Why Our Children Will Be Atheists: The Last 100 Years of Religion, and the Dawn of a World without Gods Paperback – 14 Dec. 2013

I purchased this book at a discount with the request to provide a review.Having had a Christian upbringing and later wrestled with my beliefs to make them fit with modern science, this book rang very true for me. I found the style succinct and logical without any of the vitriol you might have encountered from other "evangelical atheists" .The book opens with a potted history of the major religions and moves on to a discussion of the modern scientific view of the origins of the universe and life on earth. These make a very enjoyable read regardless of the book's agenda.The author then goes on to make a compelling case for religion being redundant. Time will tell whether or not we humans are ready.

This book touches on some important things about the increasing struggle religion is having in the face of increasing faith vs scientific fact issue e.g. most people now believe the scientific explanation of a rainbow vs religious dogma.So (as he points out fewer people have a "religion"), one would hope the deluge of mythical and fantastic beliefs will soon come to an end, and humanity can go onwards without the extra baggage thus perhaps a more productive approach to problems will be a reality.This (and it does deeply hurt me to say, but I have to face reality if I expect the dogmatic religious to) is the atheist myth. Based in facts we then interpret, severely manipulate with out incorporating additional data, then with a sprinkle of fairy dust along with a lot of wishful thinking, use as proof of aforementioned religion free society where critical thinking reigns supprem.Unfortunately we have anecdotal evidence in heaps, in various guises from watching different channels on TV/YouTube etc., to (sometimes the same statistics used to prove fewer people than ever consider themselves as identifying to a specific religion) showing the rapid increase in those who do have a religion becoming far more (though this is an emotive word, I'm using it the literal sense, not the sensationalist) extreme in their religious identity and common myths surrounding the core values of it (look at increased unacceptance, in some cases violence against lgbt community, the fast growth of the "pro-life" movement, intolerance of people not believing in their religion) e.g. if one knew nothing of the bible other than popular American rhetoric, you'd assume it was a document saying (and I'm being very conservative in my example vs what evangelical people etc. say even on mainstream TV programmes) "If your gay; muslim; have an abortion; atheist or not a Republican, by default your evil and will spend eternity in hell!!!". You'd no doubt not even know who/what Jesus is.Then we come to "alternative fact" science, where only maintaining facts that are so deeply accepted even among the religious, then the rest is a recipe of: total twisting of facts; gibberish including scientific words not fully understood by most plus (unless scientist in question is truly deluded; an sloppy uninterested amateur that most times are introduced as "Doctor" omitting their doctorate is in dance etc.) the most important ingredient bold-faced lies = perfect solution for all those mainstream scientific facts proving otherwise they have....pseudoscience XL (in this case extra lies).Sometimes as way of making people believe they didn't know the answer prior to choosing the hypothesis with no proof what so ever (of course only fact in book/lecture, that's not mentioned along with the vast majority of students studying first year whatever the topic is, would laugh at so-called "science". Unless there in the unfortunate position to be students in the growing number of universities peddling this crap, that due to said universities religious status, is then allowed to give out doctorates.), they refer to themselves as creationists and their pathetic attempt at vieling whatever religious beliefs and agenda as "creationist theory", amongst a wealth of ever growing new aliases.Due to political entities allowing or on occasion funding this plus other blatant illegal breaches of "Separation of Church/religion and State" (apparently this amendment means nothing but better not try and do background check on someone who potentially just got out of prison for shooting someone, that's a total breach of the founding fathers fundamental rights of every American!There's a wealth of other evidence showing both more extreme views on behalf of those who identify themselves with a certain religion, in my humble opinion this trend I doubt will be non-existent in 100yrs.The problem with eradicating religion is the feeble hope believers have.."afterlife insurance", belief or at least a grain of hope if you follow "x" set of rules regardless how crazy, look at Scientology even with the added pay to pray policy (at least most other religions are tad more subtle about ripping believers off) they have people who are members still.Then, even more depressingly, if those whom classed themselves as having no religious affiliations were asked if they've been abducted by aliens or something of that ilk e.g. seen a reptilian? I'm afraid this new type of "faith/myth" totally unproven (unless you believe the aliens are the ones who are covering up the fact they rule the world) religion in all but name.Yet another reason why I don't think people will believe REAL SCIENCE facts, accepting we don't know everything but it's ok, no need for "the god of gaps".This is a v.long review ☺ I'm sorry but I guess it's also why I couldn't give 5*, the topics that are covered in it are not always long enough (explored as deeply as I would've liked) plus I think to have included the possibility that an atheist future (at least in regards to the commonly used definition (i.e. Atheist = someone who is a sceptic; relies on facts shown to be true via "The scientific method"; doesn't believe in god;fairies;aliens visiting our planet or interacting with us in anyway. However was a spaceship to land on the proverbial "White House lawn" and a proven alien race ask the "take me to your leader" question, or even "can I borrow your loo a sec'?" 😉 etc. I would be among the first to accept I was wrong. Plus pay my mate 5 quid for loosing a bet.), though an ideal could be easily prevented via aforementioned in my review.Saying that, I do recommend this book to atheists and believers, it brings up some good points and interesting questions 🙂

No

Much of the book goes over in too much detail what most readers will already know before dealing with the proposal stated in the title. It is uncontentious that religious believes are not consistent with modern scientific knowledge. This has been true for a long time and yet religion persists. That being the case I see little prospect of existing knowledge overturning religion in a century.More could have been said about how modern democratic liberal societies reduce the social and economic cost of not belonging to a dominant religion.

