50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists »

Russell Blackford is a freelance writer, critic, and editor, based in Melbourne, Australia. He teaches part-time in the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University, where he specialises mainly in philosophical bioethics and legal/political philosophy. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Evolution and Technology, an on-line peer reviewed journal devoted to rigorous consideration of future prospects for the human species or its possible descendants.

Udo Schüklenk is a German-Australian philosopher. He has written or edited five books and published over one hundred articles in peer reviewed journals and books. His latest books are the co-edited volumes The Power of Pills (2006) and The Bioethics Reader (Blackwell, 2007). He is the Joint Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Bioethics and currently the Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics at Queen’s University in Canada. His current research focuses on ethical and policy issues in drug research and development.

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a unique and thought-provoking collection of original essays that address personal disbelief in a higher power . Drawn from an international cast of professionals in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics, contributors offer carefully considered statements of why they reject the idea of a deity governing the universe and human affairs. Several essays also address such issues as the social role of religion and its alternatives. The responses feature a stunning diversity of viewpoints and tone, ranging from rigorous philosophical arguments to highly personal — at times even whimsical — accounts of how each of these notable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives. Whether you're a believer or not, 50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists offers an intellectually stimulating journey into the possibilities for rational and reasonable people everywhere to live without the crutch of religion.

Library Journal

In more than 50 brief statements organized by Blackford (editor in chief, Journal of Evolution and Technology) and philosopher Schüklenk (coeditor, The Power of Pills: Social, Ethical & Legal Issues in Drug Development, Marketing & Pricing), contributors share views—their routes toward nonbelief and their feelings about the place of religion in the world, for good or ill—as various as those of Christian denominations quarreling over baptism. The only name of note here is James (the Amazing) Randi, a well-known magician and debunker of spurious psychic phenomena. Strikingly, the collection represents a fight of little interest to thoughtful theologians such as John Shelby Spong. VERDICT Considering the popularity of Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens's God Is Not Great, and Sam Harris's The End of Faith, this unsurprising gallimaufry of memoirs and observations will be of interest to disbelievers.

Acknowledgments ix

Introduction: Now More Important than Ever - Voices of Reason Russell Blackford Udo Schüklenk 1

Unbelievable! Russell Blackford 5

My "Bye Bull" Story Margaret Downey 10

How Benevolent Is God? - An Argument from Suffering to Atheism Nicholas Everitt 16

A Deal-Breaker Ophelia Benson 23

Why Am I a Nonbeliever? - I Wonder ... J. L. Schellenberg 28

Wicked or Dead? Reflections on the Moral Character and Existential Status of God John Harris 33

Religious Belief and Self-Deception Adèle Mercier 41

The Coming of Disbelief J. J. C. Smart 48

What I Believe Graham Oppy 50

Too Good to Be True, Too Obscure to Explain: The Cognitive Shortcomings of Belief in God Thomas W. Clark 57

How to Think About God: Theism, Atheism, and Science Michael Shermer 65

A Magician Looks at Religion James Randi 78

Confessions of a Kindergarten Leper Emma Tom 82

Beyond Disbelief Philip Kitcher 86

An Ambivalent Nonbelief Tarter Edis 97

Why Not? Sean M. Carroll 105

Godless Cosmology Victor J. Stenger 112

Unanswered Prayers Christine Overall 118

Beyond Faith and Opinion Damien Broderick 123

Could It Be Pretty Obvious There's No God? Stephen Law 129

Atheist, Obviously Julian Baggini 139

Why I am Not a Believer A. C. Grayling 145

Evil and Me Gregory Benford 157

Who's Unhappy? Lori Lipman Brown 161

Reasons to be Faithless Sheila A. M. McLean 165

Three Stages of Disbelief Julian Savulescu 168

Born Again, Briefly Greg Egan 172

Cold Comfort Ross Upshur 177

The Accidental Exorcist Austin Dacey 182

Atheist Out of the Foxhole Joe Haldewan 187

The Unconditional Love of Reality Dale McGowan 191

Antinomies Jack Darin 197

GivingUp Ghosts and Gods Susan Blackmore 200

Some Thoughts on Why I Am an Atheist Tamas Pataki 204

No Gods, Please! Laura Purdy 214

Welcome Me Back to the World of the Thinking Kelly O'Connor 220

Kicking Religion Goodbye... Peter Adegoke 226

On Credenda Miguel Kottow 230

"Not Even Start to Ignore Those Questions!" A Voice of Disbelief in a Different Key Frieder Otto Wolf 236

Imagine No Religion Edgar Dahl 252

Humanism as Religion: An Indian Alternative Sumitra Padmanabhan 259

Why I Am NOT a Theist Prabir Ghosh 263

When the Hezbollah Came to My School Maryam Namazie 270

Evolutionary Noise, not Signal from Above Athena Andreadis 274

Gods Inside Michael R. Rose John P. Phelan 279

Why Morality Doesn't Need Religion Peter Singer Marc Hauser 288

Doctor Who and the Legacy of Rationalism Sean Williams 294

My Nonreligious Life: A Journey From Superstition to Rationalism Peter Tatchell 300

Helping People to Think Critically About Their Religious Beliefs Michael Tooley 310

Human Self-Determination, Biomedical Progress, and God Udo Schüklenk 323

About the Contributors 332

Index 338