Buy The Book Christians are Afraid of the Most.
That's what I would do. And my book is being attacked quite a bit on Amazon. There are three poor reviews of it from Christians who never even read it, one calling me a "liar" simply because I deny the existence of God. On the 17th of this month my book was ranked around 3,000th but a Christian placed an image there and slowly it dropped to 22,000th by today. The image? This one with the related caption:
You can find it here. Then we read a caption that said:
I reported it to Amazon by clicking on the "report abuse" button. Please do so as well.
Fear tactics. That's what it is. Scare people into not reading my book. Scare 'em with hell. You already know the truth. There is nothing to learn from me. The only thing that might happen if people read it is they will likely doubt their faith. Doubt is bad. Faith is good. Ask Christian people to put their faith in you. Have them trust you when you tell them this is not a good book. You know. John doesn't. Don't buy this book.
To read some superb reviews of my book follow this link.
----------------
Edit: the image was taken down finally.
You can find it here. Then we read a caption that said:Are you sure you want to go down the path John chose? Eternity is a very long time, you do understand? Your choice, the religion of atheism or follow the Creator of all called Christianity.
I reported it to Amazon by clicking on the "report abuse" button. Please do so as well.
Fear tactics. That's what it is. Scare people into not reading my book. Scare 'em with hell. You already know the truth. There is nothing to learn from me. The only thing that might happen if people read it is they will likely doubt their faith. Doubt is bad. Faith is good. Ask Christian people to put their faith in you. Have them trust you when you tell them this is not a good book. You know. John doesn't. Don't buy this book.
To read some superb reviews of my book follow this link.
----------------
Edit: the image was taken down finally.
39 comments:
I'm not really saying my book is feared the most here, and I'm sure skeptics have done the same things to Christian books. I just think books from both sides of this debate should be given a fair hearing, that's all. Fairness. This isn't much to ask. And if people are tired of me talking about my book then I understand. It's just that it's my baby. Momma don't like it when people attact her baby. ;-)
John, with all due respect, your book wasn't that great. Let's face it, OK? Sobel's Logic and Theism is a more straightforward, level-headed, and deeper treatment of the issues. I understand your book was meant more for the popular level, but the pop atheism niche was already filled by Dawkins and Harris, with Hitchens, perhaps, trailing in.
Be that as it may, I think we can all still agree that the dishonest amazon tactics employed by fanatical Christians and atheists alike are despicable. I am going to report that picture as abuse.
Rarely, have I met a christian with the capacity to look at his own world view with the same epistemological standards that he views and judges any other religion or world view. His beliefs are too ingrained, the risk are too great, the fear of hell too overwhelming. To me what seems so ironic is the "love" people say they have for a "Being" who will torture you forever and ever for investigating whether a book with enumerable discrepancies is actually true or the God contained therein is actually worthy of my affection. It does seem that Freud was correct in his assessment that religion has its roots in nuerosis.
Charlie, you speak as if you've read my book. Have you? Don't be dishonest, okay? If so, you are the first person who has said (in so many words) that my book adds nothing to what Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens have said. Almost every honest reviewer says mine is much better than theirs, even Christian philosopher Dr. Mark D. Linville.
Anyway, thanks for reporting the abuse.
Charlie,
You are out of your mind if you think John's book does not contain anything different. His book deals with christian apologetic arguments in much more detail than the books from the three names you mentioned. And yes, I've read them all.
Oh give it a rest Charlie. Your act has been tedious from the beginning. Go work on your blog.
I know that you're proud that you wrote this book, and I'm happy for you, but please stop writing so many posts about it and keep writing about atheist news.
I only ask because it seems that you continue posting to increase traffic to amazon, and increase sales.
Chad,
What is up with that comment? This is news. Christians using little gimmicks like this to keep others from hearing our side of the debate? That story opens my eyes even more to how ridiculous fundamentatlists can be. And if more people get their hands on this book, then all the better.
as a contributor here, I think that in the case John were to decide that this blog should be a resource to market his book he would be within his rights, it would be wholly appropriate and I would support it. I find it hard to believe that a majority of people in Johns position would not use their blog to market their book.
I recommend that before one issues a criticism, think "what would I do in the same circumstances?".
and I say to those that have threatened to stop reading because of the frequency of book related posts, you expect to much from a FREE publication. The quality and frequency here at DC comes close, if not equal to, a magazine that you need a subscription for.
The image has been taken down, thankfully! Now my book is ranked in the 6000nds.
Oh yeah, that Dan. I recognize that picture from some of his earlier postings on his blog.
