New Books in Secularism

In God’s Gravediggers: Why No Deity Exists (Ockham Publishing, 2016), Raymond D. Bradley takes a logical approach to examining the claim of most religions–Judeo-Christianity in particular–that there is a supernatural God of perfect wisdom and morality. Drawing on moral, logical, and scientific arguments, he not only demonstrates the impossibility of these claims, but also how they are in fact dama...

When undergraduate students look through a course catalog and see the title World Religions they probably have some idea what the course will be about. But why is that? Why do World Religions seem so self-evident in this historical moment? In After World Religions: Reconstructing Religious Studies (Routledge, 2016), edited by Christopher R. Cotter, Leverhulme Early Career Research Fellow in the Sc...

For the first time in human history, a significant percentage of the world’s population no longer believes in God. While its true that some societies are even seeing nonbelievers outnumber believers, it is extremely unlikely that we will see a total collapse of religion in the foreseeable future. This is why, according to Dr. Ronald A. Lindsay, countries across the globe must learn to carefully ma...

There are many fronts in the argument against the existence of a god or gods and veracity of religious narratives. Some familiar approaches are to critique the philosophical underpinnings of religious ideology or to make a case from the perspective of scientific evidence and the physical laws of reality. Inventing God: Psychology of Belief and the Rise of Secular Spirituality (Routledge, 2016), wr...

Coming out atheist isn’t always easy, but Greta Christina, atheist activist and blogger, has tips to make it easier for those who struggle. After scouring hundreds of coming-out-atheist stories, she comes to the conclusion that difficult as it may be, very few atheists regret coming out. Most people report feeling happier and more liberated after telling their social circle that they don’t believe...

In the depths of the internet there is many an article discussing the infinity of God. Its authors argue that God is infinite and endless and knows no bounds (what the difference is among those attributes is not usually explained). Imputing infinity to God is nothing new – one rarely (if ever) hears of a god that is deemed finite. In his new book, Dot, Dot, Dot: Infinity Plus God Equals Folly (Onu...

In the preface of There was no Jesus, There is no God (Amazon Digital Services, 2013),Raphael Lataster states that “it is not my job to disprove Christianity or any other religion. It is not my intention to destroy the fait of the faithful; nor do I desire to offend or upset believers in any way.” His new book is, in fact, meant to be an objective analysis of the evidence available for the existen...

“And having heard the king, they went their way; and lo, the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them, until it came and stood over where the Child was. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gi...

With so many religions in the world, how can you tell which one is correct? John W. Loftus tackles this question in his new book, The Outsider Test for Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True (Prometheus Books, 2013). In order to take on this perplexing question, John Loftus argues for a simple test called the Outsider Test for Faith, where believers – even if hypothetically – try to consider wh...

Why does it seem like everyone in the atheist movement is white and male? Are African-American women less interested in secularism? In her book, Godless Americana: Race and Religious Rebels (Infidel Books, 2013), Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson critiques the mainstream atheist movement’s lack of diversity and uncovers some of the reasons why African-Americans seem so connected to religion. She reveals that...

The perception of the United States as a Christian nation is one that is prevalent and persistent. It is difficult to conceive of a time when the term Christian America was not bandied about in the media, but as David Niose argues in his book Nonbeliever Nation: The Rise of Secular Americans(Palgrave Macmillan, 2012), the last thing the founding fathers wished for America was for it to be a space...

Are science and religion compatible, or are they fundamentally different ways of viewing the world? In the book,God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion(Prometheus, 2012), physicist Victor Stenger uses his knowledge of science to argue that the latter option is the case. Though acknowledging that some (though not many) prominent scientists are theists, Stenger argues...

Atheist blogger extraordinaire Adam Lee has published his first book, Daylight Atheism (Big Think, 2012), where he makes the case that religion is harmful and that secular humanism is a much better option. He demolishes many myths about atheism, such as that atheists don’t have a moral compass, or that morality for nonbelievers is always relative. He describes the incredible privilege that Christi...

In December of 1975, Agnes Bojaxhiu, also known as Mother Teresa, appeared on the cover of TIME magazine with a caption that read: “Living Saints.” Mary Johnson, a teenage girl at the time, saw this cover and was drawn in by what she saw as a wonderful life of meaning, love, and service. Two years later, she had joined the Missionaries of Charity, the religious community that Mother Teresa started...

In our very first fiction-book interview on New Books in Secularism, we chat with Alyson Miers, author of Charlinder’s Walk (CreateSpace, 2011). In this adventure secularism-themed novel, Miers introduces us to Charlinder, a curious and daring young man who lives in the year 2130. The world he lives in is vastly different from the one we know today. Due to a plague that swept the earth and killed...

In her shocking new book, The Good News Club: The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children (Public Affairs, 2012), Katherine Stewart describes how factions of the Christian Right, through groups such as the Good News Club, are seeking to indoctrinate children in public schools with their brand of fundamentalism. When a Good News Club came to a public school in her community, Stewart...

Popular atheist blogger Greta Christina has now written a book Why Are you Atheists so Angry? 99 Things that Piss off the Godless (Dirty Heathen, 2012) counters the widespread view (at least in America) that atheists are snarky and perpetually angry people, and explains the legitimate reasons why atheists should be rightfully angry (99 of them, to be precise). Greta cites a wide list of malpractic...