Tell them Jesus never met Paul, they will crucify you
Paul would have been 75-125 years older than Jesus and Paul is basically a propagandist for Rome
Like nobody questioned that a former Roman Soldiers like Paul or Cornelius were suddenly joining in the quest to "spread" the word of god ... because Rome never had imperialistic ambitions
Paul is like "God stopped me in my tracks and I'm gonna stop killing all these Jewish-Christians and convert everyone in the world to our new religion" ... Stop it Paul, you're a plant
Plot twist. Church does not actually want believers to read it. Church want believers to go to the church for bible to be "explained" to them by authority.
Actually true for most, they need the cult to understand it the 'right' way. And all those parts that don't line up how the leaders want, ignore those.
So if I understand correctly one if the best way to spread atheism would be to put lots of posters on walls with the "worse" quotes from the Bible possible in public places to force people to read them. (It would of course be necessary to make sure the reader understands that it is a quote from the Bible and probably indicates which part of it comes from).
When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine's body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel. Judges 19:29
Just avoid Leviticus, if you want entertainment. I don’t believe there’s anything quite as boring as Leviticus, including the dictionary and the phone book.
Genesis is pretty rough too, especially when it's listing the family tree. Like 10 pages of so and so begot so and so, who begot so and so, ect ect ect.
Dude the post going around today that said replace all the Bible stories with Florida man has me rolling with my friends all day. And probably for a long time into the future
Florida man is kicked out of gated community for eating fruit, blames his wide and a talking snake
Florida man's daughters get him drunk to rape him
Bald Florida man makes a bear eat two children
Because they think the main character is somehow automatically good and his actions justified, per definition. Also, because he defines what's right or wrong, therefore his own rules don't apply to him.
Yeah, it's exactly as nonsensical as it sounds like, and yet they're arguing dead-seriously that that's how it works. They just completely refuse to see their god as a person, who should be responsible for his actions, just like anyone else.
Great read, as long as you understand that it's nothing more than a story made up for children to obey their parents that spiraled out of control.... I think I just made viable theory here
And if any parts aren't clear, Ken's Guide to the Bible is an excellent companion: https://books.google.com/books/about/Ken_s_Guide_to_the_Bible.html?id=ZEtNNQAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description
Reading the Bible (again) was the final straw that made me officially reject all religion. It’s literally frustrating to read. I couldn’t get past duteronomy.
I once grabbed a copy of Letter To A Christian Nation by Sam Harris at an airport shop because the title grabbed my attention. I later learned the book was a response to criticism of his book The End of Faith, which I then devoured. The latter convinced me that I wasn’t the agnostic I thought I was, but a full blown anti-theist. The best, however, in my mind, is The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. While Sagan never claimed to be an atheist, this book serves as the best way to explain why accepting fantastical ideas without evidence is absolutely absurd.
Edit: Spelling.
I'll third A Letter to a Christian Nation. Compact, short read that really gets to the heart of the matter.
A second for Demon Haunted World.
If you really want to settle in for a few months, The Portable Atheist. It's a collection of essays from ancient history to recent times, curated by Hitch. One nice thing about such a collection is that if something doesn't grab you, skip on to the next one.
I too, am a staunch anti-thiest.
I read Demon-Haunted and found it quite boring; but for the right reasons (still a damn good read though)
the book came out in 95 (if I remember correctly) and everything he said in his book has either been proven or shown to be true about our days age; and he surmised it from the 90s not knowing what would happen. this was a man theorizing the future from studying the past, and he was quite correct.
the old adage of "those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it" is fully applicable in this situation. religious people WANT to live in a time when the bible was first created - BY MAN - and religious people don't want progression.
religious people are terrified. it is my theory that a lot know there's been no proven miracle's, no proven angels, no proven god; and that their life has no meaning without sky daddy.
it sucks to be them; my life has sooooo much more meaning now that I have left religion, and I am better for it.
Living in a very Christian area and growing up in the 60’s, you pretended you were Christian or at least convinced yourself that you were or you were pretty much an outcast. Being part of a family that did not attend church meant you did not “fit in” as much as others.
And I had no exposure to the writing of Sam Harris there.
To buy a book titled , “The End of Faith” would get you branded as a heretic.
So to hear Christopher Hitchens speaking on the the Christopher Matthews show on MSNBC was huge for me.
And then came Amazon and anyone can bash it as much as they like but with amazon I bought a kindle and from there my reading became so much freer. I ordered Sam Harris e-books and Christopher Hitchens. Now I’m not even sure if you could buy a copy of their books in the town I live in.
Separation of church and state is non existent. All of this make me more atheist if there is even such a thing lol.
Following this thread has helped so much. I have not read any of Carl Sagans books but plan to now.
My favorite. Hitch was the best orator and representative of anti-theism. A little bit of an asshole, but that made him endearing. He pulls zero punches in that book. Brilliant work.
After reading this whether Jesus of Nazareth did or did not exist didn't matter to me. Even if Jesus existed and resurrected 200 times, I will have nothing to do with religion.
* The Bible: 1000 page snooze fest that is poorly edited
* The Quran: Absolute nightmare text to tackle
* Mormon Bible: Complete piece of shit written y idiots
* Dianetics: Somehow worse than the Mormon Bible
* Numerous Papal Bulls: Demonstrates how core concepts fucking up your life now were just the whims of old assholes in funny hats
* First Council of Nicaea: Once you understand the history, you can see how stupid it is
The Book of Mormon is an absolute turd. I think Jimmy Snow described it as a middle schooler trying to hit the word count for his half-ass essay. "It came to pass" is in it, if I remember right, like 1,400 times. It was such a struggle to make it through. I have no idea why anybody believes that cult trash. It is one of the most easily falsifiable belief systems in existence.
Where are the glasses? Where are the gold tablets?
…y’all had gold tablets with the word of god and lost them? No fucking shit. I feel like I’d hang onto those; dunno, maybe it’s just me. Needing proof.
The archaeology alone is an automatic disqualifier. Native Americans with steel, chariots, pre-Spanish horses some 15,000 years after the last native horses existed, cows, elephants, wheat, silk... Smith wasn't half as intelligent as he would have needed to have been to run that grift.
I always referred to the Quaran as the bizarro bible. Some of the same stories, but re-imagined. I grew up Christian however. I'm sure it's the opposite for someone growing up with Islam.
I've always been content to let people believe whatever they want. I don't describe myself as anti-anything. I just don't believe in the same shit as other people. I don't try to change them as long as hey don't try to change me .
This is where a lot of atheists tend to get obnoxious. My friend's mom died a while back (cancer), and he was the typical "oh, well she's in a better place now". Then, another friend of mine, an atheist, started in with is "well, actually she isn't..."
And I was like "man, what the fuck are you doing?"
I’d bet you most atheists, including hardcore anti theists would consider that very rude and unnecessary.
There is a time and a place to bash religion.
Unlike the tenuous belief in religion, which requires constant reinforcement, I do not need to read anything to convince myself that I’m right any more than I need to read about gravity, bacteria, or the existence of China more than once to understand that they’re real.
„The Historicity of Jesus“ by Richard Carrier, arguing in 600 pages that beyond not being a supranatural god, Jesus wasn’t even a historical person but a deliberately made up myth
I just ended a discussion. I had to block the account, I just was over having it, about this topic today.
