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Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism | 
 enlarge | Author: David Mills
Creator: Dorion Sagan
Publisher: Ulysses Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $8.84
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Avg. Customer Rating:  202 reviews
Sales Rank: 2283
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 1569755671
Dewey Decimal Number: 322
EAN: 9781569755679
ASIN: 1569755671
Publication Date: August 4, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080718222140T
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Product Description
Clear, concise, and persuasive, Atheist Universe details exactly why God is unnecessary to explain the universe and life's diversity, organization, and beauty. The author thoroughly rebuts every argument that claims to "prove" God's existence — arguments based on logic, common sense, philosophy, ethics, history and science.
Atheist Universe avoids the esoteric language and logic used by philosophers and presents its scientific evidence in simple lay terms, making it a richly entertaining and easy-to-read introduction to atheism. A comprehensive primer, it addresses all the historical and scientific questions, including: Is there proof that God does not exist? What evidence is there of Jesus's resurrection? Can creation science reconcile scripture with the latest scientific discoveries?
Atheist Universe also answers ethical issues such as: What is the meaning of life without God? It's a spellbinding inquiry that ultimately arrives at a controversial and well-documented conclusion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 197 more reviews...
 Godless Heathen Tells All July 13, 2008
Be sure to order this book with a plain brown wrapper so your believer friends won't report you to the Inquisition! Believers won't buy this book, but those seeking a popularist justification for atheism will be pleased.
David Mills' greatest asset is a clear writing style. I read his book after finishing Susan Jacoby's "Age of American Unreason" and found his style refreshingly simple. Part of the fun of Mills' book is his willingness to excoriate persons on the other side of the church aisle. He is especially hostile when it comes to those espousing "intelligent design."
While Mills adds some logical support for atheism (is there a faith-based way to do it?), you probably already believe what he says -- you just want more reasons or added explanation. He'll give it to you. However, Mills seems to take for granted the "scientific" evidence he provides in a basic form. While much of what he says would probably count as generally accepted science, there isn't much rigor in backing it up -- you'll need to take it on faith. It is a telling omission that Mills' biography inside the back of the book mentions nothing about having a PhD in philosophy or logic, or a degree of any kind (not on his web site either). As a result, you get a "pop science" perspective on atheism -- more entertaining than erudite. Read some of the 1 star ratings to get more on this perspective.
The nutshell of the book is the logical problem of an irreducible first cause. Religion gives it a masculine anthropomorphic character in Christianity and Judaism, while atheism leaves it in its raw form as the infinitely distant unknown.
Unless you believe works like Mills are the work of the devil, you should enjoy this book, although he never answers the question as to whether good atheists go to heaven.
Serious, good book. Includes irrelevant quotes, though July 9, 2008
This is one of the best books to come out on the subject since Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World (and boy, have there been plenty of them published lately!) It is well written and avoids the irate, bashing tone of most authors. Clearly, the debate is far from over, simply because no amount of science or reasoning has (so far) done away with the possibility of there being "something else out there" besides the worldly existence we perceive with our senses. In other words, the notion of life beyond death isn't as easily dismissable as some people would like, even if one uses the strictest logic and adheres to the most rigorous science. However, the book does a fine job of putting Judaeo-Christian mythology in its place (i.e. right next to Greek, Aztec, and other childish constucts of human imagination). Now, THAT is a debate that should have been over centuries ago!
It does sadden me, however, to see that even authors who claim to base their arguments on logic rather than moral authority still resort to interspersing quotes from celebrities in order to support their stance. In this book you will find phrases to that effect from Charlie Chaplin, Sigmund Freud, Isaac Asimov, and Jodie Foster (come on, guys, Jodie Foster??!!!) That is exactly what atheists want to avoid, because one of the most laughable aspects of the average believer's attitude is its constant insistence that "authoritative opinions" (from Jesus or whomever) actually constitute a valid means of argumentation.
 Yeah, this is the book EVERYONE should read!!! July 7, 2008
This book is written with "common sense" and I liked it a lot. All the arguments against Creationism are based on true scientific facts and observations and leave you with no doubt about all myths and beliefs of religion. Dr. Mills straightforwardly approaches every aspect of Genesis and inevitably disproves it with scientific statements. It is very sad and surprising that these days, despite such an enormous scientific progress, many people, or let' s be clear, the majority of people still believe in Supernaturalism. Dr. Mills, however, does not criticize the question "why" we still believe, he addresses this problem with a complete understanding that these kinds of beliefs are brought to us by our parents at the age when we are unable to rationally comprehend the reality. If your parents are religious, chances are you will also be, and no matter who you become later in life, scientist or priest, most likely you will carry your belief throughout the life. As Dr. Mills points out in the very first chapters of his book, no child is born to be religious, and therefore, religion is nothing but an inheritable trait from your upbringing. If you happened to be born in a Christian family, you'll be reading Bible and support Christianity. If you happened to be born in Islamic family, you will read and follow Quran and will be devoted to Allah. If you happened to be born in a family of atheists, most likely you will become an atheist as well, etc.. Also, because Genesis threatens all those who don't believe in God with Hell, many believers posses a fear of being burned in Hell, and therefore are unable to withstand from religion. Because Hell is the derivative from God, and God is the derivative from Supernaturalism and Supernaturalism is simply human imagination, no such thing as Hell exists. Dr. Mills examines every aspect of religion deeply with thorough scientific approach, thus revealing the common sense to us.
This book is very easy to read and any other person who respects rationality will enjoy it. Dr. Mills dives deep into the contradiction between Creationism and Science. One of the most important questions covered in this book is why people tend to believe in Supernatural Powers and how it contradicts the science and reality.
Only one thing I was skeptical about is the mention of pornography on the internet. Basically, one can view pornography as being "educational" to some extent, however, saying that children have no libido is a little off key here. It of course depends on what range of age of children is meant. Children until age 10 or 11 might go to see pornography purely out of curiosity, but teens do develop libido after 11 or so and their intentions on pornography might be different. While I don't believe that viewing pornography or masturbating is such a big sin, rather I'd consider it as a physical need, just like a need for eating or sleeping, but if my daughter goes online ONLY for that, then I would definitely be concerned.
So, who is this book for? If you are an atheist already, this book will not reveal anything new to you, it will simply reinforce you in the matter of atheism. You might still, however, enjoy reading it. If you are someone "in between" that is, a question of existence of God is not clear for you, then you should definitely read this book to finally find out the truth. If you are a strong believer, you might get offended and outraged reading this book unless you'll be able to face the truth with courage and to admit that religion is nothing but a human illusion.
good book July 2, 2008
Hey people will believe whatever they want to believe, but think about this.... if all of you read this book from a young age over and over... nothing in the world would make you believe in god, it goes both ways.. or better yet, dont believe in a book at all, stand on your own two feet, appreciate the creative nature of literature... its a good book, gets you thinking if you havent thought about certain things it mentions. ;) enjoy!
Mostly Effective June 23, 2008
I found it to be good basic info, a little slow at times. The last part on intelligent design was rather tedious. If you are just out of the church and need support to justify your new views this will be of great help to you.
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