I need to get this post up! when I first read the blurb at Weekly Geeks I thought "I'll do the dumbing down of America" but now 2 people have done that. Then I thought "I could write about local food or going green" but now there are two of those posts as well!
So I am writing about being an atheist. In case you hadn't realized, I am. This to me falls under a political issue because other people make their religion political. My lack of religion is more of a big deal in Tennessee than it ever was in south Louisiana. I guess in Louisiana it is just kinda assumed you're Catholic unless you advertise otherwise so it's no big deal. Nobody asks what church you go to or who your pastor is. While there are more Catholic churches there, the total number of churches is a lot less than in Nashville. People are so pushy about it here. I really think they must give out a big tv at some churches to the person who brings in the most new people each year. I don't want to be preached to at the grocery store, or the library, or while walking in my neighborhood. When I had to fill out paperwork for my gall bladder surgery a few years ago the admit nurse got on me for not filling out the religion box.
"Everyone needs a religion," he said as he started to launch into his speil.
"Put down Catholic," I said, wanting to preempt the lecture and figuring if I did die in surgery my mother would feel better knowing I had the last rites.

All this ranting to say that I think that my anti-religious feeling has grown in the last 7 years due to both where I have been living as well as the political climate. While I have plenty of problems with religion in general (promoting group-think, blind obedience to those in a position of authority and magical thinking being the biggest) it is really the conservative sections of all types that get me going. My suggestions are a mix of things. Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I've read this one, and did enjoy it, if you can say you enjoyed a story so full of pain. Explores the author's experience with conservative religion, in this case Islam, and how she came to not believe in it. It is disturbing and not for the squeamish. The End of Faith by Sam Harris. I highly recommend this to anyone. I read this before i started blogging and it really stuck in my thinking. Pointing out a lot of reasons why religion is damaging to humanity, Harris also censures mainstream religion for tolerating and even helping the extremists by not getting rid of the more useless parts of their holy books (stoning disobedient children? selling your daughters to slavery?). Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy by David Ramsay Steele. One I have not read but is on my list. Based on the blurbs, it both dismantles various pro-God arguments and also builds on the atheist arguments.

Everything You Know about God is Wrong edited by Russ Kick. He's the editor of the various Disinformation Guides, which are great. Another I haven't read, this popped up on my radar because it features a Neil Gaiman comic about a biblical atrocity that could have sent the publisher to prison! The Separation of Church and State: Writings on a Fundamental Freedom by America's Founders by Forrest Church. Not one I've read either but on my wishlist now. Want to read what Jefferson, Washington, Adams and others actually wrote about church and state issues? This is a compilation of their writings.
So I would think any of these would be great reads. If you want to jump into some really militant atheism, which i have personally enjoyed, try recent ones by Richard Dawkins or Christopher Hitchens.

I really have to thank Dewey for framing this theme this way. It made me figure out how to add picture in particular places! So since I now know how to do this, here's a bit of Tennessee for everyone!
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