“I’m an atheist swimming in a sea of superstition, surrounded by well-meaning, good people with whom I share a culture and similar concerns, and there’s only one thing I can do. I have to laugh.” —PZ Myers
Through his popular science blog, Pharyngula, PZ Myers has entertained millions of readers with his infectious love of evolutionary science and his equally infectious disdain for creationism, biblical literalism, intelligent design theory, and other products of godly illogic. In this funny and fearless book, Myers takes on the religious fanaticism of our times with the gleeful disrespect it deserves, skewering the apocalyptic fantasies, magical thinking, hypocrisies, and pseudoscientific theories advanced by religious fundamentalists of all stripes.
With a healthy appreciation of the absurd, Myers not only pokes fun at the ridiculous tenets of popular religions but also highlights how the persistence of Stone Age superstitions can have dark consequences: interfering with our politics, slowing our scientific progress, and limiting freedom in our culture.
Forceful and articulate, scathing and funny, The Happy Atheist is a reaffirmation of the revelatory power of humor and the truth-revealing powers of science and reason.
The Happy Atheist
Pinned on August 1, 2013 at 6:51 am by Javier Cooper
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Amiable and pleasant, but who is the audience? This short, breezy book contains a number of very short pieces that I gather were originally blog posts biology professor PZ Myers. As such, they were likely amiable and pleasant reads directed at an audience of followers and whoever among the general public stumbled across them. They are certainly (mostly) entertaining and generally have a point to make regards the ongoing tension here in the US between faith and reason. Were I to have run across one or another of them somewhere on the web, I would have read them, smiled, nodded perhaps, and gone on about my business. As a compiled volume, though, I am a bit confused – who exactly is the intended audience here?As an adult, modestly read atheist there is nothing here that makes me take any real notice. There is nothing that makes me look at or examine my thinking; nothing that challenges me to look harder, think deeper, or reassess where I stand. His blogs on the violent and disturbing hate mail he receives from various religious sorts IS disturbing, but unfortunately nothing new or terribly startling and is amusing only in a grim sort of black-comedy way.Conversely, there is nothing here addressed to, or directed at a person of faith that may be questioning her or his own beliefs and looking for something to help them examine their thinking. It is not really an attack on religion or faith in any particularly structured way, and the arguments briefly tossed out here and there in favor of reason are neither new, novel, nor presented with any fresh insight. This is all pretty much old hat.And if it is aimed at young persons, who may be struggling with their own atheism in the face of a more-or-less hostile society here in the US, well, it doesn’t really offer much for them in terms of “how to become a happy atheist yourself.”I do readily admit, again, that this is a pleasant, breezy read (I finished it in one quiet morning in the backyard) and it is very amiable and affable book – Myers does indeed seem to be a happy atheist (which is kind of nice considering how many grumpy atheists are here among us), but his book is neither very deep or very wide. I smiled and nodded a few times, then finished up, set it aside, and didn’t think much of it again until I set down to write this. I, too, am a happy atheist, but I’m not asking you all to fork over twenty-some dollars for a few pages of “Yep, the faithful sure are strange and exasperating.” (Side note: if you WANT to send me twenty bucks, I’ll happily send you some of my thoughts.”Not at all a bad, quick, mostly entertaining read, but can’t really recommend it.
The Content Atheist I had high hopes for this book. Not because I have read anything that PZ Myers has written but because of the fact that I have heard his name time and time again in the atheist blog circles. I am not part of a movement or feel the need to shout my beliefs from the mountaintop, but I do appreciate those who are and do. This book just didn’t do it for me.Hoping this would be entertaining, as it didn’t appear more than a series of essays, I figured it wouldn’t be a scholarly book or researched tome. Instead, it was a collection of essays that I realize much have been part of his blog. The Introduction, About the Author and next couple of chapters really had me interested. By the 7th, I was pretty bored.I found myself skipping over whole passages, as they were just repeating themselves. It was chapter after chapter of stories outlining arguments and disagreements between him and different people and organizations. It just didn’t keep my interest. I have read books in the past like those by Penn Jillette that made me laugh and those by Dale McGowan that made me think, but this is really just a very focused memoir on one person’s atheism and how he has dealt with people who make his life hard.People will enjoy this book. Those with a more serious stance on atheism, those that are part of the movement that can shake their heads in agreement on the ridiculousness of these stories. They will like it. But it just really wasn’t for me.
Hoped for a better book To be honest I had never heard of the author, and after reading the short pieces in the book (some just one page long) I googled his name and sure enough this book seems to be repeats from his Pharyngula site.Also will note I prefer the legitimate wit and thoughtfulness of an atheist like Penn Jellette to that of the author or someone like Richard Dawkin who like the author comes off as snarky, mean, bitter and anything but thought provoking.In fact the same reasons I dislike the radical religious and political right are the same reasons I dislike those like the author. This became even more apparent when reading chapter 7 I Am Not A Spoiled Child Having A Temper Tantrum. Because he does come off as a spoiled brat who needs an attitude adjustment.Chapter 10 Dirty Words could have been interesting, but I guess I was spoiled by the brilliance of the late George Carlin who had a mature funny take on how silly society is about the use of certain words. Skip this chapter and head over to YouTube and watch the the George Carlin videos.