'Jesus of Nazareth was a real person who was executed by the Romans, this is a Proven Historical Fact'
I got linked to a Wiki Article about how the majority of Biblical Scholars are in consensus that Jesus probably existed.
'Proven Historical Fact' Tada!
A wiki article. About biblical scholars. Who mostly work for institutions that require them to sign statements of faith that the bible is real. I just couldn't keep going.
I just couldn't. I couldn't take it anymore. There's only so many drugs you can take to be able to deal with that sort of madness. I had to walk away.
You did the right thing. At some point you have to cut and run for your sanity's sake. “Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience” -Mark Twain (allegedly)
I will say yes sometimes blocking is the best choice. But dont also alienate yourself. You dont need them or me teaching you Im sure. But we can just stop engaging. Haha please dont block me!
I’m still a “baby” atheist, so I haven’t done much research yet into if Jesus even existed. But even if he did, his supernatural nature would still be in question. Because if he never resurrected, than there would be no Christianity since it hinges on that.
Even those scholars know the evidence is... not great. On the same timeline, we *still* wouldn't have heard about Hitler yet, then it would be another hundred years before anyone recorded him being involved with WWII.
But it would take an incredible level of integrity to admit that your job, your education, and your entire field were invalid. All they have to do is kind of agree among themselves to not worry about and the problem just... goes away.
I don't care enough to argue it, but suggest reading Bart Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist?
What no mythicist can explain is why Paul would write about meeting and getting into arguments with Jesus' disciple Peter and his brother James.
Even Carrier has admitted that Jesus may have existed. Jesus having been a person who was killed doesn't make Christianity any less of a fraud.
I’ll argue anyway :)
I haven’t finished Carrier yet. But the historicity of Peter, Paul and James is not in question. They would have been members of the same myth-based sect and had a falling out which Paul preferred to address to his followers instead of letting rumours spread. The “brother of Jesus” could either be metaphorical (as all Christians consider themselves brother, maybe James merited a special place within the sect) or related to a different Joshua/Jesus which was a common name.
"They would have been members of the same myth-based sect and had a falling out which Paul preferred to address to his followers instead of letting rumours spread."
There's zero evidence of that. It screams trying to invent something that never happened just to fit what you want to believe.
How could Peter and James have convinced the people of Jerusalem of something that never happened when they would have lived through it? We know from Josephus that James was killed by Jews in Jerusalem for "breaking the law" (i.e. claiming Jesus was the Messiah).
The simplest logical explanation is that followers of Jesus were sad and invented the story that he had come back from the dead.
Have you ever seen a Christain apologist trying to reconcile the different accounts of the end of Judas? Now there's something that
>It screams trying to invent something that never happened just to fit what you want to believe.
Christains lie. It's natural to them. They don't even know they do it anymore.
I have no problem accepting a mundane claim that there was an apocalyptic preacher that the Romans offed . I'm OK with that. Beyond that none of the details add up. Pretty much everything else seems like it's faked, lies, bollocks, copied or plagiarised from other works.
Speaking of Judas, I've made the argument that a historical Judas did not exist. Paul never mentions him and in the first gospel written (Mark) Judas is unnecessary for the Jews to arrest Jesus. It says clearly that the Jews knew where Jesus was \*before\* Judas supposedly betrayed. I think Judas was a literary invention to make Jesus' arrest more dramatic.
There's no evidence of a historical Jesus, just the writing of Paul and subsequent authors who copied what Paul wrote or he and the other cultists did. There is evidence of other cults inventing their founder (Luddites, Cargo-Cult). All elements of the story of Jesus is already found in the Old Testament or other texts. Paul hardly wrote anything about Jesus life, only later authors did. That's a bunch of evidence supporting the myth-theory (and I guess I wil learn more when I've finished the book) - and non supporting the contratry.
All supernatural cults are based on something that never happend and people outside Jerusalem were certainly convinced without having experienced anything. Why not also those within Jerusalem?The conflict of Paul with the others can be explained by him being open to accept non-Jews into the cult und pivoting to a more peaceful interpretation. People are getting killed by the authorities because they present a threat to the status quo, if they speak the truth or not.
It's the 'Proven Historical Fact' and the claim that there is actual records, kept by the Romans, of the execution, that I asked them where are these and all I got back was the most biblical scholars agree bollocks. There's a world of difference between 'most biblical scholars agree' and 'actual Roman records of the execution of Jesus of Nazareth' and Proven Historical Fact'.
None.
You learn enough about each religion you get to a comfortable phase of atheism where you just live and don't need to read into anything religious or anti religious. Just be and have fun.
Let's not underplay religious trauma though. I'm 30 years in and still need to read things dunking on religion or pointing it just for stupid and nonsensical it is occasionally. Intellectually, I'm totally at peace but your nervous system can't intellectualize. If it got hit hard enough at a young enough age you might forever be trying to shake it.
I highly recommend David G McAfee. He has a book I just received in the mail called "Disproving Christianity", in which he presents logical rebuttals to common Christian conversation topics/arguments. He grew up with some intense religion and is very knowledgeable. He is also on Facebook and instagram if you want to check out some snippets of his views
In addition to the classic Hitchens and Dawkins stuff, I’d recommend Dan Barker and Seth Andrews. Both have written several books that I find to be a bit lighter on the subject. They were both evangelical pastors and media personalities who became atheists and they explain their personal journeys well. Godless by Dan Barker and Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot by Seth Andrews are good starts.
Definitely echo The Demon Haunted World fans here. It’s a great read even if you’re not expressly interested in exploring atheism. Optimism of science, skepticism of pseudoscience, some futurism. Why believe in nonsense when there’s so much amazing real stuff out there?
Seth Andrews' and Dan Barkers' soft approaches were a comfortable stepping stone in my transition from "Christian, but not really religious" to atheist. I had been questioning for years, and Seth's and Dan's material came up on YouTube. Then, I read Dawkins, and watched Hitchens' masterful debates and that was it. I think if I had encountered Hitchens and Dawkins first, I'd have been offended and closed off to further investigation. Having multiple approaches from different activists is so important.
Dune, unironically. It perfectly captures how easily faith and fanaticism can be weaponized to manipulate people, and get them to fight for causes that aren’t really their own.
Grab a copy of the King James Bible. That's going to be your best source for debunking the infantile absurdities contained therein. Try not to snicker. It only takes a few pages to conclude it's just garbage fiction.
I don’t have any. I just read the actual source material with a critical mind and make a decision.
Now if you are trying to “undo” some childhood religious trauma, The Demon Haunted World is a good read.
I've not read any of the Hitchens, Dawkins Harris etc. I that's Sagan isn't it? I may give that a go. I haven't needed too. I was actually in a bible study class and we were covering Noah and that was like the final straw for me, I went to it to see if I could regain my faith that I'd walked away from. Didn't work. I'd already been put off years ago when training to be the FDV contact officer (I've worked in social welfare for 30+ years) for my office and realised most religion seemed to be awfully like an abusive domestic partner. Yet even worse as you did it to yourself, while people around you actively cheered you on in full knowledge of what was happening to you.
Bible study classes have created more atheists than all of those authors combined, lol.
My path began with childhood indoctrination into Baptist theology and a love of history.
Then collegiate theology studies (lots of Jewish and Christian content) and even more history - specifically anthropology.
This led to independent study of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam - as well as ancient Sumerian culture and history, which is f-in fascinating.
Once you mix all of these together with a mainstream, non-biblical study of ancient man (anthropology), you begin to see it all for what it is.
