Morgantown Atheists » Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club

Book Club Meeting: Aug 15: The GOD Part of the Brain

Neece — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 08:19:43 +0000

We are meeting at the Blue Moose at 5pm on August 15 for the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club.

We are reading The GOD Part of the Brain by Matthew Alper. We’ll read the whole book for this meeting.

Please leave suggestions below for future books so that we don’t have to decide at the meeting without being able to look books up.

We are going to head over to our Rail Trail to do our first cleanup directly after this meeting (probably around 7pm-ish, as a very rough guess).

See Here for details and to leave a comment to let us know you’re coming along.

Suggest Books For Us To Read

Neece — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:21:42 +0000

Here are the books that were recommended at our last Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club meeting. Please feel free to comment with other suggestions. Also comment with which books you would like to read out of what is listed. For the previous books offered, go to the Library page. But comment here with which ones you like.

Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg Epstein (already selected, we just have to decide when to read it)

Microcosm: E. Coli and the New Science of Life by Carl Zimmer

Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don’t Know About Them) by Bart Ehrman

God’s Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question–Why We Suffer by Bart Ehrman

Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body by Neil Shubin

Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless by Steve Salerno

The Invention of Air: A Story Of Science, Faith, Revolution, And The Birth Of America by Steven Johnson

Superstition In All Ages (Common Sense) by Jean Meslier

Book Club July 18: God Hates You, finishing up

Neece — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 08:31:25 +0000

We met at 5pm at the Blue Moose on Sunday, July 18 for the Freethinker’s Morgantown Book Club.

~Update: We finished God Hates You, Hate Him Back and picked our next book: The GOD Part of the Brain

We are finishing up with God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman, from Acts to Revelations, pages 230 to the end.

Feel free to bring your bible for cross references. We’ll follow the same format where we go through the chapters and talk about what we found interesting, using the book as a jumping off point for discussion.

Bring in book suggestions. It might be nice to read something different for a summer change. (Neece wants to read something science-y, but of course, bring in your ideas!)

Book Club June 13: God Hates You, The Gospels

Neece — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:50:25 +0000

We met at 5pm at the Blue Moose on Sunday, June 13 for the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club.

~Update: We talked about the 4 gospels and ended up with some questions, such as:

When did the Pharisees move into Jerusalem where Jesus was hanging out? I remember reading somewhere that the Pharisees weren’t in Jesus’ area until around 50 or 70 CE, long after Jesus’ death, so it brings into question all the interactions they have with him.

We are reading God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman.

We will be going over the Gospels, pages 182-229:

Intro to the New Testament section
The Gospels (lumped together for a more cohesive narrative)
Summary of the Gospels

Since it’s all lumped together, and this is the most important 4 books of the Christian bible, please consider bringing other sources like your bible. We’ll mainly use CJ’s book as a jumping off point for deeper discussion into the gospels.

Book Club Meeting May 16: God Hates You – Old Testament 2

Neece — Mon, 03 May 2010 02:00:52 +0000

We met at 5pm at the Blue Moose on Sunday, May 16 for the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club.

~We had a great meeting where we got through the rest of the old testament. Swami, a Freethinker from Orlando, came up when we were almost done and we enjoyed talking to him. He came to dinner with us as well. A lot of interesting discussion took place over dinner. I think we solved all of America’s problems, and probably most of the world’s as well.

We are reading God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman.

~EDIT: Since we’re not getting anyone to volunteer for chapters, let’s do it a different way. We are covering Chapters 18-39 (pages 133-181).

Bring in whatever notes you feel you’d like to share and we’ll just go through the chapters and talk about whatever we find interesting.

This is an irreverant review of the bible. Since christianity is the religion we deal with the most as atheists, we will spend some time using this book as a reference. Bring your bible as well, if you want, for more detailed discussions.

Book Club Meeting April 18: God Hates You, Hate Him Back – Old Testament 1

Neece — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 13:44:42 +0000

We met at 5pm on Sunday, April 18 at the Blue Moose for the Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club.

Update: We met for a lively and interesting discussion about the first 17 books of the bible. We also talked about some of the exciting things we have coming up in the next few months. Then we went to dinner for more casual conversation.

The book we’ll be talking about is God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman.

