Any atheists? Any at all?

[Mike]

I know this is really late but I'm new to the group and, while I don't have a book suggestion, I must recommend that you and your wife listen to Reasonable Doubts. It's a wonderful podcast for the skeptically-minded and really helped me through a tough situation similar to yours; I signed a lease with four evangelical christians my freshman year of college (even though I was sorta on the fence about religion at the time) and then definitively deconverted over the summer but still had to endure an entire year of living with them (and they never found out that I was an atheist. . . somehow). It's a simple thing but listening to them gave me a sense of community when I was stuck in an awful situation.

p.s.- I'm not saying that living with or being around Christians is terrible; most of them are quite nice. These guys were nuts though. Not quite speaking-in-tongues crazy but they were certainly in their own world.

[Noel]

Micah wrote: "Noel wrote: "Sigh.....ok ok, I'll bite. What good reasons do you have for believing JRT was mentally ill? "


just to jump in here.....Tom Bombadill? ;)"

But Micah, Tom Bombadil is the best part of the book although admittedly you have to be intelligent and discerning to appreciate it, so that's you out! :)

[Micah]

Noel wrote: "Micah wrote: "But Micah, Tom Bombadil is the best part of the book although admittedly you have to be intelligent and discerning to appreciate it, so that's you out! :)
"

BAAAM! nice one. :)

[Trike]

Darren wrote: "Walrus wrote: "I am thinking about writing some form of Christian Science Fiction."

Like... the Bible?"

I find that reply personally offensive. The Bible is Christian Fantasy. Get your genres right, bud!

[Tamahome]

I used to be an atheist, but then I lost faith.

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Hahahahaha, oh Tamahome!

[Laura]

Adding a suggestion: Anne McCaffrey's Crystal Singer series. They are nicely religion-free, and very good romance plots... I like them better than her pern books, but that's just me. The pern books are also very good. the crystal singer books are more scifi, the pern more fantasy.

I agree on recommending His Dark Materials and hitchhiker's guide, although, HDM does feel like a young adult read to me. And for hitchhiker's, I highly recommend stopping after book 4, especially if you don't want to ruin the romantic resolution. Book 5 is still good, so it's just a recommendation.

And I like Asimov because I feel like he gets existential with his stories sometimes, so it does feel like a scientific approach to existence, reality, and philosophy. Very satisfying :)

[Daniel]

I'm not personally a believer but the idea of limiting ones reading to only books that support my world view is a little creepy. No offense. We must allow our ideas, even the most cherished, to stand in the line of fire. No sacred cows you know? That being said, if you like audio books, Audible has a cast reading of His Dark Materials which is awesome.His Dark Materials

[Noel]

Trike wrote: "Darren wrote: "Walrus wrote: "I am thinking about writing some form of Christian Science Fiction."

Like... the Bible?"

I find that reply personally offensive. The Bible is Christian Fantasy. Get ..."

Very true, but is it High Fantasy? Low Fantasy? Urban Fantasy?

[Ruth (tilltab) Ashworth]

Historical Fantasy. Duh! :P

[Noel]

(slaps forehead) Baaaaah! Silly me, of course!

[James]

It's probably been mentioned already but there is The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (or anything by Douglas Adams). He generally just makes fun of religion although God did exist in the series (killed off by logic).

His Dark Materials Trilogy by Philip Pullman (Northern Lights & etc) is a great series which is very anti-religion. Plus, it gives you a warm fuzzy feeling knowing that it got sooo up the noses of churches (banned by many).

The Color of Magic (or the Discworld series as a whole, by Terry Pratchett) pokes fun at religion and features some slightly bonkers & unortadox gods.

[Mary]

My father-in-law gave my nephew a book of Bible Stories one Christmas several years ago. As he has stepped away from his church pretty vehemently, most of his family looked at him in shock when they saw the gift. He responded with a beatific smile, "Every child should learn the myths of their people..."

[Philip]

“If chance be the Father of all flesh,
Disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
And when you hear
State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!
It is but the sound of man worshiping his maker.”
― Steve Turner, Poems: Steve Turner

[Mysterio2]

Trike wrote: "Darren wrote: "Walrus wrote: "I am thinking about writing some form of Christian Science Fiction."

Like... the Bible?"

I find that reply personally offensive. The Bible is Christian Fantasy. Get ..."

Except for the Book of Ezekiel. That could be science fiction.

[Brittany]

I've seen it come up once or twice, but I definitely recommend the full Hyperion Cantos. It's very space-opera but it has a definite ending (unlike Song of Ice and Fire). It explores some definitive questions of science versus religion, as well as AI versus human and on and on. All four books were excellent reads and I went right through the series from start to finish. If you have access to Overdrive through your library, they do have all of the ebooks available for check out.

I think any kind of scifi that presents a different world and makes one question their stance on issues is also good. Dust by Elizabeth Bear and Lillith's Brood by Octavia Butler stand out as novels that made me question what I believed to be the "natural" way to do things. Like the Hyperion Cantos, they present futures that see very scifi but also very possible.

[Rene]

Read anything by Kurt Vonnegut. It's been 10 yrs since your post, but I was once decades ago in your wife's position. Then I found Vonnegut's books in the library and discovered I was not alone in thinking the way I did. Since that time, technology advanced and so it goes.