If you're so inclined, you can read through the the series of posts where he has that picture. The link I just posted is the final one of that series; he gets spanked pretty good.
I and a few friends know him well. We're a little ticked off.
Confirmation bias. Confirmation bias. Confirmation bias. Confirmation bias. Confirmation bias.
If it's acceptable practice that this blog be a resource to market atheist books, please change the comment policy to allow for "advertisements" and while you're at it, remove the "off-topic" rule. I've got a whack of Christian books and various Bibles I'd love to provide links for, including reviews and distribution updates. :)
I suppose it's far easier being an entrepreneur then it is to topple the Christian institution.
Jason, you could put those books on your blog. Oh I forgot no one ever goes there.
Scary,
Right you are, hence the lack of book advertisements. Thanks for your reply though. Stimulating as always. :)
Books typically start high and drop dramatically, unless there is a big publicity push. I doubt this dork can have that much of an influence. If anything, it might make people more prone to buy it!
Congrats on the book.
The most serious criticism of your book is that it is misleading. By covering over twenty arguments in some 400 pages it gives short attention to subjects that could easily deserve a book.
Thus, the superficial reader could come away thinking he actually has a good knowledge of these arguments.
And your conclusion that is all "chance".
Very superficial.
Your book could well serve as an innoculation against anti Christian arguments than as a "slow acting poison".
I continue to read John's book. Blog on the Problem of Evil chapter now posted on my website. Will review The Outsider Test next.
Fear is the nuts and bolts of Xianity. Its their trump card.
fear is all they have in the long run. there is no proof of prayer workiing. the bible is full of contradictions that would sink any other 'reference' book.
it IS scary to give up on the idea of eternal life. the idea that you have a soul that lives on.
to give that up means you have to get it right here and now. you can't be a jerk to someone and fix it later. you can't be a slacker and get things done in some afterlife. you are accountable for what you do and don't do and for whom you do it to and for the mistakes you make and the mistakes you fail to fix and you are responsible for the people you should forgive and ask forgiveness from. you can't be a jerk to people and think it is okay because god will forgive you but rather you have to be nice to people in the hear and now. it is work to be a responsible atheist. it is a challenge to be a responsible atheist. those too lazy to do that or too afraid themselves to face that desparately want john and the rest of us to be wrong. they themselves are afraid of reading the book. they are afraid it will strip away the last shreds of the ideas they cling to. i understand that. it was hard work to give up the idea of seeing dead relatives again - that ws the hardest part for me, but it sure make me treat people in the here and now more responsibly. sure they are afraid, because they are afraid of accountability and responsibility.
Atheists would never do something so awful, because they are the true saints here.
On my blog I said:
"Silver lining in this: Negative press is still press, none the less. Any press at all gets the name out there. So anyone in Public Relations would tell you that this is a positive for John to get the word out about his book. It was also good for John to stir things up here to get people talking about his book..."
I will review it with the honesty that would make Jesus proud.
Thanks John, this has been fun so far, it has put some spice on my plate of life and can only get more interesting from here.
I am in the process of reading your book - and I'm a pastor! I grew up in the Restoration Movement, went to a sister college to Lincoln.
I think the thing so far that has hit me the most is not so much your arguments against Christianity and faith, although they are very well-thought out and have caused me to really think about what I believe. It's your formula for most people turning away from their faith: a crisis in your life + new information that makes you doubt - a caring Christian community. I am presently experiencing this in my own life.
Crisis - I came out to my home state to help plant a church. And it has struggled from the get-go and now my pay is being cut in half. Plus our house didn't sell where we came from, despite our prayers and pleadings. Living for ten months in people's basements as a family is not a good thing!
New Information - I'm not sure how much new information has come into my thinking recently, it's more of a collection of information over the year. It probably started once I decided once and for all that believing that the earth is six thousand years old is such a bunch of crap.
Lack of caring Christian community - I have been in ministry for fifteen years, and I would bet to say that besides a few exceptions of families, I have yet to see a caring Christian community. I thought I would have one here, but it hasn't happened. I moved my wife and daughter back to where we came from, and I haven't received one call/email/anything from people for encouragement or prayer. The most "Christian" response I've had is from a family who have never been to church in their lives who were supposed to be our neighbors but of course our house here fell through, but they've shown us more kindness than anyone at church.
Okay, this is way too long. I'll stop there, but I'm really struggling with my faith and all this stuff. I appreciate your book because I don't want to be a mindless robot and if I remain a Christian (I'm certainly not looking for a ministry position), hopefully I won't just take things of faith blindly.
