call themselves Atheists and misrepresent the whole system. Tander Edis in "50 Voices of Disbelief" slightly addresses this in that in secular cultures, secularism will be taken for granted as the truth for people in that culture. In that sense Atheistic societies and Theistic societies are not so different at all. It's the same phenomenon.
It should be remembered that the word Atheism just means "lack of belief in a god" from it's 3 Greek roots "a-" (lack of) + "theos" (god) + "-isma" (belief in), after that anything can be believed in no matter how realistic or absurd it sounds. Atheism has quite a few denominations and can be divided into "Supernatural Atheisms" (with spirits or ancestors, but no deities), "More-Than-Nature Atheisms" (animisms), "Naturalistic Atheisms" (nature is all there is), or combinations of these Atheisms. This book has nothing but Naturalist Atheists, but this should not impede further research into other forms of Atheism from different cultures such as Taoism, Confucianism, or even the Church of Satan, for example, since we should investigate the diversity of Atheism just as some investigate the diversity in Theism.
Of course, with many "Western" Atheists , "naturalism" is a common view, but it should be understood that international and even "Western" Atheists have different parameters for what makes for "natural". For example, the concept of "Ki" or "ch'i" is viewed by many Chinese Atheists to be a real part of nature while some "Western" Atheists do not believe in "Ki" to be a part of nature at all. It should be noted that, "Naturalism" can be divided into a few different sub categories such as "physical" and "metaphysical" naturalism. Theists subscribe to both, however, the "metaphysical" naturalism they hold is not a complete "metaphysical naturalism" since there is room for some "metaphysical supernaturalism" as well.
Just because someone is an Atheist, does not mean in any way, shape, or form that they deny things that are "more-than-nature". Some do, but others don't. For example, Existence of ghosts or spirits or omens are not necessarily denied by Asian Atheists or Latin American Atheists. It should be remembered that Atheism only requires lack of belief in deities only. That's it. After that anything can be added or subtracted from an Atheist's own belief system - no matter how realistic or absurd it may sound to others. Even rituals such as weddings, funerals, and baby dedications are not exclusive to Muslims or Hindus. Fellow Atheists do these too (Funerals Without God: A Practical Guide to Non-Religious Funerals and A Humanist Wedding Service). Some, of course, don't participate in some of these formal rituals in the same way that some Christians and Buddhists never participate in weddings in a church or temple. Humans show excellent mix of beliefs in their respective environments and their cultures give them options to choose what they consider worth believing in or denying.
It is interesting also to note that most "religions" all around the the world (theistic/atheistic) from multiple cultures do not have priests, "churches", confirmations, or even creeds as part of their belief systems at all since "Institutionalization" of belief systems does not usually occur in most cultures. We should not base our views of what makes for "religion" on what we see in western "religions" only. Many components in western "religions" simply do not exist or are not even perceived in a similar fashion at all in many cultures. Is it so surprising that some cultures do not even have a word for "God" in their languages? Missionaries have had to deal with ridiculous gaps of concepts in the past when dealing with many cultures that have no equivalent concepts to Christian concepts like sin or divine forgiveness. For example, the Aztecs, and well Mesoamericans, had difficulties when Spanish priests tried to introduce the concept of sin into their culture. It was just weird for them, in general.
A bit of in depth research on other cultures and reading some primary texts form their cultures should show this to be objectively true.
Back to "50 Voices of Disbelief":
Wait! There is more! You will see the view and testimony of a magician and his expertise in trickery and illusions (James Randi), the testimony of an ex-exorcist (Austin Dacey), and the testimony of an ex-parapsychologist who had an out-of-body experience herself (Susan Blackmore).
Of course you will also have your philosophers (Nicholas Everitt, Michael Tooley) and your decent mix of scientists too (Taner Edis, Victor Stenger), but you will also have the testimony and insights from the leader of the Skeptic Society (Michael Shermer) too! One set of authors (Michael Rose and John Phelan) also argue for the idea of God emerging as an evolutionary feature that we need to go above and beyond.
Throughout the book you will also find good approaches (Michael Tooley, Frieder Otto Wolf) to possibly raising Atheism to another level by making Atheism friendlier and more approachable for non-non-believers that seem to be sometimes at pointless odds on moot points with some Atheists.
The insights, by Taner Edis and his balanced views on how pure Secularists may take for granted secularism and cease to think critically on bigger issues due to their getting used to a secular environment (if they were raised in a secular environment or by worldly parents) and thus cease to be curious and entertain other possible approaches to reality, are noble and wise to consider.