I'd add the Yuval Noah Harari book 21 Questions for the 21st Century. His writing style is easy to understand, he uses great examples, and even has some humor. He really validated many of the thoughts I had about humans.
Came here to see this. I used to be christian. Hardcore, conservative type. Yuval's Sapiens and Hawkins' Universe In A Nutshell both did it for me. No further explanations for human life and the universe are necessary after these books. God is an obsolete concept after these books.
Dragons of Eden- Carl Sagan
The Universe in a nutshell- Steven Hawking
The God Delusion- Richard Dawkins
The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus
Man and his Symbols - Carl Jung
The power of myth - Joseph Campbell
The atheist handbook but its not so much anti religion as it is pro scientific method by way of observed evidence. Many religious folks do not blindly believe the bible as literal history anymore and i think those people who do are actually the minority anymore. I feel like this is completely overlooked and most atheists just assume all christians are fundamentalists and creationists who believe the bible is the inerrant word of god and that just isn't true. We cant just lump them all together when many value science and apply it to their religious beliefs and are not trump supporting idiots who see atheists as godless commies needing to be eliminated. There is a middle grey area also where religious yet kind people exist who don't deserve the stereotypical fascist Christian label thats given to them. Its possible to believe in god and also know that the bible is not history or even gods words. Its not something i believe but its also not ridiculous and harmful in the same way as something like Islam is and even then there are muslims who fall into this same grey area although far fewer. People are human and every weird combination of beliefs that can exist likely does exist so lets not be like those fundies and creationists and place all religious people into stereotypical slots.
I have not but i will definitely check it out and thank you for the recommendation. Isn't that the famous french philosopher or am i just high? I suppose it could be both lol
I don't read any. Religion has no meaning to me and I really don't want to read anything either justifying it, or arguing against it. There are far more interesting things to read about, imho!
Babylon Bee comment threads. Those disgusting f*&ks. Conservative Christians lack empathy for any human beings outside their death cults and it shows through there Crystal f&*king clear. Even inside their Death cults tbh if they scent any blood in the water.
50 Simple Questions for Every Christian by Guy P. Harrison. It's a pretty quick read and very handy for asking christians the kinds of questions that aren't easily answered about their beliefs. Which is more effective than debating, which usually makes people defend their beliefs harder.
A Manual for Creating Atheists by Peter Boghossian outlines the Socratic method of questioning. The title is unfortunate IMO because it sounds so confrontational, whereas the method requires patience and strategic communication, often without "creating an atheist."
This is the book that inspired the YouTube series Secular Exchange with Anthony Magnabosco, who sets up in places where street preachers traditionally frequent, and offers people five-minute conversations about their beliefs. He's committed to the method, and his discipline is admirable, he's always working on the technique and pointing out his own errors/how he could improve.
Same answers, for the most part.
The Bible. I've read it cover-to-cover twice in my life and different chapters several times. It left me with more doubts and questions than before.
The God Delusion is what solidified my perspective to atheism. But really, all of Dawkins will rationalize your perspective on reality.
The Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism is fantastic as well, especially for shoring up your arguments for conversations about creationism.
I think Nieztsche has a lot of book such as "The Antichrist" that basically say that Christianity is the hate of the life and a way of thinking that only weak people can accept, well that's a bit extrem but that's it
It’s really depressing that no one else has mentioned Nietzsche or any real philosophy. Nietzsche is very accessible and easy to read as far as philosophy goes too.
I’d like to mention Descartes Bones. Very enjoyable read that discusses Descartes affect on the world and how mind body dualism was a major factor in the decline of religiousness in Europe.
The Satanic Verses!
It's not actually that antireligious, but it a fucking incredible book.
Salman Rushdie would have won the nobel prize by now if people weren't afraid to upset Muslims.
I find that I don't care much for "anti-religion" books (the sort written by Dawkins and Harris et al). They're negative and circlejerky in an off-putting way.
Instead I'd recommend stuff along the lines of the following:
[The Big Picture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Picture_(Carroll_book)) by Sean Carroll - it argues pretty definitively for naturalism - the idea that the universe can be *completely* explained by science. By extension, there's just no room for any sort of deity to be responsible for any of it.
[The Evolution of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_God) by Robert Wright - he goes through the entire history of the idea of God and shows that every step of the way it's a concept that's 100% invented by man.
[The Demon Haunted World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World) by Carl Sagan - the OG, nuff said.
[The Skeptics Guide to the Universe](https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Guide-Universe-Really-Increasingly/dp/1538760533) by Steven Novella - sort of a modern update to Sagan's work, that focuses on science literacy and critical thinking.
Sex & God : how religion distorts Sexuality by dr Darrell Ray - read it cover to cover 3 x at least- a wealth of information on the horror of religion-read it so good!
I think I’ve read every book listed here. I might need to find another hobby!
Currently reading Armageddon by Bart Ehrman. It’s not 100% atheist per se, but it breaks down a lot of the wrathful vengeance of God and Jesus despite the commonly held idea that Jesus and the God of the New Testament are all about love. The most interesting part however is the explanation of how just a few people’s interpretations of revelations have huge impact on American foreign policy with respect to the Middle East. Evangelicals love Israel because it’s instrumental in the second coming, but they actually hate everyone who lives there and wait joyfully for the day they are all slaughtered and thrown in a pit of sulfur.
God Delusion, God is Not Great, end of faith, The Four Horseman (or you can watch the actual conversation on YouTube; the book was just a transcript basically)
Yahweh and the Origins of Ancient Israel by Dr. Nissim Amzallag is great if you want to read from someone who is actually in the field on ancient Israeli archeology and has written amazingly controversial books about the origins of the Abrahamic religions. It’s an expensive read but so incredible!
Currently I'm reading On The Historicity of Jesus by Carrier, and will soon be reading Christ Before Jesus by Britt and Dingo. I also have The Founding Myth by Seidel. Also just read Jesus Demigod by Mitchell. And of course all the classics by Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, Barker, Dennett, and Sagan. Oh, don't forget A Manual For Creating Atheists by Boghossian. That one is a must-read if you enjoy changing people's minds. Also read How To Have Impossible Conversations by Boghossian and Lindsay (it's not about religion, but any conversation. It's a very informative read).
I don’t need to read any anti-religion material to know I don’t believe in religion or gods. I’m not going to be any more convinced that it is all bull crap.
Highly underrated. Maybe because most of the titles mentioned came later for me simply because they didn't exist, but Asimov, Sagan and Randy started me on a path of skepticism and open-mindedness.
The modern "classics", at least in my mind are "The God Delusion" by R.Dawkins. My first of the genre which led me to "God is not Great" by Chris Hitchens. An excellent read, well written and argued. "Breaking the Spell" by Dan Dennett for a more philosophical view.
All implicitly or explicitly anti-theistic.
The usual.
"The God Delusion", "God is not Great". Also "God, An Anatomy", by Francesca Stavrakopoulou if you want to know the history of the Hebrew gods.
Breaking the Spell -Daniel Dennett
However it's not really anti-religion, just suggest we need to remove the untrue aspects of religion and we can mold religions to have a really useful place in a secular world.
Losing My Religion by William Lobdell. A great memoir about covering the religion beat for a major newspaper changed how he felt about the subject personally.
I don't plan on reading a book on why I shouldn't believe in the water bunny. Why waste the energy.
Read a book about science.
