Faith in Faithlessness

Book excerpt: Asks freethinkers to declare their atheism in defiance of the stigmatization of disbelief. With the rise of religious fundamentalism worldwide and a new 'spiritualism' in North America, expressed disbelief in God or gods has become a taboo once again in the Anglo-American world. In the last few years, however, atheism has witnessed a resurgence exemplified by the best-selling works of Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Faith in Faithlessness is intended to contribute to the reassertion of the legitimacy of godlessness as a philosophical and moral stance. It is a unique anthology that presents a comprehensive selection of writings, by some of the world's most celebrated thinkers, past and present, who eloquently address the most significant questions concerning religious belief. Included are essays by Benedict de Spinoza, Diderot, Paul-Henry Thiry D'Holbach, David Hume, Thomas Paine, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Stuart Mill, George Elliot, W.E.H. Lecky, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Charles Bradlaugh, Anatole France, Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert G. Ingersoll, Ludwig Feuerbach, Michael Bakunin, Karl Marx, Emma Goldman, H.L. Mencken, Clarence Darrow, Carl Van Doren, Bertrand Russell, Sigmund Freud, Albert Camus, Albert Einstein, Francis Crick, Gore Vidal, Kai Nielsen, Christine Overall, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Michel Onfray, Elizabeth Second Anderson, Tariq Ali, Salman Rushdie, Kurt Vonnegut. Also included are other celebrity atheists and a major resource guide. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE INTRODUCTION FROM THE EARLY CLASSICS 1. Theologico-Political Treatise - Benedict de Spinoza 2. Thoughts on Religion - Denis Diderot 3. The System of Nature - Paul-Henry Thiry, Baron d'Holbach 4. The Natural History of Religion - David Hume 5. The Age of Reason - Thomas Paine 6. A Refutation of Deism - Percy Bysshe Shelley 7. Immortality - John Stuart Mill 8. Evangelical Teaching - George Eliot 9. The Spirit of Rationalism in Europe - W.E.H. Lecky 10. The Christian Church and Women - Elizabeth Cady Stanton 11. Humanity's Gain from Unbelief - Charles Bradlaugh 12. Miracle - Anatole France 13. Autobiography - Charles Darwin 14. The Antichrist - Friedrich Nietzsche 15. God and the Constitution - Robert G. Ingersoll 16. The Essence of Religion in General - Ludwig Feuerbach 17. God and the State - Michael Bakunin 18. Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right - Karl Marx FROM THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY CLASSICS 19. The Philosophy of Atheism - Emma Goldman 20. On the Scopes Trial - H.L. Mencken 21. The Lord's Day Alliance - Clarence Darrow 22. Why I Am an Unbeliever - Clarence Darrow 23. Is There a God? - Bertrand Russell 24. The Claims of Theology - A.J. Ayer 25. The UNbelievers and the Christians - Albert Camus 26. Science and Religion - Albert Einstein FROM THE LATER 20th CENTURY and 21st CENTURY 27. Monotheism and Its Discontents - Gore Vidal 28. How Is Atheism to Be Characterized? - Kai Nielsen 29. Atheism - Christine Overall 30. The Atheist Manifesto - Sam Harris 31. Why There Almost Certainly Is No God - Richard Dawkins 32. Religion as an Original Sin - Christopher Hitchens 33. In the Service of the Death Fixation - Michel Onfray 34. Thank Goodness! - Daniel C. Dennett 35. For the Love of Reason - Louise M. Anthony 36. If God Is Dead, Is Everything Permitted? - Elizabeth Second Anderson 37. An Atheist Childhood - Tariq Ali A Rapper's Song - Greydon Square 38. Humanism and the Territory of Novelists - Salman Rushdie 39. Why My Dog Is Not a Humanist - Kurt Vonnegut EPILOGUE: A New Enlightenment: The Second Wave - Dimitrios Roussopoulos NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS RESOURCE GUIDE from the Website of Richard Dawkins CREDITS AND PERMISSIONS Celebrity quotes throughout, including from George Bernard Shaw, Voltaire, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Aldous HUxley, Tennessee Williams, Charles Bukowski, Jean-Paul Sartre, Noam Chomsky, Sigmund Freud, Ingmar Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, John Malkovich, Robert Altman, Jodie Foster, Bill Gates, Angelina Jolie, Jack Nicholson, Howard Stern, Isaac Asimov, Woody Allen, Richard Leakey, James Watson, Jean Roddenberry, Gloria Steinem. DIMITRIOS ROUSSOPOULOS is author and/or editor of some eighteen books.