To no form of religion is woman indebted for one impulse of freedom. - Susan B. Anthony
No man ever believes that the Bible means what it says: He is always convinced that it says what he means. - George Bernard Shaw
Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it. - Christopher Hitchens
“God so loved the world that he made up his mind to damn a large majority of the human race” - Robert Green Ingersoll
Reposting from American Freethought.
The Essential Ten
1. Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell (1927)
2. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan (1995)
3. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (2006)
4. The End of Faith by Sam Harris (2004)
5. The Bible (critically read)
6. The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll
7. god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens (2007)
8. Collected Writings by Thomas Paine (pub. from 1776 to 1806) – Paine (1736-1809)
9. Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris (2006)
10. Why People Believe Weird Things by Michael Shermer (1997)
Also Recommended:
11. The Bible According to Mark Twain
12. Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel Dennett (2006)
13. Flim-Flam! by James Randi (1982)
14. Losing Faith in Faith by Dan Barker (1992)
15. The Qur’an (critically read)
16. On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1859)
17. Godless by Dan Barker (2008)
18. Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan Jacoby (2004)
19. Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith (1980)
20. Forbidden Fruit: The Ethics of Secularism by Paul Kurtz (1988)
Check the link for full descriptions, but I’m curious: What do you think is missing from this list?
"It is an interesting and demonstrable fact, that all children are atheists and were religion not inculcated into their minds, they would remain so."
—
Ernestine Rose, American feminist, abolitionist, freethinker, and atheist. (1810 - 1892)
(via ziltoidia)
(via iamheathen)"I will not attack your doctrines nor your creeds if they accord liberty to me. If they hold thought to be dangerous - if they aver that doubt is a crime, then I attack them one and all, because they enslave the minds of men."
— Robert Green Ingersoll
"Man is a credulous animal, and must believe something; in the absence of good grounds for belief, he will be satisfied with bad ones."
— Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays (1950), “Outline of Intellectual Rubbish” (via QuotationsPage.com)
"I don’t think we’re here for anything; we’re just products of evolution. You can say, ‘Gee, your life must be pretty bleak if you don’t think there’s a purpose,’ but I’m anticipating a good lunch."
— Dr. James Watson, Co-discoverer of the structure of DNA (via Wallbase.net)
Really?
Their logical conclusion is to say the kid’s nightmares are from a past life, and there is no other explanation for his statements?
You’re really going to label your child like that, and force him to grow up thinking he’s really someone else?
Do you even know what that could do to your kid, psychologically and emotionally?