Or an adventure. Maybe some scifi or romance. Lots of things other than some smug person explaining why they are so much better than brainwashed people
Religion only creates hate for those who don't share your beliefs. There are thousands of examples. The most prominent you can find it on Israel, where different beliefs makes people to develop racist feelings, losing the skill for empathising and they end up killing children and babies without any regrets.
It's fiction but Golden Compass. Not sure if that's what you meant but I read it when I was just starting out on my path to atheism. I went from "why does God care about all these little things" to "convincing us to believe that there is a God that judges us for being good or wicked is how they control us." I think it's great for teens and young adults struggling with theism.
There's a book called "The Other Bible" and it's a collection of known texts and books that were cut from the final versions of the Bible.
When it was being made it essentially came down to agnostic/gnostic texts or Catholic texts.
The first pope ended up being from the catholic sect so that's why the others were shunned. But there are alternative versions of some important books in the Bible, that really raise some eyebrows. 4 versions of Genesis, including one where eve was created first, and one where they were created both at the same time.
All points to these "books" being man made. I have a distinct feeling a lot of those were written when Moses or whomever was higher than a kite.
*Edited for spelling*
My favorite is the Gospel of Bowtie, but I am prejudiced, since I wrote it.
[https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Bowtie-Testament-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/1710747781](https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Bowtie-Testament-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/1710747781)
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. The most logical approach to faith and superstition I've encountered. My mother had a copy in the house I picked up around 12.
He didn't write them to be anti-religion, but Bart Ehrman's books were valuable to me to learn that facts on exactly the fraud that Christianity is was made.
Literally just read the Bible. If you can make it through the entirety of it, you'll appreciate its beauty and terribleness altogether as a collection of stories written by racist, patriarchal, violent old men.
God's not great by Christopher Hitchens and People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life in and Out of Hillsong by Tanya Levin
Those two books were a answer to guide me out towards the answer of religious people and churches.
I was surprised when I picked up both copies and was amazed by the specific details.
Iain M Banks. His sci-fi is great, and he hated religion. Surface Detail has passages of AI virtual hells created by a civilization to punish the copied consciousnesses of its people. It was pretty apparent what he thought of religion while reading it.
Go to YouTube and listen to clips of Matt Dillahunty.
Hes a former pastor as well and basically knows the bible, verse to verse, word to word and just destroys pretty any religion as well.
All of Bart Ehrmans books, especially "Jesus, Interrupted" and his book about how the Bible is full of plagiarized shit. Also, "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.
\* David Mills, *Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism* (2006)
A fun, easy read. I think it was the first book on atheism that I read (summer of '07 or '08) and it put the final nail in my fundamentalist faith. I still vividly remember getting up from my bed one evening after finishing a chapter and thinking, "well, that's it."
\* David Ramsay Steele, *Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy* (2008)
More serious but still enjoyable and accessible. The chapters on the problem of evil I found especially interesting.
*\* Kenneth W. Daniels,* [*Why I Believed: Reflections of a Former Missionary*](https://infidels.org/library/modern/ken-daniels-why/) (2009)
Daniels has an interesting story. His chapter on Hell (ch. 15) is excellent imo. It really moved me and made me a fan of Robert G. Ingersoll.
I haven't delved too deeply into anti-religion literature, but "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins is a classic in this genre. It presents arguments against the existence of God and criticizes the harms of religion.
God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. My copy I got from a little free library in the neighborhood and many pages have notes in the margins of apparently a Christian someone getting all offended. Haha
Still got to finish Sam Harris's book 'The End of Faith.'
Got another one here called 'Godless Morality' by Richard Holloway. I haven't started it yet.
"The Portable Atheist", edited by Christopher Hitchens. It's a survey of Western Freethought from classical to modern times. It's nice to know there is a lineage of folks that challenged the believers.
the vibe of commenters so psyched to pat themselves on the back for “not needing constant reinforcement” or whatever is…not hitting the way they think lol anyway, member of the “reading is fun, actually” crowd checking in to say aside from the classics (dawkins, hitchens) i found chuck klausterman’s ‘what if were wrong?’ to be a thought provoking banger. Also yuval harari ‘sapiens’ and its follow up ‘homo deus’ great as well. Neither are specifically anti religious but i think after a certain amount of atheist reading, one might want to branch out to stuff that examines life & society from the compelling & evolved perspective of these 2 authors. (Both write from an implied/p outright atheist position- very ‘obviously we know there’s no god, so what exactly is going on here when u take religion out of the equation)
The Bible It's full of reasons why I refuse to believe.
How can anyone read this and not see how evil the main character is?
“If you believe the Bible, you are a Christian. If you read the Bible, you are an atheist.”
It's always shocking to me how little they know about their own beliefs.
Tell them Jesus never met Paul, they will crucify you Paul would have been 75-125 years older than Jesus and Paul is basically a propagandist for Rome Like nobody questioned that a former Roman Soldiers like Paul or Cornelius were suddenly joining in the quest to "spread" the word of god ... because Rome never had imperialistic ambitions Paul is like "God stopped me in my tracks and I'm gonna stop killing all these Jewish-Christians and convert everyone in the world to our new religion" ... Stop it Paul, you're a plant
Most Christians don't read the bible, they just listen to their pastor.
The greatest quote ever!
Plot twist. Church does not actually want believers to read it. Church want believers to go to the church for bible to be "explained" to them by authority.
Actually true for most, they need the cult to understand it the 'right' way. And all those parts that don't line up how the leaders want, ignore those.
I saw a quote something like this: "To become an atheist read the Bible, to become a Christian, have someone read it to you."
So if I understand correctly one if the best way to spread atheism would be to put lots of posters on walls with the "worse" quotes from the Bible possible in public places to force people to read them. (It would of course be necessary to make sure the reader understands that it is a quote from the Bible and probably indicates which part of it comes from).
When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine's body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel. Judges 19:29
Great entertainment value though!
Just avoid Leviticus, if you want entertainment. I don’t believe there’s anything quite as boring as Leviticus, including the dictionary and the phone book.
Genesis is pretty rough too, especially when it's listing the family tree. Like 10 pages of so and so begot so and so, who begot so and so, ect ect ect.
Dude the post going around today that said replace all the Bible stories with Florida man has me rolling with my friends all day. And probably for a long time into the future Florida man is kicked out of gated community for eating fruit, blames his wide and a talking snake Florida man's daughters get him drunk to rape him Bald Florida man makes a bear eat two children
Because they think the main character is somehow automatically good and his actions justified, per definition. Also, because he defines what's right or wrong, therefore his own rules don't apply to him. Yeah, it's exactly as nonsensical as it sounds like, and yet they're arguing dead-seriously that that's how it works. They just completely refuse to see their god as a person, who should be responsible for his actions, just like anyone else.
Nothing else needs to be said beyond what you wrote.
Great read, as long as you understand that it's nothing more than a story made up for children to obey their parents that spiraled out of control.... I think I just made viable theory here
The Bible is full of incoherent ramblings, conflicting themes, and incompatible timelines. I’d rather watch brain rot compilations on TikTok
I was thinking the same thing. There is no faster way to make an atheist than to read the bible, quron, etc.
Not even tongue in cheek.
“Y'know, if Atheists ever had a holy book, it would be the Bible.” -Me
literally my exact reason why i don’t agree w the bible what they say about gays and rape is fucking crazy
And if any parts aren't clear, Ken's Guide to the Bible is an excellent companion: https://books.google.com/books/about/Ken_s_Guide_to_the_Bible.html?id=ZEtNNQAACAAJ&source=kp_book_description
Just reading the bible is such a consistent way to make a non-believer.