Adam, good to hear from you. I wish you all the best. I remember when I was struggling with my faith. It can be difficult and painful to question what seems to be the core of who you are. But it's better over here. Let me know how it goes.
John said "It can be difficult and painful to question what seems to be the core of who you are. But it's better over here."
For now that is. When the day of Judgment comes that tune will change dramatically.
Adam,
"Living for ten months in people's basements as a family is not a good thing!"
So God gives you a chance to carry your cross and you get resentful? The Bible claims three guarantees for a Christian in this world and that is tribulation, temptations and persecutions. Man up and you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.
". It probably started once I decided once and for all that believing that the earth is six thousand years old is such a bunch of crap."
Good for you doubt the Ten Commandments and Genesis that will get you on God's good side. If 6 literal days wasn't the case, tell me why would there be a fourth Commandment? Give me a break, um pastor?
"I have yet to see a caring Christian community."
Did you ever stop to think that your false conversion as a pastor for these poor people led them down a road to destruction and evil? You may have led these people towards the wide gate and they aren't caring? Well no wonder. It's your fault Shepherd!
"and I haven't received one call/email/anything from people for encouragement or prayer."
Are you looking for encouragement from God or man? The Bible says you will be hated by men for being a Christian. How shallow and fragile can your faith possibly be?
"I don't want to be a mindless robot and if I remain a Christian (I'm certainly not looking for a ministry position), hopefully I won't just take things of faith blindly."
Again you are seeking the approval of men in this case, who cares if the entire world views you as a mindless robot? I would rather like to receive a slight nod from God then to seek the applause of the entire world. Atheists, on the other hand, seek the validating applause of like minded individuals. Want proof just look at what John said "But it's better over here." Get it?
I would like you to read something Adam and tell me if it fits your situation. It's called Have you put Jesus on like a parachute? Please read it. Do you really want God to rebuke you? It can be avoided
Call me naive (I probably am), but I tend to think that if your book is really good, it will probably be read. It also sounds like some of your blog readers are getting tired of hearing about your book. My guess is that this might hurt your sales far more than what some Christian does.
Hey Dan, what happened to the picture of you holding the banana, ala Ray Comfort?
DingoDave,
"Hey Dan, what happened to the picture of you holding the banana"
It's still there in the collection on the sidebar at my blog. Why do you also want an autographed copy?
To Adam the pastor:
As one who had a very traumatic experience many years ago (motorcycle wreck...survived doa but friend died) and brought up in the Baptist church, I would love to read your insight(s) to the below.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
How is Genesis 1:27 above not viewed as man-made license to impute divine supernatural power and authority to whatever self-serving words man writes and claims to be divine/supernatural?
At or near the highest level of abstraction; to what degree is the Christian religion merely a reflection of humankinds’ need to define/explain the world in which we find ourselves and/or a social club whose message is one of material prosperity through control/domination, organization, conformity and uniformity?
Controlling/Dominating/Organizing resources (people, time, materials, attitudes, beliefs, etc.) to achieve various accomplishments/creature comforts (cars, housing, food, air conditioning, etc.) that any particular individual cannot accomplish on his/her own in order to increase the physical (aka cloaking/hiding the desire for more physical creature comforts for ones self/family/group to which the individual belongs in/behind a religious construct) comfort level of each individual in society and that of the collective whole of human society/experience (i.e. a rising tide lifts all boats).
If a group of people can believe in a single thing and/or process/set of rules and that single thing and/or process/set of rules requires that they organize and engage in uniformity and conformity, then the group of people will believe/engage in that single thing and/or process/set of rules especially if it’s source is a supernatural power. Whether intended/consciously or unintended/subconsciously, the result is the same; to accomplish things/stuff that increases the physical comfort of each individual in society and/or that of the collective whole of human society/experience (a rising tide lifts all boats).
Hey Dan, where is the review of my book which you promised in order to get that free copy?
I already addressed that John but I don't think you will enjoy my review. I'll have to revise my originally planned review, and remove all of the slander and insults...
:)
I'll be back later,
Dan
Okay, the promised revision has been made. Here is the edited version of the review:
John,
--
Dan
Dan, I'm going to taunt you here. You have no intention of reviewing my book, do you? You were just a freeloader who stole the book under false premises, weren't you? I don't expect anything great with regard to it if you reviewed it anyway. I just want you to live up to your promise. I just want you to be honest with my book. But I don't expect anything of the sort given your history.
