Jesus Books
Offline I was in a bookstore the other day and couldn't help but notice the ubiquitous books and DVDs for "The Secret," which if you haven't heard about it, is the latest self-help nonesense that makes Dr. Phil look sensible. Apparently, the secret is if you simply think hard enough about something you want, you'll get it. That's it. That's actually the secret. I didn't notice any overt God stuff in it, but it's certainly in the same ballpark.
It amazes me how many covert Christian books are in the market. I also took a brief look at the Inspirational Section of the book store. Apparently despite the fact that the word "inspirational" is not tied to religion at all, this is an exclusively Jesus friendly section devoted to Left Behind books and "Jesus loves you books" posing as self-help. I even noticed a book about relieving stress by a medical doctor there. I read the back cove, which said the strategy was based on "God's word, health and nuitrition, and common sense." It seems to me that one of those things is entirely unnecessary, but maybe that's me.
I just wanted to open up a discussion about this saturation of religion related books and hear people's thoughts about them.
- Login to post comments
Well, since I know we have our greeting cards, do we have atheist inspirational books? Books to show people that life is great and that they can solve their problems without resorting to the god brand security blanket?
The Regular Expressions of Humanistic Jones: Where one software Engineer will show the world that God is nothing more than an undefined pointer.
The Purpose Driven Life. Wait, forget that.
Before coming to the conclusion that I was a non-believer I did extensive research/reading on the topic. Most of this reading was done on the internet, as I've found it to be the most abundant source of information on atheism. I was struck by how obvious the truth was, how truly ridiculous theism seemed to be. I felt that if only everyone else in the world learned this information, they would see it too. I couldn't get enough, and went to my local Barnes and Noble to pick up a book or two on the subject. After spending 20 minutes searching for a section that would contain books supporting atheism I finally approached someone at the help desk. I asked where I could find the books on atheism. The woman informed me that there was no actual section or even shelf dedicated to it. She directed me towards the small section dedicated to philosophy and I continued my search there. I found 2 books relating to atheism. Disappointed, I did select one of them to purchase. Not surprisingly, there were 2-3 aisles devoted to Christianity and numerous others devoted to other religions.
I finally realized why this obvious truth was known to so few in my life: they were never even given the opportunity to learn about it. This really kind of disturbed me that a large bookstore such as Barnes and Noble that had aisles devoted to witchcraft, christianity, spirituality, astrology, etc. wouldn't even carry a handful of books containing logic and reason. My local library had absolutely none (actually, one focused on condemning atheism, but that’s it) and my university's library had a few outdated books. While there may not be an abundant amount of atheist-friendly books out there, there are MUCH more than a few written in the 80s, and I don’t understand why these various institutions refuse to even offer or acknowledge them.
So what section has The God Delusion?
None. This Barnes and Noble did not carry it. At all. It did have "Letters to a Christian Nation" (which I purchased).
I'm planning on writing a book, but it needs to be good. Not only good writing, but good citations, references, etc.
The Borders in Wynnewood (near Ardmore, outside of Philly) has a very small shelf (it's actually a half of a shelf) dedicated to books about atheism. Most of the more common books are there, and a few that I haven't read.
I haven't looked at the ones in Philadelphia recently (even though I actually live in the city), but I'd not be surprised if the same thing was the case there.
I've also noticed many Christian book stores around. I've never actually been inside one, but they are common in the suburbs. The one that sticks out in my mind is one called "The Mustard Seed" near West Chester.
I actually had Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, send me a copy of Josh McDowell's More Than a Carpenter after a short email correspondence. What a shotty argument that was! (both the book and the correspondence). These writers really need to apologize for their apologetics.
Shaun
I'll fight for a person's right to speak so long as that person will, in return, fight to allow me to challenge their opinions and ridicule them as the content of their ideas merit.
I've never seen an atheist book in any local bookstore. I've gotten them from Amazon.
The Barnes & Noble by me in NJ had a few books on atheism, located in the philosophy aisle. I usually order stuff like that online.
However, there are a multitude of christian bookstores around here. I've been tempted to go inside, just to see exactly what they have, but I'm afraid I'll get cornered and have to listen to a sermon or something. I wonder if you professed your atheism and told them you were just buying a bible to debunk it, if they would sell to you. Hmmm.
If god takes life he's an indian giver
My parents-in-law are always giving me self-help xtain books. It's fun to rip them to shreds when they leave
I have actually tried to read through them first but they all say the same stuff so I assume it's an easy topic to write about. Maybe that's why so many people are making the big bucks writing them. They have a huge following and there's money to be made. Publishers don't have a problem promoting those kinds of books because they know they'll sell.
There's an independant bookstore here in Oregon that has really good books that you won't find at Barnes and Nobles. I have never seen a spiritual/religious book there.
The problem is they use other Christian books as a reference, as well as the bible. It's self-supporting research, with books that can all say "this book says it" as a reference. The same thing happens with pseudo-nutrition books and holocaust denial- if enough people say it, it's true.
Let me add a different story about bookstores. I was in Leavenworth, WA a couple months back. It's one of those tourist trap towns in the Cascade mountains. They had a small book store there, so I went in not expecting to find much, but I found and bought Dennett's book Breaking the Spell and a book by Ehrman about the Gospel of Judas.
The fellow at the register struck up a conversation we me. He turned out to be (it seemed) a fellow bright. He had just finished reading The God Delusion, and was asking what I thought about Ehrman's books.
It kinda floored me.
"Best sellers."
In the NJ/NYC area, there are several Atheist books actually up front on tables for recent releases: Sam Harris' big two, as well as Breaking the Spell, The God Delusion, The History of God, which I think is more historical as the name suggests, and Misquoting Jesus (which I think is Atheist friendly). I've got an idea for a small book on Atheism myself. And maybe one day it'll be written. But it baffles my mind how many self-help books and 12-step programs can peddle the same "believe in jesus" answer and they all seem to make money.
In fact, that's my new money-making scheme: writing a self-help book where I tell people surrendering to jesus will relieve stress, cure male-pattern baldness, improve your sex life, make you successful in business and personal relationships, and cure cancer. Feel free to steal this idea. There's always room for more of these books, so we won't be competing for sales.