Here are some articles and books that influenced my decision to leave Christianity.
Available Online
- God is Imaginary
- Which Way? by Robert Ingersoll (1884).
Masterful storytelling of the way of the natural compared to the supernatural. - Is there an Artificial God? by Douglas Adams (1998)
- An Outline of Intellectual Rubbish by Bertrand Russell (1943)
- Why I Am Not A Christian by Bertrand Russell (1927)
- Why I Am Not a Christian by Keith M. Parsons (2000)
- The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine (1795)
- Bible Teaching and Religious Practice by Mark Twain
- A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom by Andrew Dickson White (1896)
Websites/Blogs
- God is Imaginary
- Cynical-C
- Friendly Atheist
- Pharyngula
- The Secular Web
- Debunking Christianity
- Sam Harris
- Richard Dawkins
- Skeptics Society
- Talk Origins
Books
- Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
- Adams, Douglas. The Salmon of Doubt (2001).
- Barker, Dan. Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists (2008).
- Brown, Derren. Tricks of the Mind (2007, UK Import).
- Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything (2003).
- Dawkins, Richard. The God Delusion (2006).
- Ingersoll, Robert Green. Orthodoxy (1884).
- Ehrman, Bart. Misquoting Jesus (2005).
- Epstein, Greg. Good Without God (2009).
- Gould, Stephen Jay. The Richness of Life: The Essential Stephen Jay Gould.
- Harris, Sam. The End of Faith (2004).
- Harris, Sam. Letter to a Christian Nation (2006).
- Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great (2007).
- Maisel, Eric. The Atheist’s Way: Living Well Without Gods (2009).
- McGowan, Dale. Parenting Beyond Belief: On Raising Ethical, Caring Kids Without Religion (2007).
- McGowan, Dale. Raising Freethinkers: A Practical Guide for Parenting Beyond Belief (2009).
- Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason (1795).
- Price, Robert. The Reason Driven Life.
- Pullman, Phillip. His Dark Materials Trilogy.
- Quinn, Daniel. Ishmael (1992).
- Sagan, Carl. The Demon-Haunted World (1996).
- Shermer, Michael. Why People Believe Weird Things (1997).
- Shermer, Michael. The Science of Good and Evil (2004).
- Tucker, Ruth. Walking Away from Faith: Unraveling the Mystery of Belief and Unbelief (2002). [Helpful for Christian family members struggling with your doubt.]
- Zimmer, Carl. Evolution (2001).
- Zuckerman, Phil. Society Without God: What the Least Religious Nations Can Tell Us About Contentment (2008).
Articles
- “The God Hypothesis” by Carl Sagan (Can be found in The Varieties of Scientific Experience and The Portable Atheist)
- “Night Walkers and Mystery Mongers” by Carl Sagan (in Broca’s Brain)
Videos
Okay, so this isn’t reading, but these videos have also had an impact on me.
- Derren Brown’s Trick of the Mind and The Heist. Brown shows how suggestible we really can be. He implicitly debunks lots of bunk. Plus it is highly entertaining and very well done. For a taste, see these clips.
- Richard Dawkins answering questions at Lynchburg, VA. This is where I was first exposed to his “ultimate boeing 747″ argument, and it really got me thinking.
Could I request “Job: A Comedy of Justice” by Robert Heinlein be placed on the reading list?
Also, “Revolt In 2100″ by Robert A Heinlein.
Also worth reading:
George H. Smith: Atheism: The Case Against God
Dawkins: The Blind Watchmaker
Carl Sagan: Cosmos
Harzanyi: The Star Gazer
Ayn Rand: The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, The Objectivist Newsletter
Nathaniel Branden: The Vision of Ayn Rand
For great fiction that embodies rationalism/humanism, read Albert Camus’ ‘The Plague’, Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ / ‘The Blind Assassin’ or Ian McEwan’s ‘Saturday’.