For our first meeting, let’s focus on The Books of the Pentateuch (1-5) and the History Books (6-17). Pick your chapters that you’ll cover. I’d say pick 2 or 3 chapters if you like, especially if some are short.

The Books of the Pentateuch:
1. Genesis: Gerald
2. Exodus: Gerald
3. Leviticus: Neece
4. Numbers: Daniel
5. Deuteronomy: Daniel
The History Books:
6. Joshua: Brent
7. Judges: Brent
8. Ruth: Neece
9. Samuel 1: Gerald but if anyone wants this just leave a comment.
10. Samuel 2: Gerald but if anyone wants this just leave a comment.
11. Kings 1: Gerald but if anyone wants this just leave a comment.
12. Kings 2: Gerald but if anyone wants this just leave a comment.
13 and 14. Chronicles 1 and 2:
15 and 16. Ezra and Nehemiah:
17. Esther: Neece

From Amazon:

‘God Hates You, Hate Him Back’ makes the ultimate case for the claim that the God of the Bible is the most wicked character in the pages of history. With a wit as dry as a martini, and the cross examination techniques of a seasoned lawyer, CJ Werleman lays out all sixty-six chapters of the Bible to present an irrefutable argument that indeed God hates us all. If you have never read or never fully understood The Bible then you will do no better than this unique, comedic, 21st century summary of the greatest story ever sold, or in Werleman’s own words ‘never read’.

‘God Hates You, Hate Him Back’ provides you with an arsenal of Biblical facts, stories, mythology and assertions to ensure you victory in your next religious debate.

Arguably the most unique, certainly most entertaining, rendition of the Bible ever told!

Book Club Meeting March 20: God Virus Part 2 and Spring Equinox

Neece — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 01:43:22 +0000

EDIT! We met March 20 at 2pm at Joe and David’s Farm to celebrate the Spring Equinox with a Potluck dinner. We also finished up The God Virus.

Update: We had a fantastic time! We socialized, celebrated, decided, talked, shared, ate, drank, ate more, and talked some more. Thanks so much to Joe and David for being such gracious hosts to their beautiful home and farm! Want to see some pictures I took of our Nature Walk?

NOTE: This is INSTEAD OF meeting March 21. We are now meeting the day before. Any questions, email Neece.

I forgot to bring up the subject of our Secular Service in our regular meeting! So we’ll spend a few minutes when we get together for this meeting, gathering ideas and then getting a tally on which service we’re all most interested in. So bring your ideas or comment here with suggestions if you can’t make the meeting.

We had so much discussion for The God Virus that we only go through chapter 5. So we’re going to finish the book next month, chapter 6 to the end.

The book we are reading is The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture by Darrel W. Ray

We still need someone to take chapter 11, and chapter 10 is also available, if someone wants it.

6. The Myth of Unchanging Morality: Daniel
7. Jesus My Personal Savior: The Roots of American Evangelism: Gerald
8. Intelligence, Personality and the God Virus: Neece
9. Understanding and Living With The God Virus: Neece
10. The Journey: Living a Virus-Free Life: Brent
11. The God Virus and Science: Gerald
12. The Future of an Illusion: Daniel

Directions to Wilks/Smith home from Morgantown via I-79:

North on I-79 from Morgantown, cross the border into PA and take the Mount Morris Exit, #1. Turn right at the bottom of the ramp. You will stay on this road for 3.6 miles (bearing right at church/cemetery) and it will dead end at a stop sign. Turn left on Taylortown Road and go 2.2 miles. There will be a sharp bend in the road but you will go straight ahead onto Big Foot Road (not marked). Go about a city block and take the first driveway on right (you will see a red barn as you turn in).

House phone number: 724-324-2712
cell phone: 724-998-2520

Address:
126 Bigfoot Rd.
Dilliner, PA 15327

Do not trust a GPS – sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t in this area.

February Book Club Meeting

Neece — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 02:30:50 +0000

We met February 21 at 5pm at the Blue Moose.

~Update: We had so much discussion, both about the book and off-topic, that we only got through chapter 5. So we’ll finish the book at our next meeting.