Victor Stenger's view that the evidence we have on cosmology from Physics fits many models and thus many theories exist that can be appealed to ignore the "necessity of a first cause", is very interesting since there are no models that are unique in terms of a definite answer to how our universe emerged and thus quite a few options of your own choosing are available currently to answer cosmological questions of origin. In other words, the same evidences, currently, lead to multiple theories at the moment. He chooses one that does not need a cause.
Over all, these testimonies are personal accounts with lots of value for both Theists and Atheists to see how people convert to and from other belief systems or world views. Many of the issues brought up in the book are not new, but they are addressed in multiple angles from multiple Atheists that you won't see these accumulated arguments with such diversity in one book for a long time.
It should be noted, though, that arguments from Nature or even arguements from "Science" are not the biggest motivators or reasons for rejecting the existence of God overall, since the "Problem of Evil", other philosophical/ moral/social issues, and disappointment or tragedy, or sense of non-productivity are referenced the most throughout these stories and carry more weight for many of the contributors. And it is these last set of arguments that are the biggest motivators for their disbelief. These testimonies are not so sophisticated, but then again they are not all that simple either and a great level of depth emerges from such short accounts. It's quite humbling really.
Since this book is about conversions and testimonies, then I find it important to encourage further study of conversions and to even compare with other books that offer why others are of other worldviews. Since most of the testimonies focused either on the Judeo-Christian God or just the idea of a Creator, then I think the following books will be relevant for further research to compare and contrast and to learn about the process of conversion in terms of what is involved and what are some common trends that lead to changing one's views: Why I Am a Christian: Leading Thinkers Explain Why They Believe, Professors Who Believe: The Spiritual Journeys of Christian Faculty, Crisis of Doubt: Honest Faith in Nineteenth-Century England, Leaving the Fold: Apostates and Defectors in Antiquity, Society without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment (more interviews from common everyday citizen Atheists from Netherlands and Sweden and a few other countries, which are more wealthier and smaller in size and with less social issues than the US, are collected here too), Leaving The Fold: Testimonies Of Former Fundamentalists, Leaving Islam: Apostates Speak Out, and Finding Faith, Losing Faith: Stories of Conversion and Apostasy (this is a sociological study of the process of conversion between Atheism and Theism and also Specific Theism with other Specific Theisms with sample case studies such as John Loftus).
There are other books out there on other belief systems too, but I will leave this for the readers to figure out what to read if they want more resources on conversions to and from other world views. We might as well vary our research to get a better view of why people are Atheists and why some are not and vice versa.
Overall, this book deserves a wide audience.
Great Essays October 31, 2009
Carl R. Hancock
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Great book on how different walks of life came to the conclusion they could live well with out gods in their lives. Great writing on the reasons to live a rational and scientific way of life and how to reconcile with other people who don't share the same views. Great book for any one who likes to think for them selves.
Voices of Reason October 25, 2009
Hande Z (Singapore)
25 out of 28 found this review helpful
This is a very refreshing and stimulating book for three reasons. First, It was written by 50 authors - some philosophers, some physical scientists, some biologists, some science writers and some journalists. The diversity of the authors' background provide an exhilarating multiview of the subject, the non-existence of god. Secondly, the individual contributions were written in short, precise, and lucid styles. The reader will have his pick as to which would be his favourite pieces. I like Stephen Law's bold assertion that one can easily prove the non-existence of god; and he did so in fine surgical manner, cutting away the assertions of god's existence. Adele Mercier's critical analysis of the first and second orders of belief was fascinating, pointedly stating that 'most people who claim to have religious beliefs have scarcely ever analysed the contents of their belief, and indeed are reluctant to do so, even when prompted.' She explained that the belief in the existence of god is a first order belief; the belief that one's belief in god is a second order belief. She employed the two orders of belief to explain persuasively why theists always end up with non-answers when questioned about their god. Victor Stenger exposed the ignorance of science of some Christian apologists such as Michael Craig; and in the case of Craig, a stubborn persistance in repeating a false claim even when proven wrong (see pg.113) Some of the authors like Tamas Pataki injected a bit of their personal experience and early introduction to religion, explaining how their came to reject the belief in god. The third reason I found this book to be refreshing is that none of the 50 voices came from either Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, or Sam Harris. This is a very handy book for atheists, born-again atheists, and people wishing to learn more before they accept or reject the belief in god.
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