What's New Archive ● 2006 ● October
What's New on the Secular Web?
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October 21, 2006
Added Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism by Michelle Goldberg to the Secular Web Bookstore
An eye-opening account of a groundswell religious movement determined to change America, Kingdom Coming takes us on a journey through an America in the grips of a fevered religious radicalism: the America of our time. From the classroom to the megachurch to the federal court, Goldberg carefully demonstrates how the growing influence of dominionism--the doctrine that Christians have the right to rule nonbelievers--is threatening the foundations of democracy.
October 19, 2006
Added "Soul" Searching (2006) by Dan Ferrisi to the Kiosk.
Nearly every religion asserts that human beings possess a soul or immaterial eternal essence, a "ghost in the machine" that animates our flesh. However, this extraordinary assertion is backed by essentially no hard, scientific evidence. Science makes it quite clear that the brain is the place in which one's personality, character and memory are stored. Only one conclusion can be drawn from the available scientific evidence: "Mind" is merely a self-organized emergent property of matter.
October 15, 2006
Added Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris to the Secular Web Bookstore
In response to The End of Faith, Sam Harris received thousands of letters from Christians excoriating him for not believing in God. Letter to A Christian Nation is his reply. Using rational argument, Harris offers a measured refutation of the beliefs that form the core of fundamentalist Christianity. In the course of his argument, he addresses current topics ranging from intelligent design and stem-cell research to the connections between religion and violence. In Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris boldly challenges the influence that faith has on public life in our nation.
October 1, 2006
Current Feature: Review of Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion (2006) by Adam Lee
"The God Delusion is a witty, razor-sharp attack on religious belief of all varieties. Dawkins pulls no punches and does not hesitate to heap scorn on foolish beliefs. Atheists will cheer it; believers will probably be appalled and bypass it, which is unfortunate, since this book presents a great deal of legitimately new and interesting information, and closes with a passionate and powerful defense of atheism that should be heard by all."
Book-of-the-Month: The God Delusion (2006) by Richard Dawkins
Dawkins, whom Discover magazine referred to as "Darwin's Rottweiler" for his fierce and effective defense of evolution, turns his considerable intellect on religion, denouncing its faulty logic and the suffering it causes. He critiques God in all his forms, from the sex-obsessed tyrant of the Old Testament to the more benign (but still illogical) Celestial Watchmaker favored by some Enlightenment thinkers. He eviscerates the major arguments for religion and demonstrates the supreme improbability of a supreme being. He shows how religion fuels war, foments bigotry, and abuses children, buttressing his points with historical and contemporary evidence. In so doing, he makes a compelling case that belief in God is not just irrational, but potentially deadly.
Special Feature: The Rationality of an Illusion (2000) by Taner Edis
We rail against supernatural faiths, not just for their palpable falsity, but for their sanctified cruelties, their crippled imaginations, and their all-too-common suspicion of human efforts to better our lives.