What's New Archive ● 2010 ● January
What's New on the Secular Web?
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January 30, 2010
New in the Bookstore: The Infernova (2009) by S. A. Alenthony.
A young man's struggle to find his path in a world of human illusion and error is the theme of The Infernova. A novel in verse, this secular parody of Dante's classic takes the reader through a new Hell—an abyss devised not to punish those damned by Christian doctrine, but rather those greater agents of human misery: the irrational, the mystical, and the dogmatic religious. And just as Dante was guided on his trek by a celebrated writer, so too here—but it is the irreverent Mark Twain taking the role of Virgil. As their journey proceeds, the perils of unreason and faith-based thinking become ever more clear and dramatic.
January 24, 2010
New in the Bookstore: The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture (2009) by Darrel W. Ray.
What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith? What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see those of others? How does guilt play into religious infection? Why is sexual control so important to so many religions? What causes the anxiety and neuroticism around death and dying? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture.
January 19, 2010
New in the Bookstore: Failed God: Fractured Myth in a Fragile World (2008) by John A. Rush.
"John Allegro argued Jesus was a mushroom. Rush has proven him correct.
— Jan Irvin, author of The Holy Mushroom and coauthor, with Andrew Rutajit, of Astrotheology & Shamanism
New in the Kiosk: More Than an Atheist (2010) by Anthony Layng
"Are you an atheist?" always makes me feel somewhat awkward, uncertain how to respond. It is not that I mind having people know that I do not believe in God. I have never been a believer, and I am unconcerned about who knows it. My problem with "atheist" is that it is too negative and does not say enough about what I consider to be true.
January 5, 2010
New in the Bookstore: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction (2010) by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein.
In 36 Arguments for the Existence of God, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein explores the rapture and torments of religious experience in all its variety. Hilarious, heartbreaking, and intellectually captivating, it is a luminous and intoxicating novel. Using her gifts in fiction and philosophy, Goldstein has produced a true crossover novel, complete with a nail-biting debate ("Resolved: God Exists"), and a stand-alone appendix with the thirty-six arguments (and responses) that propel her protagonist, "an atheist with a soul," to stardom.