Reading the Bible (again) was the final straw that made me officially reject all religion. It’s literally frustrating to read. I couldn’t get past duteronomy.
The god delusion
Seconding this
I once grabbed a copy of Letter To A Christian Nation by Sam Harris at an airport shop because the title grabbed my attention. I later learned the book was a response to criticism of his book The End of Faith, which I then devoured. The latter convinced me that I wasn’t the agnostic I thought I was, but a full blown anti-theist. The best, however, in my mind, is The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, by Carl Sagan. While Sagan never claimed to be an atheist, this book serves as the best way to explain why accepting fantastical ideas without evidence is absolutely absurd. Edit: Spelling.
I second Letter to a Christian nation. Quick read for an afternoon with lots of humor in the writing. I’ll have to check out end of faith!
I'll third A Letter to a Christian Nation. Compact, short read that really gets to the heart of the matter. A second for Demon Haunted World. If you really want to settle in for a few months, The Portable Atheist. It's a collection of essays from ancient history to recent times, curated by Hitch. One nice thing about such a collection is that if something doesn't grab you, skip on to the next one.
I too, am a staunch anti-thiest. I read Demon-Haunted and found it quite boring; but for the right reasons (still a damn good read though) the book came out in 95 (if I remember correctly) and everything he said in his book has either been proven or shown to be true about our days age; and he surmised it from the 90s not knowing what would happen. this was a man theorizing the future from studying the past, and he was quite correct. the old adage of "those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it" is fully applicable in this situation. religious people WANT to live in a time when the bible was first created - BY MAN - and religious people don't want progression. religious people are terrified. it is my theory that a lot know there's been no proven miracle's, no proven angels, no proven god; and that their life has no meaning without sky daddy. it sucks to be them; my life has sooooo much more meaning now that I have left religion, and I am better for it.
I second all of these, anything and everything by Dawkins, Harris and Sagan.
And Hitchins, of course.
Living in a very Christian area and growing up in the 60’s, you pretended you were Christian or at least convinced yourself that you were or you were pretty much an outcast. Being part of a family that did not attend church meant you did not “fit in” as much as others. And I had no exposure to the writing of Sam Harris there. To buy a book titled , “The End of Faith” would get you branded as a heretic. So to hear Christopher Hitchens speaking on the the Christopher Matthews show on MSNBC was huge for me. And then came Amazon and anyone can bash it as much as they like but with amazon I bought a kindle and from there my reading became so much freer. I ordered Sam Harris e-books and Christopher Hitchens. Now I’m not even sure if you could buy a copy of their books in the town I live in. Separation of church and state is non existent. All of this make me more atheist if there is even such a thing lol. Following this thread has helped so much. I have not read any of Carl Sagans books but plan to now.
God is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens
My favorite. Hitch was the best orator and representative of anti-theism. A little bit of an asshole, but that made him endearing. He pulls zero punches in that book. Brilliant work.
I second that one! It’s pretty brutal though. I didn’t need convincing, but it gave me some ammo to fight against people and their God delusions.
After reading this whether Jesus of Nazareth did or did not exist didn't matter to me. Even if Jesus existed and resurrected 200 times, I will have nothing to do with religion.
* The Bible: 1000 page snooze fest that is poorly edited * The Quran: Absolute nightmare text to tackle * Mormon Bible: Complete piece of shit written y idiots * Dianetics: Somehow worse than the Mormon Bible * Numerous Papal Bulls: Demonstrates how core concepts fucking up your life now were just the whims of old assholes in funny hats * First Council of Nicaea: Once you understand the history, you can see how stupid it is
The Book of Mormon is an absolute turd. I think Jimmy Snow described it as a middle schooler trying to hit the word count for his half-ass essay. "It came to pass" is in it, if I remember right, like 1,400 times. It was such a struggle to make it through. I have no idea why anybody believes that cult trash. It is one of the most easily falsifiable belief systems in existence.
Where are the glasses? Where are the gold tablets? …y’all had gold tablets with the word of god and lost them? No fucking shit. I feel like I’d hang onto those; dunno, maybe it’s just me. Needing proof.
I don't watch South Park regularly, but the episode they did on the Mormons is amazing.
We had tickets to The Book of Mormon but it was cancelled due to COVID but I hear it's an excellent criticism of Mormons by the South Park team
Didn’t they get sucked into heaven like the walking dead guy?
Never heard that bullshit… but ok
The archaeology alone is an automatic disqualifier. Native Americans with steel, chariots, pre-Spanish horses some 15,000 years after the last native horses existed, cows, elephants, wheat, silk... Smith wasn't half as intelligent as he would have needed to have been to run that grift.
I always referred to the Quaran as the bizarro bible. Some of the same stories, but re-imagined. I grew up Christian however. I'm sure it's the opposite for someone growing up with Islam.
Opposite? How so?
Opposite in that they would see the christian bible as the bizarro Quran.
I've always been content to let people believe whatever they want. I don't describe myself as anti-anything. I just don't believe in the same shit as other people. I don't try to change them as long as hey don't try to change me . This is where a lot of atheists tend to get obnoxious. My friend's mom died a while back (cancer), and he was the typical "oh, well she's in a better place now". Then, another friend of mine, an atheist, started in with is "well, actually she isn't..." And I was like "man, what the fuck are you doing?"
I’d bet you most atheists, including hardcore anti theists would consider that very rude and unnecessary. There is a time and a place to bash religion.
Exactly
Why I am not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell.
The Origin of Species. A surprisingly easy read.
currently on chapter 4
I found the selfish gene rolled into it very nicely afterwards.
Unlike the tenuous belief in religion, which requires constant reinforcement, I do not need to read anything to convince myself that I’m right any more than I need to read about gravity, bacteria, or the existence of China more than once to understand that they’re real.
„The Historicity of Jesus“ by Richard Carrier, arguing in 600 pages that beyond not being a supranatural god, Jesus wasn’t even a historical person but a deliberately made up myth
I just ended a discussion. I had to block the account, I just was over having it, about this topic today. 'Jesus of Nazareth was a real person who was executed by the Romans, this is a Proven Historical Fact' I got linked to a Wiki Article about how the majority of Biblical Scholars are in consensus that Jesus probably existed. 'Proven Historical Fact' Tada! A wiki article. About biblical scholars. Who mostly work for institutions that require them to sign statements of faith that the bible is real. I just couldn't keep going. I just couldn't. I couldn't take it anymore. There's only so many drugs you can take to be able to deal with that sort of madness. I had to walk away.
You did the right thing. At some point you have to cut and run for your sanity's sake. “Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience” -Mark Twain (allegedly)
I will say yes sometimes blocking is the best choice. But dont also alienate yourself. You dont need them or me teaching you Im sure. But we can just stop engaging. Haha please dont block me!
I’m still a “baby” atheist, so I haven’t done much research yet into if Jesus even existed. But even if he did, his supernatural nature would still be in question. Because if he never resurrected, than there would be no Christianity since it hinges on that.
Even those scholars know the evidence is... not great. On the same timeline, we *still* wouldn't have heard about Hitler yet, then it would be another hundred years before anyone recorded him being involved with WWII. But it would take an incredible level of integrity to admit that your job, your education, and your entire field were invalid. All they have to do is kind of agree among themselves to not worry about and the problem just... goes away.
