Presents arguments for atheism and godless morality.

    Book by Green, Ruth Hurmence

    Yet the West produced its own vibrant culture and outstanding personalities, who embodied the qualities of hardy individualism and devotion to freedom of thought and expression. This remarkable anthology of freethought writing from the American Midwest and West provides a bracing view of a rich and vital democratic culture that has existed on the "American frontier" over the past 150 years.Freethought on the American Frontier illustrates the historical roots of contemporary social conflicts in the United States on such vital and timely issues as women's rights, the tension between science and religion, constitutional rights of free speech and free press, and the advancement of humanism in an often hostile environment.This important collection of cultural life in America's heartland will prove indispensable to our understanding of the history of the struggle between the forces of repression and Puritanism on the one hand, and those who raised on high the banner of free thought on the other. The issues and ideas generated by this historical conflict continue to play a critical role in our present-day debates on ethics, education, culture, and the very future of the American people.

    Among the topics discussed in this new book, More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion and Morality, are abortion, alcoholism, angels, homosexuality, the Song of Solomon, Leviticus, Peter, and women's liberation.Although the Bible has been referred to, quoted from, and applied to broad social issues and private problems for centuries, Allen asserts that the degree of ignorance as to its content is vast and deep. Noting that adults rarely read the Bible, Allen is convinced that millions who do read it are not able to understand certain passages at all.Steve Allen's Bible study began during his travels: he would peruse the Bibles found in any hotel room, marking passages that would strike him as extraordinarily beautiful or extremely confusing. Spellbound by the mystery of it, he became aware that from the very beginning the text leads not just to scholarly debate, but directly to controversy that has, over the centuries and even today, fostered unaccountable slaughter and atrocity. And, he notes, it is perhaps of greater urgency now than ever before that all Americans become conversant with the Bible, because of those who use it as a weapon to force their views on the rest of the population. Although Allen believes in God, he is critical of those fundamentalists who interpret the Bible literally, and those who would use it in the political arena.Throughout the book, Allen offers direct quotes from biblical scholars - Catholic, Protestant, Judaic - in addition to generous references to the views of various scholarly specialists. His goal - to make people think about what the Bible really says - is achieved through clear and readable prose. More Steve Allen on the Bible is an important addition to our understanding of the Bible, religion, and morality.

    To scholars who had hoped to prove the Bible's authenticity, the results were traumatic.One by one, the various books of the Bible were discovered to contain errors of fact, inaccurate guesses, rationalizations, prophecies ex post facto (usually combined with prophecies of the future that proved inaccurate), and unmistakable, deliberate lies. Such was the power of the churches that, despite the publication of thousands of scholarly books and articles refuting every part of the Judaeo-Christian Bible, to this day the existence of unchallengeable proof that the Bible is a work of fiction is unknown to ninety percent of the population of Christian-dominated societies.For a century this information has been available only to students willing to wade through dozens of books, each of which deals with only one aspect of Judaeo-Christian mythology. It is hoped that, by bringing together information on the origin and development of every part of the Yahweh- and Jesus-myths, Mythology's Last Gods will make the facts available to a large enough segment of the population to end the equation of god-mythology with history permanently. This is the first book to critically analyze, and take issue with, every section of the Judaeo-Christian Bible from a wholly skeptical, utterly scholarly perspective.Mythology's Last Gods is a comprehensive history of the development of Judaeo-Christian god-mythology. Harwood traces the beginning of the "god" concept, the evolution of Judaism to the first century, and the evolution of Christianity from its monotheistic beginnings to its emergence as a three-god creed in A.D. 325. Harwood's work reveals many things including that Jesus the Nazarite preached only Essene Judaism, and that every teaching attributed to him can be traced to a pre-Christian source.

    Wheless roundly debunks. . the patriarchs and the covenants of Yahweh . the wonders of the Exodus . the forty years in the wilderness . the "ten commandments" and the "law" . the "conquest" of the promised land . the holy priests and prophets of Yahweh . the "prophecies" of Jesus Christ . the inspired "harmony of the Gospels" . the Christian "plan of salvation" . and more. This is a highly provocative work, one that should be explored by believers and doubters alike. ALSO AVAILABLE FROM COSIMO: Wheless's Forgery in Christianity

    Of special interest is the application of the new skepticism to paranormal claims such as reincarnation and faith healing, and to religious beliefs, ethics and politics.