Will you please give me some input?

Question

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=why_are_atheist_books_best_sellers&ns=DennisPrager&dt=07/10/2007&page=2

I am reposting this in hopes that I will receive some respectful, honest answers.

Yes, I am a Christian. Yes, I believe evolution is possible, I know the age of the earth is several billions years old, and I am pro-choice.

Yes, I believe in Heaven.
Yes, I go to church.

I am trying to get an honest answer. Would you please consider giving a respectful one to me?

I wanted to know your thoughts on why bookson atheism were best sellers.

My first question concerning this brought on attacks and sarcastic answers. That did not help.

A kind atheist asked me to repost this.

Typo: There should be a space between "books" and "on."

I want opinions concerning why books on the subject of atheism are best sellers.
They can be written by atheists or not.

Thanks to those of you who are being real about this. I appreciate it.

P.S. It is a FACT that the age of the Earth is 4.5-5.5 billion years old.

(That to the Christian who has so far been the ONLY disrespectful person to respond.....which enlightens me more han words can say.....I apologize to all the atheists for the rude answers YOU GET when you ask an honest question.)

http://www.creators.com/opinion/dennis-prager/why-are-atheist-books-best-sellers.html

I hope this will work better.


I am NOT suggesting that I agree with this guy.

It is just a link...Thanks to all of you for your kind help.

Answer 1

Dear heart, I am not a believer of the mythology to which you adhere, but my beliefs do seem to embrace your ethics. For that I wish you all the best - starting with respect.

In answer to your question :
I believe that the reason that books on atheism such as Dawkin's THE GOD DELUSION are best sellers is related to, but not limited to your points in the second paragraph of this post. Many, perhaps nearly all atheists and certainly nearly all doubters were taught as children that the fundamentalist beliefs which you take pains to disavow above are literally true. In addition to those, concepts inclusive of an omniscient, omnipotent just and loving God AND eternal torment causes many of us suffer an almost unbearable cognitive dissonance. In case you aren't familiar with the term, "cognitive dissonance", it is the painful tension of "knowing" that something is true to the point of it being a deeply engrained assumption, and the PERCEPTION (via the senses and rational thought) that contradicts it.

The success of books on atheism is because they offer to resolve that tension by discrediting such myths as the virgin birth, and the many and profound contradictions in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic notions of "God".

I am also firmly convinced that a huge proportion of atheists are not dis-believing of the value of right and good and true, but disbelieve the anthropomorphic CONCEPT of "God" which is so very conflicted and contradictory to those values.

Answer 2

First things first : If one is a hammer the whole world could very well look like a nail. From a certain point of view there are always deep allegorical meanings to a lot of life's lightweight and basically trivial events . Why a book is a best seller is simply because more people bought more copies of it than they did the other books that were available. Sometimes life is just what is it appears to be -no more & no less
I attempted to read the article ,I immediatley realized that I was ill-equiped to do so , went into the garage got out my hip waders , went back to the article , preceded to plod my way through the muck and the mire of decomposing fundie detritus until finally I reached the end of the article
The authors argument in a nutshell is that the only way to defeat an evil dedicated fundamentalist religous movement is to have a good dedidicated fundamentalist religous movement to oppose it.
While I disagree with the religous argument ,I know that often the difference between winning and losing comes down to which side wants it more and what they are willing to pay to get the victory.

Answer 3

I have a couple problems with his suppositions - the first that struck my eye was that he is suggesting that parents are not bothering to teach their children. True, some aren't. But the cycle has come around again - kids who were my students and had uninvolved parents are now being very involved in their children's lives - on all levels.

Second was his assumption that A. Atheism is a religion and B. Immoral at that. LIke morals don't exist outside of a church setting. This shows he is being purposefully ignorant, and it is also quite amusing, because most of us know any number of Christians with worse morals than those of the Atheists they also know.

I think this man hasn't been in a bookstore lately. He should wander the aisles of Barnes and Noble, or Walden Books, or go online to Amazon.com. The number of new religious texts available in any of these venues is by far larger than those espousing an atheistic point of view. Have we had more lately? Certainly - but lets look at the age of the authors- and most of the customers. Over 30, and in most cases, over 40. That suggests to me an generation of adults who were raised in and practiced religion for decades, but who are now questioning the church and the practices of its followers.

Here's my suggestion for the author of that article - you want influence on the younger generation? Then actually model the behavior you wish them to espouse. No more of this "do as I say, not as I do" practices - all it does is alienate the youth, especially the late teens and early 20s, who note how poorly a large number of the religious act while declaiming the same behaviors in people of other faiths and/or cultures. It surely alienated me, but as Squirt put it, I guess I'm more a spiritual atheist, because I still keep an open mind and still find religions fascinating.

That's my honest answer. and I'm glad you are also an open minded individual. To me, creationism and evolution don't have to be mutually exclusive. Only the literalists feel that way.