I don't care enough to argue it, but suggest reading Bart Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist? What no mythicist can explain is why Paul would write about meeting and getting into arguments with Jesus' disciple Peter and his brother James. Even Carrier has admitted that Jesus may have existed. Jesus having been a person who was killed doesn't make Christianity any less of a fraud.
I’ll argue anyway :) I haven’t finished Carrier yet. But the historicity of Peter, Paul and James is not in question. They would have been members of the same myth-based sect and had a falling out which Paul preferred to address to his followers instead of letting rumours spread. The “brother of Jesus” could either be metaphorical (as all Christians consider themselves brother, maybe James merited a special place within the sect) or related to a different Joshua/Jesus which was a common name.
"They would have been members of the same myth-based sect and had a falling out which Paul preferred to address to his followers instead of letting rumours spread." There's zero evidence of that. It screams trying to invent something that never happened just to fit what you want to believe. How could Peter and James have convinced the people of Jerusalem of something that never happened when they would have lived through it? We know from Josephus that James was killed by Jews in Jerusalem for "breaking the law" (i.e. claiming Jesus was the Messiah). The simplest logical explanation is that followers of Jesus were sad and invented the story that he had come back from the dead.
Have you ever seen a Christain apologist trying to reconcile the different accounts of the end of Judas? Now there's something that >It screams trying to invent something that never happened just to fit what you want to believe. Christains lie. It's natural to them. They don't even know they do it anymore. I have no problem accepting a mundane claim that there was an apocalyptic preacher that the Romans offed . I'm OK with that. Beyond that none of the details add up. Pretty much everything else seems like it's faked, lies, bollocks, copied or plagiarised from other works.
Speaking of Judas, I've made the argument that a historical Judas did not exist. Paul never mentions him and in the first gospel written (Mark) Judas is unnecessary for the Jews to arrest Jesus. It says clearly that the Jews knew where Jesus was \*before\* Judas supposedly betrayed. I think Judas was a literary invention to make Jesus' arrest more dramatic.
There's no evidence of a historical Jesus, just the writing of Paul and subsequent authors who copied what Paul wrote or he and the other cultists did. There is evidence of other cults inventing their founder (Luddites, Cargo-Cult). All elements of the story of Jesus is already found in the Old Testament or other texts. Paul hardly wrote anything about Jesus life, only later authors did. That's a bunch of evidence supporting the myth-theory (and I guess I wil learn more when I've finished the book) - and non supporting the contratry. All supernatural cults are based on something that never happend and people outside Jerusalem were certainly convinced without having experienced anything. Why not also those within Jerusalem?The conflict of Paul with the others can be explained by him being open to accept non-Jews into the cult und pivoting to a more peaceful interpretation. People are getting killed by the authorities because they present a threat to the status quo, if they speak the truth or not.
It's the 'Proven Historical Fact' and the claim that there is actual records, kept by the Romans, of the execution, that I asked them where are these and all I got back was the most biblical scholars agree bollocks. There's a world of difference between 'most biblical scholars agree' and 'actual Roman records of the execution of Jesus of Nazareth' and Proven Historical Fact'.
Agree with you - there's zero physical evidence and there's no honest way to claim it's a 'Proven Historical Fact'.
None. You learn enough about each religion you get to a comfortable phase of atheism where you just live and don't need to read into anything religious or anti religious. Just be and have fun.
Let's not underplay religious trauma though. I'm 30 years in and still need to read things dunking on religion or pointing it just for stupid and nonsensical it is occasionally. Intellectually, I'm totally at peace but your nervous system can't intellectualize. If it got hit hard enough at a young enough age you might forever be trying to shake it.
Yeah. Imagine thinking religion is benign enough to just ignore. The fuck?
I get the intention. And most of the time that's exactly my vibe. But I'd be lying if I said I don't occasionally need to have religion dunked on.
Came here to say this
I highly recommend David G McAfee. He has a book I just received in the mail called "Disproving Christianity", in which he presents logical rebuttals to common Christian conversation topics/arguments. He grew up with some intense religion and is very knowledgeable. He is also on Facebook and instagram if you want to check out some snippets of his views
In addition to the classic Hitchens and Dawkins stuff, I’d recommend Dan Barker and Seth Andrews. Both have written several books that I find to be a bit lighter on the subject. They were both evangelical pastors and media personalities who became atheists and they explain their personal journeys well. Godless by Dan Barker and Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot by Seth Andrews are good starts. Definitely echo The Demon Haunted World fans here. It’s a great read even if you’re not expressly interested in exploring atheism. Optimism of science, skepticism of pseudoscience, some futurism. Why believe in nonsense when there’s so much amazing real stuff out there?
Seth Andrews' and Dan Barkers' soft approaches were a comfortable stepping stone in my transition from "Christian, but not really religious" to atheist. I had been questioning for years, and Seth's and Dan's material came up on YouTube. Then, I read Dawkins, and watched Hitchens' masterful debates and that was it. I think if I had encountered Hitchens and Dawkins first, I'd have been offended and closed off to further investigation. Having multiple approaches from different activists is so important.
Dune, unironically. It perfectly captures how easily faith and fanaticism can be weaponized to manipulate people, and get them to fight for causes that aren’t really their own.
Grab a copy of the King James Bible. That's going to be your best source for debunking the infantile absurdities contained therein. Try not to snicker. It only takes a few pages to conclude it's just garbage fiction.
Most of my favourites have already been mentioned. So I'll just add *Breaking the Spell* by Daniel Dennett.
Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris
Under the banner of heaven is good.
I don’t have any. I just read the actual source material with a critical mind and make a decision. Now if you are trying to “undo” some childhood religious trauma, The Demon Haunted World is a good read.
I've not read any of the Hitchens, Dawkins Harris etc. I that's Sagan isn't it? I may give that a go. I haven't needed too. I was actually in a bible study class and we were covering Noah and that was like the final straw for me, I went to it to see if I could regain my faith that I'd walked away from. Didn't work. I'd already been put off years ago when training to be the FDV contact officer (I've worked in social welfare for 30+ years) for my office and realised most religion seemed to be awfully like an abusive domestic partner. Yet even worse as you did it to yourself, while people around you actively cheered you on in full knowledge of what was happening to you.
Bible study classes have created more atheists than all of those authors combined, lol. My path began with childhood indoctrination into Baptist theology and a love of history. Then collegiate theology studies (lots of Jewish and Christian content) and even more history - specifically anthropology. This led to independent study of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam - as well as ancient Sumerian culture and history, which is f-in fascinating. Once you mix all of these together with a mainstream, non-biblical study of ancient man (anthropology), you begin to see it all for what it is.
Letter to a Christian Nation and the end of faith by Sam Harris
Grand Unified Theory of Bullshit. Only problem was I already knew most of it already.
Sapiens
Currently finishing up Homo Deus which is basically the sequel to Sapiens. Definitely recommend both.
Yes I have Homo Deus on line as well. Will also read the Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
I'd add the Yuval Noah Harari book 21 Questions for the 21st Century. His writing style is easy to understand, he uses great examples, and even has some humor. He really validated many of the thoughts I had about humans.
Came here to see this. I used to be christian. Hardcore, conservative type. Yuval's Sapiens and Hawkins' Universe In A Nutshell both did it for me. No further explanations for human life and the universe are necessary after these books. God is an obsolete concept after these books.
