Chain Reading

This is a compendium of articles written by many contemporary authors on all aspects of religion, mostly,though not in all cases, from an atheist perspective. A number of the articles were written specifically for this book; others appeared in such publications as Skeptical Inquirer, Free Inquiry, Found, and others.

Most of the articles focus on the Judaic religions, since most of the authors come from predominantly Christian-dominated cultures. The general tenor of the articles about Christianity is that the bible is chock-full of contradictions, that belief in the spirit world is irrational, that there's no evidence whatsoever for any god, let alone the God of the bible.

I'm not quite sure who the audience is for many of the articles: you have to already be an atheist to actually accept the argument that reason and evidence should be applied when thinking about the world. Christians, and religious believers generally, make a huge religious exemption from their normal insistence on evidence, and seem to be entirely immune from any efforts to get them to examine their religious beliefs as critically as they might examine, say, the wording on a shrink-wrap agreement.

Still, there are some articles that I wish could reach a wider audience. Ruth Hermence Green's The God From Galilee is an entertaining exegesis of the Jesus fables (I've excerpted her summary of the moral teachings of Jesus below). And the article Everyone's a Skeptic - About Other Religions seems like it ought to be thought-provoking for religious believers. Of course, religious believers have an infinite capacity for denial on this one subject.

Anyway, if you're an atheist you will find much to enjoy in this anthology. If you're not, well, you ought to be, but this book probably won't convince you of that.

And now, the Moral Teachings of Jesus, as Summarized in Modern English by Ruth Hermence Green:

• Accumulate no wealth or possessions. There is no need for them. Besides you would run the risk of getting rich. If you do, be sure to give it all away.
• Make no plans. Give no thought to the morrow. Do not buy groceries or cook. Don't buy patterns or sew. Just stand there like a lily. God will feed and clothe you.
• Be gloomy and mournful.
• Be self-righteous and put-upon, holier than thou. Parade your perfection in such a way as to invite persecution.
• Be smug and know that you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Let everybody know this.
• Do behave so you can be high up in the class system in heaven.
• Think of yourself as a gross sinner. Nearly every thought you have and almost everything you do must be regarded as a sin that will require repentance and forgiveness.
• Take no pleasure in this world. Constantly point toward the kingdom of God, the coming of which is imminent.
• Be sure to believe that someone else bought your way into heaven by being tortured to death, a death in which you had a hand. Be comfortable in that concept of salvation.
• Agree with everyone else.
• Don't admit to having sexual urges. If a sight of a member of the opposite sex arouses you, pluck out your eye.
• Be a eunuch, if you want to win special approval of God.
• Don't have deep love for your family. Abandon them, if you want to receive an "hundred¬fold" and attain everlasting life in heaven for sure.
• Be retiring, do not lead, take a back seat, do not assert yourself. Be a jellyfish. Do not be proud of your accomplishments.
• Love everybody. Have no special feeling for those who might otherwise endear themselves to you.
• If a criminal robs you of $50, give him another $50.
• Don't use your reason or your mind. Remain as a child, with no moral sense, ability to discriminate or make rational decisions, or experience to guide you.
• Be gullible and credulous. Do not question or philosophize.
• Don't resist any attacker. Let him abuse you again.
• If you lose a lawsuit, pay double what you are assessed.
• If someone kidnaps you and takes you five miles, offer to go ten.
• Love all those who mistreat you. This will encourage them to continue, since they have now discovered how to win your admiration and affection.
• Don't declare your charitable giving for income tax credit.
• Avoid the "dogs" and "swine" of this world. Save your uplifting thoughts for worthy persons.
• Don't worry or rebel at misfortune (which will be your special lot). Be content and passive, confident you have a heavenly father who loves you so much that if you don't grovel, he'll throw you into a furnace (lake?) of fire forever.
• Behave as you please most of your life and say you're sorry at the end. That way you'll get your reward before more exemplary persons at the seat of judgment.
• Do not achieve prominence in this world, for the first shall be last in the next.
• For special approbation, refrain from eating, pour oil on your head, and wash your face. Then take a gift to the church.