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A review by astrocourt
Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless by Greta Christina
4.0
The book: Why Are You Atheists So Angry?: 99 Things That Piss Off the Godless
The author: Greta Christina, American atheist blogger, speaker, and author.
The subject: A debunking of the idea that atheists are all hateful and joyless, along with an expose of the destructive nature of religion.
Why I chose it: I used to read Greta Christina's blog and downloaded this book based on that.
The rating: Three and a half out of five stars
What I thought of it: First of all, I'm an atheist who feels that religion gets too much of a free pass to do bad things; in other words, I came to this book already agreeing with what the author has to say. I try not to always read things that confirm my existing point of view, but this book definitely did. I found it really informative and convincingly argued, though obviously that's coloured by my own beliefs. I had some issues with it, but my overall impression was positive.
There were a number of points that particularly resonated with me. One of these was the oddness of certain religious people calling atheists arrogant when they believe the whole universe was created specifically for humans. Another one that I'd never considered before was addressed to both moderate and conservative believers: how do you know that whatever interpretation of your religious book you adhere to is the correct one, the one your deity (or deities) wants you to follow? The author also talks about Jesus and how (if he existed at all) he wasn't necessarily the benign presence some people believe him to be, linking to a relevant post on her blog to avoid the narrative getting derailed. Finally, there was this quote:
One issue with this book is that it's very America-centric, which is understandable because the author is American and atheists are generally viewed quite negatively over there, but there are a lot of points that just don't apply in the UK. The writing style is also very blog-like and could have done with some tightening up. There was a fair amount of repetition as well. This book was self-published, which shows; a bit of editing and the writing could have matched the content.
Overall, though, I thought this book was really good. Some other reviewers have complained that the author employs an angry tone, but after reading what she has to say and all the examples of bad things religion has done, I have to say any anger is more than justified. For me it was preaching to the choir (pun intended) and I'm not sure if a believer would get anything out of it besides confirmation that we're a bunch of hateful ranters, but it's given me plenty more fuel for debating the value of belief.
Just one more thing: I haven't read Greta Christina's blog in ages, but went there today. I really enjoyed this post, about humanism and depression, in particular.
Also, I found this image on the Skeptic's Annotated Bible website and couldn't not share it.
The author: Greta Christina, American atheist blogger, speaker, and author.
The subject: A debunking of the idea that atheists are all hateful and joyless, along with an expose of the destructive nature of religion.
Why I chose it: I used to read Greta Christina's blog and downloaded this book based on that.
The rating: Three and a half out of five stars
What I thought of it: First of all, I'm an atheist who feels that religion gets too much of a free pass to do bad things; in other words, I came to this book already agreeing with what the author has to say. I try not to always read things that confirm my existing point of view, but this book definitely did. I found it really informative and convincingly argued, though obviously that's coloured by my own beliefs. I had some issues with it, but my overall impression was positive.
There were a number of points that particularly resonated with me. One of these was the oddness of certain religious people calling atheists arrogant when they believe the whole universe was created specifically for humans. Another one that I'd never considered before was addressed to both moderate and conservative believers: how do you know that whatever interpretation of your religious book you adhere to is the correct one, the one your deity (or deities) wants you to follow? The author also talks about Jesus and how (if he existed at all) he wasn't necessarily the benign presence some people believe him to be, linking to a relevant post on her blog to avoid the narrative getting derailed. Finally, there was this quote:
If there’s an argument for religion that’s convincing — actually convincing, convincing by means of something other than authority, tradition, personal intuition, confirmation bias, fear and intimidation, wishful thinking, or some combination of the above — wouldn’t we all know about it?
One issue with this book is that it's very America-centric, which is understandable because the author is American and atheists are generally viewed quite negatively over there, but there are a lot of points that just don't apply in the UK. The writing style is also very blog-like and could have done with some tightening up. There was a fair amount of repetition as well. This book was self-published, which shows; a bit of editing and the writing could have matched the content.
Overall, though, I thought this book was really good. Some other reviewers have complained that the author employs an angry tone, but after reading what she has to say and all the examples of bad things religion has done, I have to say any anger is more than justified. For me it was preaching to the choir (pun intended) and I'm not sure if a believer would get anything out of it besides confirmation that we're a bunch of hateful ranters, but it's given me plenty more fuel for debating the value of belief.
Just one more thing: I haven't read Greta Christina's blog in ages, but went there today. I really enjoyed this post, about humanism and depression, in particular.
Also, I found this image on the Skeptic's Annotated Bible website and couldn't not share it.