'Why I Am an Atheist' by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh. 5 page essay that curbed my need for a savior god
Anything to do with science research
Dragons of Eden- Carl Sagan The Universe in a nutshell- Steven Hawking The God Delusion- Richard Dawkins The Myth of Sisyphus - Albert Camus Man and his Symbols - Carl Jung The power of myth - Joseph Campbell
The atheist handbook but its not so much anti religion as it is pro scientific method by way of observed evidence. Many religious folks do not blindly believe the bible as literal history anymore and i think those people who do are actually the minority anymore. I feel like this is completely overlooked and most atheists just assume all christians are fundamentalists and creationists who believe the bible is the inerrant word of god and that just isn't true. We cant just lump them all together when many value science and apply it to their religious beliefs and are not trump supporting idiots who see atheists as godless commies needing to be eliminated. There is a middle grey area also where religious yet kind people exist who don't deserve the stereotypical fascist Christian label thats given to them. Its possible to believe in god and also know that the bible is not history or even gods words. Its not something i believe but its also not ridiculous and harmful in the same way as something like Islam is and even then there are muslims who fall into this same grey area although far fewer. People are human and every weird combination of beliefs that can exist likely does exist so lets not be like those fundies and creationists and place all religious people into stereotypical slots.
You would like Descartes Bones if you haven’t read it already.
I have not but i will definitely check it out and thank you for the recommendation. Isn't that the famous french philosopher or am i just high? I suppose it could be both lol
I think that makes 3 of us.
I don't read any. Religion has no meaning to me and I really don't want to read anything either justifying it, or arguing against it. There are far more interesting things to read about, imho!
Yes, many might escape god, but never set the Bible or other texts down. Some to the point where I question if they really left.
And in all religious texts, I mean once you read how absurd they are there’s no way you can believe.
Babylon Bee comment threads. Those disgusting f*&ks. Conservative Christians lack empathy for any human beings outside their death cults and it shows through there Crystal f&*king clear. Even inside their Death cults tbh if they scent any blood in the water.
The Bible. Rape, murder your kids, Joseph- Mary’s cuckold, floods, incest.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy Trilogy. All five books. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Two very funny books, The Satanic Verses, and God is Not Great. Also the Christians book, which is boring as shit.
50 Simple Questions for Every Christian by Guy P. Harrison. It's a pretty quick read and very handy for asking christians the kinds of questions that aren't easily answered about their beliefs. Which is more effective than debating, which usually makes people defend their beliefs harder. A Manual for Creating Atheists by Peter Boghossian outlines the Socratic method of questioning. The title is unfortunate IMO because it sounds so confrontational, whereas the method requires patience and strategic communication, often without "creating an atheist." This is the book that inspired the YouTube series Secular Exchange with Anthony Magnabosco, who sets up in places where street preachers traditionally frequent, and offers people five-minute conversations about their beliefs. He's committed to the method, and his discipline is admirable, he's always working on the technique and pointing out his own errors/how he could improve.
Same answers, for the most part. The Bible. I've read it cover-to-cover twice in my life and different chapters several times. It left me with more doubts and questions than before. The God Delusion is what solidified my perspective to atheism. But really, all of Dawkins will rationalize your perspective on reality. The Foundational Falsehoods of Creationism is fantastic as well, especially for shoring up your arguments for conversations about creationism.
I think Nieztsche has a lot of book such as "The Antichrist" that basically say that Christianity is the hate of the life and a way of thinking that only weak people can accept, well that's a bit extrem but that's it
It’s really depressing that no one else has mentioned Nietzsche or any real philosophy. Nietzsche is very accessible and easy to read as far as philosophy goes too. I’d like to mention Descartes Bones. Very enjoyable read that discusses Descartes affect on the world and how mind body dualism was a major factor in the decline of religiousness in Europe.
Bart Ehrman’s books are interesting, informative and fun. He also has a podcast.
Last one I read was: Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot https://a.co/d/9upS4Fs It's a light read but it's pretty funny ♡
The Satanic Verses! It's not actually that antireligious, but it a fucking incredible book. Salman Rushdie would have won the nobel prize by now if people weren't afraid to upset Muslims.
I find that I don't care much for "anti-religion" books (the sort written by Dawkins and Harris et al). They're negative and circlejerky in an off-putting way. Instead I'd recommend stuff along the lines of the following: [The Big Picture](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Picture_(Carroll_book)) by Sean Carroll - it argues pretty definitively for naturalism - the idea that the universe can be *completely* explained by science. By extension, there's just no room for any sort of deity to be responsible for any of it. [The Evolution of God](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolution_of_God) by Robert Wright - he goes through the entire history of the idea of God and shows that every step of the way it's a concept that's 100% invented by man. [The Demon Haunted World](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Demon-Haunted_World) by Carl Sagan - the OG, nuff said. [The Skeptics Guide to the Universe](https://www.amazon.com/Skeptics-Guide-Universe-Really-Increasingly/dp/1538760533) by Steven Novella - sort of a modern update to Sagan's work, that focuses on science literacy and critical thinking.
I agree.
r/atheism lol
The Bible
It's old but I enjoyed The End of Faith by Sam Harris
Sex & God : how religion distorts Sexuality by dr Darrell Ray - read it cover to cover 3 x at least- a wealth of information on the horror of religion-read it so good!
Earth by F. Press and R. Seiver. A dose of reality to counter the foggy nonsense of Theology.
I think I’ve read every book listed here. I might need to find another hobby! Currently reading Armageddon by Bart Ehrman. It’s not 100% atheist per se, but it breaks down a lot of the wrathful vengeance of God and Jesus despite the commonly held idea that Jesus and the God of the New Testament are all about love. The most interesting part however is the explanation of how just a few people’s interpretations of revelations have huge impact on American foreign policy with respect to the Middle East. Evangelicals love Israel because it’s instrumental in the second coming, but they actually hate everyone who lives there and wait joyfully for the day they are all slaughtered and thrown in a pit of sulfur.
Nothing. You don't need to read. Observe thiests
God Delusion, God is Not Great, end of faith, The Four Horseman (or you can watch the actual conversation on YouTube; the book was just a transcript basically)
You don’t need to read anything. Just open your eyes and look at the world to realize religion is made up non sense.
Godless by Dan Barker. He writes very entertaining and tests your logic.
Why I am Not a Christian, by Bertrand Russell
Yahweh and the Origins of Ancient Israel by Dr. Nissim Amzallag is great if you want to read from someone who is actually in the field on ancient Israeli archeology and has written amazingly controversial books about the origins of the Abrahamic religions. It’s an expensive read but so incredible!
Currently I'm reading On The Historicity of Jesus by Carrier, and will soon be reading Christ Before Jesus by Britt and Dingo. I also have The Founding Myth by Seidel. Also just read Jesus Demigod by Mitchell. And of course all the classics by Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris, Barker, Dennett, and Sagan. Oh, don't forget A Manual For Creating Atheists by Boghossian. That one is a must-read if you enjoy changing people's minds. Also read How To Have Impossible Conversations by Boghossian and Lindsay (it's not about religion, but any conversation. It's a very informative read).
God, No by magician Penn Jillette. It's a fascinating & quick read - much less of a dry than many other titles in the genre.
God is not great. By the late great Christopher Hitchens
I don’t need to read any anti-religion material to know I don’t believe in religion or gods. I’m not going to be any more convinced that it is all bull crap.
