Your Own Sacred Texts

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Permalink Reply by Hidden in the crowd. on November 25, 2010 at 2:48am

I mostly read fiction and fantasy, so i was gonna say Dune<3 like Joseph said, and i like the Eragon books, some of Tom Clancy's work and a bunch of other stuff i don't feel like typing/remembering.


oh and some of my female friends said that "You Slay Me" was a good book but that it wasnt fitting for guys, i tend to agree that it doesnt fit for guys since i actually read the first book, but that shouldn't be a problem for you now should it... i also didnt quite like the writing style of the author but that's my opinion. :D

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Permalink Reply by Abnormal on November 26, 2010 at 8:26pm

Breakfast of Champions, Hunter Gracchus, The Metamorphosis, 1984 oh man you know what there are too many to name.

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Permalink Reply by Jim on January 15, 2011 at 3:40pm

New here, haven't read all the replies.

My pick would be anything by Mark Twain. Here's an author so covertly anti-religion, I get amused when I see a Fundie talk about his stories.

If I were to pick one of his writings, I'd have to say "Report from Paradise"

Captain Stormfield, the main character, dies and goes to Heaven. A few paraphrases:

Peter (at the gates): Where are you from?
Stormfield: From the world.
Peter: Which one, there are BILLIONS! You're wasting my time. Next.

(Then a blue man with seven heads and one leg hops into line.

Later Stormfield explains to Peter that he is from "Earth". Peter is confused and finally realizes where Stormfield is referring. "Oh, we call that The Wart."

Definitely worth the read if you can find it. It's short and easy to read in an evening.

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Permalink Reply by max koenig on January 15, 2011 at 4:26pm

Lucy - The beginnings of humankind. Johanson & Edey. Sort of puts on in ones place.

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Permalink Reply by Aniruddha on January 28, 2011 at 10:23am

It is actually a play..but I recommend every member of this community to read it. It is called- "Life of Galileo" by Bertolt Brecht...It talks about the debate between religion and science-emperical evidence and blind faith..you must read it..a wonderful read.

 

I would also recommend 'Mind of God' which is one book I've come to worhsip..a great insightful book into the history of our universe...

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Permalink Reply by Jim DePaulo on January 28, 2011 at 10:36am

The 3rd act of G. B. Shaw's Man and Superman, "Don Juan in Hell" is a great treatment of the Heaven/Hell bullshit.

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Patrick Stene on February 6, 2011 at 3:00pm

I'm New here but I'

ll throw in some comments:

I like Dawkins But I think the God Delusion is one of the most overrated books in relation to atheistic readings. I mean Yes it is a good start but it's like how Watchmen is good start to get into "Good" Comics. SURE it does have merit. But is it the Atheist/Comic Book Bible (respectively) no.

Though related to the idea of non-theistic thinking my picks are (Forgive me I only recently started reading religious criticism voraciously):
God Delusion
Blind Watchmaker
The Demon Haunted World by Carl Sagan
God is Not Great
Why am I not a Christian (Yes...A Lecture I know)

I too worship Life of Brian. Its an amazing critique.


I OWN but have not yet read:
God The Failed Hypothesis by Victor J. Stenger
The Dragons of Ede by Carl sagan

And Cosmos By Carl Sagan

I'm also in the process of going through: Cosmos: a Personal Voyage and Through the Wormhole with Morgan freeman

AS WELL As digesting many debates with Hitchens.

I'm super cliche what can I say.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel on February 12, 2011 at 2:50pm

Herodotus and Thucydides. Livy- all of his books. The ancients have a way of cutting through the bs and showing common threads that we think are so new. Ancient history and ancient warfare..........

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Permalink Reply by Hiram on February 17, 2011 at 11:49am

There is a Pastafarian Bible out there, and the Principia Discordia, if you're looking for mock scriptures for comedic value.

As far as Greek philosophies that are non-theistic my favorite is Epicureanism, it's a very wholesome and inspiring humanist philosophy and the Epicureans were always very much egalitarians, they argued philosophy with women and slaves as equals in the Epicurean Gardens which was very progressive even for their times.  The most prevalent scripture of the Epicurean movement as the Principal Doctrines of Epicurus.

Then there are the scriptures of Zen Buddhism, which is the most dynamic of all non-theistic spiritualities today.  I really like the Dhammapada, which is the Gospel of Siddhartha Buddha.  It really is a fountain if virtue.  I've had it for years and still read it every now and then.

This may seem odd, but also the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible was apparently written by existentialists, agnostics or people with a philosophical mindset who questioned the afterlife (although they fell short of questioning the existence of God).  It's full of practical advise in life and it's the height of the wisdom tradition in the Bible. 

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Permalink Reply by mistercliff on May 12, 2011 at 9:09am

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, The Brothers Karamazov, Huckleberry Finn, Cyrano De Bergerac, The Time Machine.

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Permalink Reply by pixie on May 12, 2011 at 10:12am

If you like fantasy, the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett is my favorite; I own every single book in that series and re-read them frequently. I also enjoy reading everything Dawkins. Classics like the Hitchikers series, Anne McCaffrey are also great. Ingersoll's essays as well as Bertrand Russel for some real good old-timey atheist fun are also wonderful.

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Permalink Reply by Eileen on May 14, 2011 at 10:50pm

Reporting the Universe by E L Doctorow is a good choice for this topic, Doctorow is interested in using literature as a kind of non-theist scripture.

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