The book we are reading (in its entirety) is The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture by Darrel W. Ray

We’ll each take a chapter or two to share with everyone. There are 12 in all. Leave a comment below or email Neece with which chapters you’d like to cover:

1. Religion is a Virus: Joe
2. How Religions Survive and Dominate: Joe
3. American Civil Religion: Gerald
4. God Loves You – The Guilt that Binds: David
5. Sex and the God Virus: Brent
6. The Myth of Unchanging Morality: Daniel
7. Jesus My Personal Savior: The Roots of American Evangelism: Gerald
8. Intelligence, Personality and the God Virus: Neece
9. Understanding and Living With The God Virus: Neece
10. The Journey: Living a Virus-Free Life: Neece
11. The God Virus and Science
12. The Future of an Illusion: Daniel

Here are some reviews:

Darrel Ray has made a marvelous contribution to our understanding of ourselves. The description of religion as a cultural virus is not new, Darrel is the first to put the virus on a slide and pull out the microscope. The God Virus goes beyond analogy, offering a fascinating and detailed look at the wiggling, maddening virus itself how it moves, how it survives, and how and why it continues to thrive. –Dale McGowan, Author/editor, Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, Harvard Humanist of the Year (2008)

For those hungering for more after reading the books written by Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens and Dennett, Dr. Darrel Ray’s The God Virus is a logical and thought-provoking follow-up. By extending the metaphor of religion as a virus, the reader gets a better understanding of the incredible power religion can have on anyone’s way of thinking (Dr. Ray shows that even your IQ is negatively affected!). Lest anyone think this is just a putdown of religion, it also gives excellent advice on how to live life without a God, from marriage to raising children. It’s a book that non-believers will enjoy and religious readers can only dare to read. –Hemant Mehta author of I Sold My Soul On Ebay (Waterbrook Press, 2007)

Your book is a convenient handbook on how real life Atheists can stay sane while others are freaking out with religious madness and blaming it on those that challenge the true believer’s faith based system. You are most welcome to publicize my endorsement. –Edwin Kagin, National Legal Director American Atheists, Inc.

Darrel Ray has made a marvelous contribution to our understanding of ourselves. The description of religion as a cultural virus is not new, Darrel is the first to put the virus on a slide and pull out the microscope. The God Virus goes beyond analogy, offering a fascinating and detailed look at the wiggling, maddening virus itself how it moves, how it survives, and how and why it continues to thrive. Dale McGowan, Author/editor, Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, Harvard Humanist of the Year (2008) –Dale McGowan, Author/editor, Parenting Beyond Belief and Raising Freethinkers, Harvard Humanist of the Year (2008)

And a description:

What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray that faith? What makes people blind to the irrationalities of their religion yet clearly see those of others? If these questions interest you, this book will give you the tools to understand religion and its power in you, your family and your culture. For thousands of years, religion has woven its way through societies and people as if it were part and parcel to that society or person. In large measure it was left unexplained and unchallenged, it simply existed. Those who attempted to challenge and expose religion were often persecuted, excommunicated, shunned, or even executed. It could be fatal to explain that which the church, priest or imam said was unexplainable. Before the germ, viral and parasite theory of disease, physicians had no tools to understand disease and its propagation. Priests told people disease was a result of sin, Satan, evil spirits, etc. With the discovery of microbial actors, scientists gained new tools to study how it spreads. They could study infection strategies, immunity, epidemiology and much more. Suddenly the terrible diseases of the past were understandable. The plagues of Europe, yellow fever, small pox, pneumonia, tuberculosis, syphilis, etc. were now removed from the divine and placed squarely in the natural world. This book owes a great deal to Richard Dawkins concept of viruses of the mind, but it seeks to go a step further to personalize the concept of religion as a virus and show how these revolutionary ideas work in everyday life. The paradigm can explain the fundamentalism of your Uncle Ned, the sexual behavior of a fallen mega church minister, the child rearing practices of a Pentecostal neighbor, why 19 men flew planes into the World Trade Center or what motivates a woman to blow herself up in the crowded markets of Baghdad. Learn how religion influences sexuality for its own purposes, how and why it protects pedofile priests and wayward ministers and how it uses survivor guilt to propagate and influence and how it might influence a person’s IQ.

The next 2 books after this one will be:

March: God Hates You, Hate Him Back: Making Sense of The Bible by CJ Werleman
April: Good Without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe by Greg Epstein

The God Virus Author on Point of Inquiry

Neece — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 02:53:15 +0000

Brent found another treat for those of us reading The God Virus. Darrel Ray, the author of the book, was interviewed by D.J Grothe on Point of Inquiry a few months ago. You can listen to the podcast either on the page here, or through iTunes.