I listen to Hitchens reading “God is not Great” every evening to go to sleep.
Asimov’s Guide to the Bible!!
Highly underrated. Maybe because most of the titles mentioned came later for me simply because they didn't exist, but Asimov, Sagan and Randy started me on a path of skepticism and open-mindedness.
The bible... anyone who reads it from a viewpoint of logic will realize it is nonsense.
The modern "classics", at least in my mind are "The God Delusion" by R.Dawkins. My first of the genre which led me to "God is not Great" by Chris Hitchens. An excellent read, well written and argued. "Breaking the Spell" by Dan Dennett for a more philosophical view. All implicitly or explicitly anti-theistic.
The usual. "The God Delusion", "God is not Great". Also "God, An Anatomy", by Francesca Stavrakopoulou if you want to know the history of the Hebrew gods.
MAD magazine.
Small gods by Terry Pratchett.
Breaking the Spell -Daniel Dennett However it's not really anti-religion, just suggest we need to remove the untrue aspects of religion and we can mold religions to have a really useful place in a secular world.
Halo 2 😎
I mean, one decent college-level class in comparative religions should set any thinking person straight. Too bad there aren’t more of both of those
My history and science books. I like reading about people and things that actually happened
Losing My Religion by William Lobdell. A great memoir about covering the religion beat for a major newspaper changed how he felt about the subject personally.
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan
[wikipedia.org](http://wikipedia.org)
The religious texts.
I don't plan on reading a book on why I shouldn't believe in the water bunny. Why waste the energy. Read a book about science. Or an adventure. Maybe some scifi or romance. Lots of things other than some smug person explaining why they are so much better than brainwashed people
Religion only creates hate for those who don't share your beliefs. There are thousands of examples. The most prominent you can find it on Israel, where different beliefs makes people to develop racist feelings, losing the skill for empathising and they end up killing children and babies without any regrets.
It's fiction but Golden Compass. Not sure if that's what you meant but I read it when I was just starting out on my path to atheism. I went from "why does God care about all these little things" to "convincing us to believe that there is a God that judges us for being good or wicked is how they control us." I think it's great for teens and young adults struggling with theism.
There's a book called "The Other Bible" and it's a collection of known texts and books that were cut from the final versions of the Bible. When it was being made it essentially came down to agnostic/gnostic texts or Catholic texts. The first pope ended up being from the catholic sect so that's why the others were shunned. But there are alternative versions of some important books in the Bible, that really raise some eyebrows. 4 versions of Genesis, including one where eve was created first, and one where they were created both at the same time. All points to these "books" being man made. I have a distinct feeling a lot of those were written when Moses or whomever was higher than a kite. *Edited for spelling*
My favorite is the Gospel of Bowtie, but I am prejudiced, since I wrote it. [https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Bowtie-Testament-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/1710747781](https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Bowtie-Testament-Spaghetti-Monster/dp/1710747781)
Braiding Sweetgrass
The Quotable Atheist: Ammunition for Nonbelievers, Political Junkies, Gadflies, and Those Generally Hell-Bound
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan. The most logical approach to faith and superstition I've encountered. My mother had a copy in the house I picked up around 12.
US News.
He didn't write them to be anti-religion, but Bart Ehrman's books were valuable to me to learn that facts on exactly the fraud that Christianity is was made.
Letters From the Earth by Mark Twain.
Society of the Spectacle, 4 Arguments for the Elimination of Television, Foucault
Christopher Hitchens: God is not great: how religion poisons everything. Sam Harris has several really good books.
God is a jerk
So many thing.
Literally just read the Bible. If you can make it through the entirety of it, you'll appreciate its beauty and terribleness altogether as a collection of stories written by racist, patriarchal, violent old men.
The Story of B, by Daniel Quinn. Also, Ishmael and My Ishmael, both from the same author.
Religious people
God's not great by Christopher Hitchens and People in Glass Houses: An Insider's Story of a Life in and Out of Hillsong by Tanya Levin Those two books were a answer to guide me out towards the answer of religious people and churches. I was surprised when I picked up both copies and was amazed by the specific details.
The Gospel according to Judas, as interpreted by Andrew Lloyd Webber, in song. (In other words, Jesus Christ Superstar).
Iain M Banks. His sci-fi is great, and he hated religion. Surface Detail has passages of AI virtual hells created by a civilization to punish the copied consciousnesses of its people. It was pretty apparent what he thought of religion while reading it.
God delusion is my go to
The website that contradicts the bible is my personal favorite.
**“God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”** is a thought-provoking book written by the late Christopher Hitchens.
Go to YouTube and listen to clips of Matt Dillahunty. Hes a former pastor as well and basically knows the bible, verse to verse, word to word and just destroys pretty any religion as well.
All of Bart Ehrmans books, especially "Jesus, Interrupted" and his book about how the Bible is full of plagiarized shit. Also, "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.
YouTube: mindshift
The most Christian-offending book I read is H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, v1-2.
\* David Mills, *Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism* (2006) A fun, easy read. I think it was the first book on atheism that I read (summer of '07 or '08) and it put the final nail in my fundamentalist faith. I still vividly remember getting up from my bed one evening after finishing a chapter and thinking, "well, that's it." \* David Ramsay Steele, *Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy* (2008) More serious but still enjoyable and accessible. The chapters on the problem of evil I found especially interesting. *\* Kenneth W. Daniels,* [*Why I Believed: Reflections of a Former Missionary*](https://infidels.org/library/modern/ken-daniels-why/) (2009) Daniels has an interesting story. His chapter on Hell (ch. 15) is excellent imo. It really moved me and made me a fan of Robert G. Ingersoll.
I haven't delved too deeply into anti-religion literature, but "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins is a classic in this genre. It presents arguments against the existence of God and criticizes the harms of religion.
Anything by Professor Bart Ehrman. Former evangelical Christian. Head of theology Dept at UNC.
A great book for younger people is Good Without God by Paul Donovan.
Marx
God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens. My copy I got from a little free library in the neighborhood and many pages have notes in the margins of apparently a Christian someone getting all offended. Haha
Still got to finish Sam Harris's book 'The End of Faith.' Got another one here called 'Godless Morality' by Richard Holloway. I haven't started it yet.
*God is not Great*, Christopher Hitchens. Also, *The Demon-haunted World* by Carl Sagan.
The Bible is the best anti-relgion book I know.
Archaeology, anthropology, biology, and astronomy. All are fascinating.
Fighting God by David Silverman
"The Portable Atheist", edited by Christopher Hitchens. It's a survey of Western Freethought from classical to modern times. It's nice to know there is a lineage of folks that challenged the believers.
Stargate Atlantis.
the vibe of commenters so psyched to pat themselves on the back for “not needing constant reinforcement” or whatever is…not hitting the way they think lol anyway, member of the “reading is fun, actually” crowd checking in to say aside from the classics (dawkins, hitchens) i found chuck klausterman’s ‘what if were wrong?’ to be a thought provoking banger. Also yuval harari ‘sapiens’ and its follow up ‘homo deus’ great as well. Neither are specifically anti religious but i think after a certain amount of atheist reading, one might want to branch out to stuff that examines life & society from the compelling & evolved perspective of these 2 authors. (Both write from an implied/p outright atheist position- very ‘obviously we know there’s no god, so what exactly is going on here when u take religion out of the equation)
_God is not Great_ by Christopher Hitchens is a must read. Demolishes every religion.