The authour does a very good job of explaining all types of religion, where they come from and how they came about. It is easy to see how irrational most of this is today given the change in cricumstances. He also explains the social element, which is important for society in general and challanges us to find new ways to give this support without unfounded beliefs or mysticysim.An excellent read. Interesting to learn about various religions, when they appeard and why. Important to know where you come from so you can move forward instead of always looking back. Everyone should read this and think about it even if they don'd want to agree. Blindly following anything for any reason be it religion or diet has consequences for all.

A (Minor?) criticism at the start of the title of this book - I doubt that until all schools are totally secular and parents themselves have abandoned religion then we might see our children being Atheists. Sadly children will be indoctrinated by their parents by the age of 6 - a point that the jesuits new all too well As far as I know (from this book where I learnt a lot), only France has totally secular schools without any religious education or bias.So – unless you have had separate specialist training, this is an excellent book for reviewing the origins of the main religions of the world and a critique as to where the religious documentation and “gods” have originated.Whatever criticisms may be levied as to the level of detail, this book tackles the key problems of existence – our need to “belong” (family, tribe, nation) and how the religious beliefs of groups have been used (and abused) to guide (or even control) its members.There is a lot about the past – not surprising since that is where our religions and their documentations / rituals have originated. It might be interesting to consider the status of social media as the new religion replacement where our group acceptance and support seems to be the objective of so many young people.Part two of the book tackles the history of Earth and ourselves – a suitable review for rebutting the wilder timescale claims of Creationists. What I find sad is the increasing extremism of nearly all religious groups when their blind faith is challenged with substantial and substantive facts.Whatever your religious views and levels of faith, I thinks that this is a worthwhile book to read (and accept / reject the views according to your agreement or otherwise with the points and arguments presented)

A must read for everyone, and especially so for new age parents. Our kids MUST not be fed lies which have been conclusively ruled out by exciting scientific discoveries of last 100 years, and they should be honestly told about what we still don't know, but hopefully will know, in future. All parents owe it to their kids, to read this book and help their kids grow into rational human beings.

I was raised to believe this foolish thinking until I took the time to think really think all of this through. By the time I was around 19 or 20 years old when I came to the conclusion that it is all about control and money. Have never looked back and raised 2 great free thinking children who have grown to be great parents without this nonsense in their lives.

The title of the book is a little bit deceiving. I am single and at first I thought that this was some sort of book whose intent was to act as guide or reasoning exercise as to why someone would raise their children as humanists or atheists. However its clear that what the author tries to convey with the title is that; in the future, our "children", in a very broad sense of the word, meaning future human generations, will be, in fact, atheists. I would change the title to something like: "The history of religions and our future without them". Had it not been for the very helpful reviews of other readers I would have probably not picked this book.Notwithstanding the confusing title of the book, I'd like to say that this is a little jewel and that I would have actually paid for the download, and that I would have done so gladly. I got it for free, but I will certainly try to make a donation to the author.The book is well researched and well written, it gives you a pretty good background on the history of religions throughout the development of humanity and examines how religions are no longer necessary in our modern world or at least in a near future world where reason (hopefully) will be the main drive for humanity.

This was a well researched and very useful book explaining the origin, development, practices and beliefs of most religions that we are aware of, and how people become ardent believers. It is quite well written though confusingly organized. He could have been significantly more disparaging about the continued beliefs in today's scientific and knowledgeable environment.

Excellent book, well written, very clear. It starts with a brief history of all religions, from their beginning on, without demeaning anyone. The second part is an also brief account of how the solar system and the earth formed. Then, a description of how life evolved on Earth from it's humble beginnings to its most evolved (at least to date) product: MAN. Finally, there is a rather lengthy argument of why it doesn't make sense to believe in any god.There are however a couple of points would have liked to see treated in more detail. Firstly, the understandable fear of death. Death is not only the disappearance of the physical body, but also of the mind, the conscience, the accumulated knowledge and the contact with loved ones. No wonder it is feared. Smartly, most religions assuage this primordial fear with the promise of an eternal afterlife. However, they also take advantage of the the notion of eternity by threatening eternal cruel punishment if you don't believe and comply.Secondly, there is the natural eagerness to find an explanation to natural phenomena such as rain, lighting, illness, etc. Religions simply refer everything to an invisible and unknowable entity. Easy enough, isn't it? No need for further thinking or research.Thirdly, there is peer pressure.The ruling class much prefers a religious populace, since they are more docile. And the church, all of them, allied with the high class can exert a lot or pressure if it becomes known that you are a non-believer. In that case you are automatically categorized to be a thief, rapist, murderer, etc. Social isolation, the impossibility to find a job or to relate to your peers in a normal way, are some, not all of the ways religions can use to keep all the members of their flock together and docile. Even the threat and practice of physical violence have been known to be utilized. The situation regarding atheists has improved some, but not a lot.These and other resources are routinely utilized to maintain the prodigious stranglehold that most churches keep on their believers. Also this has improved and is still improving. In this era when we have been able to understand so much about the universe and about life itself, it befuddles me to no limit that so many still believe in a completely un-verifiable super-natural realm, completely contradictory with science, that cannot withstand any scientific test.