Here’s what the site says about the interview:

Dr. Darrel W. Ray is author of three books, two on organizational psychology. He has been a psychologist for over 30 years. After practicing counseling and clinical psychology for 10 years, his focus shifted to organizational psychology and consulting. A longtime student of religion, his latest book is The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture.

In this conversation with D.J. Grothe, Darrel Ray talks about religion being like a virus, elaborating on Richard Dawkins’ concept of the meme. He explains why the metaphor of God belief being like a virus of the mind is so useful. He details how religion is communicable, and propagated through vectors, just like biological pathogens, and why the rational “immune system” of children makes them more susceptible to the contagion. He explores why some people are immune to the God virus, and how to inoculate children from it, such as through exposure to many strains of the virus early in life. He describes the role that guilt over sex has in the success of the God virus. He discusses whether there is a skepticism virus, and why he feels atheism is a poor organizing principle, but why humanism is not. And he talks about the New Atheist agenda, and the best ways to engage in “public health measures” to protect people from the God virus.

A Wild Ride With Robert Sapolsky

Neece — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 02:51:44 +0000

Brent sent me a link to a page on the web. It’s a conversation with Robert Sapolsky, a quiet, funny, apparently brilliant professor of biological sciences at Stanford University and of neurology at Stanford’s School of Medicine. Professor Sapolsky has written several books such as:

The link Brent sent me was called TOXO and he suggested it to me, to share with you, because we’re reading The God Virus: How religion infects our lives and culture, by Daniel W Ray. Now the video on that page was Robert Sapolsky talking about a most interesting parasite called Toxoplasma. This is what pregnant women need to worry about, and why they avoid cats and cat feces. It can wreak havoc on their unborn baby’s nervous system.

If you’re reading The God Virus, which talks about parasites and viruses as an analogy for religion, I highly recommend watching this video. If you aren’t going to read the book I still recommend the video. The transcript is underneath it too, which will make it even more accessible for you. But the video is longer than the transcript. So take 25 minutes and enjoy it. Here’s another link to the video. I’m telling you, it’s fascinating. As I mentioned, the video is longer than the transcript. He goes into telemeres and molecular age, which I heard a study about recently confirming what he is explaining.

What he’s talking about touches on evolution, common ancestors, parasites and how they go about getting where they need to be, motorcyclists and speed freaks, and schizophrenics, as well as the government’s interest in this parasite. A wild ride indeed!

Of course, as a skeptic, I thought I’d just look around a bit and see who this Sapolsky guy is, since I’d never heard of him. I found his books (linked to above), his Wikipedia page, and a very cool speech he gave to Stanford students about to graduate. It’s about the uniqueness of humans. Here is the Stanford speech:

TED likes him too. Here’s his bio page .

“If a rat is a good model for your emotional life, you’re in big trouble.” Robert Sapolsky

I guess it’s no surprise that he’s an “unbudgeable atheist“. Did I mention he was awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant? But if you watch the videos, you’ll find that he’s fairly easy to understand, so he’s able to teach what he knows, which is awesome.

Oh, and the connection between toxoplasma and schizophrenia? Science Daily has a few studies that I could find:

Feel free to share anything interesting you might know about the toxoplasma parasite or Robert Sapolsky in the comments or at the meeting for The God Virus Book Club Meeting February 21st.

Morgantown Atheists » Freethinkers Morgantown Book Club

Book Club Meeting: Aug 15: The GOD Part of the Brain

Related posts

Suggest Books For Us To Read

Related posts

Book Club July 18: God Hates You, finishing up

Related posts

Book Club June 13: God Hates You, The Gospels

Related posts

Book Club Meeting May 16: God Hates You – Old Testament 2

Related posts

Book Club Meeting April 18: God Hates You, Hate Him Back – Old Testament 1

Related posts

Book Club Meeting March 20: God Virus Part 2 and Spring Equinox

Related posts

February Book Club Meeting

Related posts

The God Virus Author on Point of Inquiry

Related posts

A Wild Ride With Robert Sapolsky

Related posts