The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett is a fun and thought-provoking fantasy, focused on religion and it’s social effects. It also has a pretty funny take on atheism.

Some of his other books makes some really great points about belief in general, particularly The Hogfather, the witches books, and Feet Of Clay.

Honestly, I would recommend not books on atheism per se, but rather ones exploring non-theistic philosophy. Schools of thought amongst atheists and agnostics are just as diverse, if not more so than amongst theists. My world view is made up of many things, humanitarianism, empiricism and so forth. Ideas that build a foundation.

There is also the more emotional side, finding beauty and purpose in life. Personally I find myself coming back to the works of Carl Sagan, particularly “The pale blue dot”. Capturing, at least for me, a lot of essence.

Here is a short excerpt that he read. Just, wow.

Not really approaching the topic of religion in any way (as far as I recall), but Bill Bryson - “A Short History of Nearly Everything” is a neat book, especially if your knowledge about the world is grounded in religious teachings.

Basically it goes through a lot of the scientific knowledge we have today and tells the story of how it was discovered, focusing on giving answers to “how we know what you know”. It’s a bit oversimplified in many areas, but it’s still pretty educational, entertaining, and at times pretty funny. The part about Henry Cavendish (18th century chemist) is hilarious.

From what I hear, reading The Bible is a lot of people’s first steps towards atheism.

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The best book I’ve read on religion is Small Gods by Terry Pratchett.

It offers criticism of religion and also perspective as to why people view it as a framework for interpreting the world.

You seem to think atheism is some alternative belief you need to study. it’s not, It’s just no longer believing in the idea of God and instead just focusing on living your life the best you can. Just ask questions, be curious and don’t take anything at face value.

Atheism isn’t a religion, so there isn’t “must read books” nor mandatory workshops. Do what you please.

Small Gods is indeed a great choice. I never thought of it as a “book for atheists” and it’s quite unlikely to turn someone religious into a non-believer - but it’s clever, funny and one of my personal favorite Terry Patches books. So, worst case scenario: you’ve read a highly entertaining book.

“The Bible” is the book that ultimately turned me into a convinced atheist. If you actually read it, without having it filtered and read to you by religious people with agendas, it’s hard to continue believing in any of its insane ramblings. But it’s a really tough, slow and often immoral and revolting read. Mostly, it’s just really stupid.

“The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster” is the opposite. It’s a funny, light and often silly read. It’s not exactly deep, but neither are the books it’s parodizing. As a satire of other religious text it works reasonably well in putting the finger in the wound.

“The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever” is just that: a collection of texts and letters on the subject by some brilliant minds: Bertrand Russell, Albert Einstein, Mark Twain, Lucrecius, Charles Darwin, Richard Dawkins and many more … collected and edited by Christopher Hitchens. As an anthology it allows you to dip your toes in and read the texts you are interested in. Maybe my first choice as serious “atheism for beginners” literature.

Come to think of it, I wouldn’t really recommend any books on atheism. Atheism is not really its own thing, it’s just the result of not being persuaded by the claims of theism.

For me personally, I actually became an atheist via reading various religious texts, as well as various acclaimed spiritual novels. So sort of the opposite of what you’re asking for haha.

Recommendations based on science and humanism are okay, since that gives you a place to start looking through the secular stance on the mysteries religions claim to have all the answers for. But that also isn’t quite what you’re asking for. Many scientists and philosophers are religious themselves, after all.

Yet a third thing you aren’t asking for: I would check out Matt Dillahunty. He used to do a call-in show in Austin. Mostly just regular religious people calling in, going through their thought process on why they believed, then getting an atheist’s perspective in response. Looks like he’s still very active on youtube these days

I haven’t listened in years, and if I recall some of the most viewed clips were basically just angry arguments lol. But sitting and listening through full episodes is about as down-to-earth of atheist content as I can think of. Just addressing religious claims one at a time

I Sold My Soul On EBay - Hemant Mehta

Good humor, seems like a genuinely nice and smart Guy.

I was an atheist once, but I found that it didn’t solve fundamental questions about life and existence. Religion tries to do that but just ends up being man-made fairy tales used to control the masses to follow rules that follow some kind of morals but just end up not making any sense. Eastern philosophy and philosophy as a whole is the next most logical step to take.

I highly recommend reading/listening to Alan Watts (you can find lectures and transcripts online for free). There are other schools of thought, but his teachings and understandings are pretty straight forward and easy to digest (keep in mind some of it is a bit dated, he passed in 1973).

Also, the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. Written for an emperor on how to rule and govern, the wisdom in it is very profound and can set you on the path to living a much more fulfilling life. For the most part, I now follow the Tao not as a religion but the natural flow of the universe, to a point I feel constantly in a state of “wu wei” (effortless action) which makes life so simple it feels like cheating.

Books I keep nearby:

• Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
• The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are by Alan Watts
• The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts
• The Book of Five Rings by Musashi Miyamoto
• The Undiscovered Self by Carl Jung

Just read r/atheism if you want to become the final atheist form!

Age of reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3743