Answer 4

I, too, am like you sister. I am a Christian who believes in evolution. The link you provided said, "Sorry, the page cannot be found". So I'm not totally sure what you're asking. As far as why books on Atheism are such best sellers now, I truly believe that what many of these churches today are promoting as Christianity is such a farce nowadays, that people are thinking, "What a bunch of money hungry evil doers." I think that is pushing people to be turned off to Christianity but they don't know that we true Christians are turned off to it, too. It's sad. I also think views like creationism push people away because it goes against scientific fact and many Christians say you have to believe it or else you are going against the bible. Again. Not true and so sad. And some people just choose to be Atheists despite what bad things are done in the name of Christianity. It's a combination of all of the above, I guess.

Answer 5

Well, according to the author of the article, Dennis Prager, you are probably part of the problem... (as he sees it)

Since he sees truth (and morality) only residing in his particular version of his particular religion, the rise of a secular view of the world, or even a liberal Christian one, is sign of degeneration, not progress.

Why is the alternative becoming popular?

When even 52% of active American Christians see the Christian church as judgemental*, there's going to be a market for other viewpoints.
When many moderate (for want of a better term) Christians cannot identify with the pronouncements of some prominent Christian leaders , the question of which Christianity is Christianity will arise and, with it, the question of whether non-Christian viewpoints have something to offer.

Holding to the truth as he sees it, (and I fully understand the stance and the reasoning) Mr Prager does not want to move towards being more accommodating or appealing.

From my point of view, however, "Only strong moral religion can defeat strong immoral religion" is a recipe for polarization to be feared, not supported.
It wouldn't take much for that to twist into "We must be more fanatical than the enemy". Some have claimed to see the first steps down that path.

*taken from a recent question: see below.

Answer 6

Everyone is seeking some kind of view which can help them make sense of why we're here and who we are. Since religion has failed many and abused many others people are looking in other diections. You'll probabl yfind that there are actually far more books on Spiritual development than there are on Atheism as so many people are waking up to the depth of our being, beyond religious or logical constructs.
Hope this is helpful and sorry to hear you've been getting such a hard time on this one

Answer 7

Unlike what is being stated in the article, I think intelligent, creative, inquiring people are moving away from religion simply because they see the results of religious belief on the world stage. Be it the ongoing violence in the Gaza Strip, the war in Iraq or the war in Afghanistan, people are witnessing the mind numbing, soul destroying actions of believers killing each other over a difference of opinion on god, and the correct path to this god.

Of course these same events have been witnessed in the past. Be it the Crusades, or the Inquisition, what we are witnessing today is the same violent disease human beings have witnessed and suffered from before. But I honestly believe the difference in reaction from a greater number of people is due to better world communications. Thanks to the internet, as soon as some violent event takes place, it is instantly viewable through the internet.

Depression and despondency over our inability to get alone with others of differing religious opinion and belief systems results. Eventually, we either acquiesce to the horror or we begin to move away from the source or this horror. Religion.

Once the fundamental question of the value of religion to our species crumbles, then the bright, creative minds look elsewhere. Enter a growing interest in the ultimate opposite to religion. Atheism. Thus we find an ever growing number of books on the market about atheism coupled with ever increasing sales in these books.

What I believe we are witnessing on the world stage today is not the End Times as described in the monotheistic religious constructs, or even what the Norse believed would happen when we moved ever closer to this perceived moment in time, but rather a moving away from it all. And as we move away, as we open ourselves to Agnosticism or Atheism or even a return to the origins of it all, Paganism, the voices of monotheistic religious belief scream ever louder. The violence and hypocrisy becomes bloodier and more insane.

If there is an End Times coming, it is a religious End Times.

Answer 8

I suspect that such books are bestsellers for a couple of reasons: one, they're saying something that people are ready to hear; and two, they provide evidence and arguments to bolster the non-religion side and remind nonbelievers that while they may be in the minority, they're not alone and they're not crazy.

Aside: You suggested in your original question that the 9-11 attacks and militant Islam are pushing people into atheism. I daresay that's true in some cases. But maybe there's also a more subtle truth at work -- maybe the real turnoff is that Islam is not so very much worse than other faiths, but in fact is really very much like all the rest.

Just my opinion.

Answer 9

Well, even though many atheists won't admit to their thoughts and beliefs it would seem that today it is more acceptable to do so and the fact that some write books on the subjects shows that. If you found something that for a long time no one would talk or write about, when it becomes available, many will take a look. For some, it may become a relief to not feel like they aren't the only one who feels as they do.

Plus for some, it may be mere curiosity and they just want to see what everything is about.

Answer 10

I approve of this advert because of the fact it makes my state of Mississippi look much less stupid. each time I stress around the border into Alabama, i will sense my IQ drop 20 factors. yet then there are magnificent spots, like Lake Hypatia. Roy Moore will in all likelihood be governor. he's the state ideally suited court docket choose faraway from the bench for hauling in a super boulder with the ten Commandments engraved on the rock.