Come on now, duffas. Review it chapter by chapter. Answer my arguments with sound reasoning and evidence to the contrary...every single one of them. You cannot do it, can you? That's the truth. You cannot handle the truth. You're blind as a bat. Even if you review it you will not be honest about it anyway. Prove me wrong! LOL
You are a complete joke! Imagine that, representing God to people with dishonesty and fearmongering. Yep, that only goes so far though, with other nonthinking people who prefer lies over the truth.
John, I'm going to taunt you here.
I am still looking in the book among the liberal philosophical arguments for TAG. Why haven't you addressed presuppositional apologetics or did I miss it? I will give your review as promised, just not on your schedule. Quite frankly, things got boring while reading your book and then I received another book called "Always Ready" that is much more interesting. I suggest you P/U a copy for yourself.
Also, we both know that you only took 5 pages to explain why you became an atheist so it wouldn't take much to review those pages. In fact I have already. Just replace Dan Barker with your name John.
I do have some questions for you, while I was reading your book.
How do you account for the universal, abstract, invariant laws of logic, on what basis do you proceed with the assumption that they will not change, and how is it possible to know anything for certain according to YOUR worldview?
You will get a review,
Dan
TAG is not worth my time or effort, but I did mention something along the lines of it on page 114-115. Besides, there is plenty to be found here at DC on the topic. Just do a search for it.
TAG is not worth your time or effort? Really? 114-115 Got it thanks.
I will go review it again, in the mean time, how do you account for the universal, abstract, invariant laws of logic, on what basis do you proceed with the assumption that they will not change, and how is it possible to know anything for certain according to YOUR worldview?
Dan I haven't got time for this. Practically nothing can be known for certain so if you think you know much of anything with certainly you're fooling yourself.
And my whole book is actually a debunking of TAG since you must presuppose all of that which I dispute, and I dispute it all. I mean really, let's say I show that it's improbable that Jesus was born of a virgin or that the Bible is the authoritive word of God or that Jesus arose from the dead. Then how can you presuppose something that is improbable in the first place?
It would be similar to presupposing that Elvis was still alive when it's been shown he is dead. No amount of gerrymandering can help you escape this difficulty despite your protestations to the contray.
John,
Do you admit that it is possible that an omniscient, omnipotent being could reveal some things to us, such that we can be certain of them?
Now how do you account for the universal, abstract, invariant laws of logic, on what basis do you proceed with the assumption that they will not change, and how is it possible to know anything for certain according to YOUR worldview?
Dan I don't have time for this, as I said, so this will be my last comment to you for now.
You are quite the simpleton to think that you know with some degree of certainty that God revealed anything much less that you understand what he meant with any degree of certainty! This is ignorance of a scale that boggles my mind given the nature of the various kinds of Christianites that have existed from the first century until now.
And the fact that I admit I cannot know anything with certainty does not mean you can drive a truckload of Christian assumptions into that small admission. We are in the same boat when it comes to the issue of certainty. We are not in the same boat when it comes to what is most probable. It is extremely unlikey your faith is probable. In fact it's a wildly improbable and even bizzare set of beliefs you have adopted.
John,
Are you certain that I am a simpleton? Are you certain that this it is ignorance of a scale that boggles your mind?
I do remember reading that knowledge would increase in the last days in Daniel I believe, but that is for people that can be certain of things. You are not, and I appreciate you admitting to that.
If someone rejects Christianity they will end up, if they're honest and consistent, at the bottom with radical skepticism. All bets are off and all up for grabs. Completely arbitrary moral system; it's going to be pick and choose. People don't live like that though, we go to school and turn in papers on time so you can get the grade. With the Atheistic worldview, school doesn't matter; grades don't matter; education doesn't matter; nothing matters with that worldview. It could all be a mirage or an illusion even, it could all be a waste of time. Along with that, there is no answer for origins of life. If fact, they don't know if they themselves even exist. It's a sad worldview when you don't even know if you yourself exists. You cannot say you are infallibly and inherently sure if 2+2=4 even. If atheism is true then Christianity is pretty ridiculous but again, if you're honest, you have no way of knowing that for sure, you have no way of knowing anything is true. Christianity, on the other hand, is completely compatible with reality, relative to Radical Skepticism.
I will ask how it is possible for you to know anything, before I give a review. You see, if you can’t know anything, then you have no basis for evaluating any review I give, or whether or not I have even given one, and I would just be wasting my time. Also, what is the justification for the universal, abstract, invariant laws of logic you wish to use to evaluate my review?
So actually I don't have time to waste on your worldview,
Dan +†+
Post a Comment