Where can I find a document, a web page, a book or anything about religion and how it's anti human?

Question

I've been reading Voltaire, Nietzsche, Spinoza, even Marilyn Manson. I'm just looking for something that criticizes dogmatic beliefs. Any kind of thing like that. I need to read up so I can defend my self and explain myself when challenged by the self righteous condemners who haunt my existence. Also, do you know of any books or anything that discusses human nature and things like hypocrisy and contradictions in human nature? I am so vigilant against detractors and I just need to read up on stuff like this to help express my own thoughts so I'm not tongue tied.

Answer 1

Conundrum,

Pretty good reading list.

As an aside, I'm not sure why you have trouble finding stuff that bashes religion -- it seems to have been in vogue, not just in our culture but in Yahoo! Answers in general. :)

But to the point of your post:

I understand what it feels like to believe something and then, when someone aggressively comes after you and wants to smack you around, not know how to defend yourself or what to say. What it feels like to be clumsy with words in "real time" and just not have the information or quick thinking to fend them off.

While this isn't what you asked for, I want to give you something to think about:

It doesn't matter what these people think of you. You don't actually need to "justify" yourself or your value... or even need to be able to explain yourself to them. You have nothing to prove. You're a valuable human being.

Here, you are basically seeking people's approval, which is why you are frustrated -- because they're not approving of you.

Remember, religious people who are kind and considerate will not try to crush you, or make you look stupid. They will listen to you when you stammer and stumble around (to you, anyway -- I bet you're actually more articulate than you think you are, to be honest. Your post was fine).

The sort of religious people who you feel threatened by, who try to defeat you and treat you as an enemy, can never be appeased. You can argue until you are blue in the face, and I guarantee that you will still be frustrated at the end of the day. They will find SOME way to shoot you down -- or ignore and discredit you if they cannot win.

So, sure, go ahead and learn some more arguments and read more extensively. That's a good thing. Just remember it won't ultimately help you to feel better or feel justified.

That is the sort of thing that needs to happen within.

I don't know if you and I would have the same conclusions about faith or philosophy, but trust me when I say that it doesn't matter. You're a valuable human being, and deserve to be heard and engaged in conversation with, regardless of how well you can articulate your arguments.

As much as you can, do this stuff for your own approval and not for others.

Take care.

Answer 2

If you've read "The Antichrist" by Nietzsche then you should have enough right there. Tell them that you are agnostic, that you can't either prove there is or there isn't a god, so your answer to the God question is that you 'don't know if there is one or not' and leave it at that. Tell them all religions are man-made, not God-made, and that they served their purpose in fledgling societies but have made themselves useless except for some universal truths found within their mythologies.

Answer 3

the bible