Atheism For Dummies (For Dummies (Religion & Spirituality)) (3 page)

Bold
is used to highlight the action parts of numbered steps and to emphasize keywords.

In addition, let me warn you that atheists are a wordy bunch. We tend to read and write and talk a lot. And the analyzing, oh the analyzing. As a result, we have countless words and terms and labels, including some with microscopic differences between them (or none). If I can spare you from a term in this book, I do. If two words have important differences in meaning, I let you know. If they’re basically synonyms, I may use them interchangeably, just to irritate atheists who know the tiny differences and care too much. I even plan to irritate myself in this way.

You may also notice that I almost never make an absolute claim about atheists — or theists, for that matter. (See? I said “almost never.” Get used to that.) You may see a lot of qualifiers like

“Atheists
tend
to . . . ”

“Atheists
usually
. . . ”

“
Most
atheists . . .”

Aside from not believing in God, not many things can be positively said about all nonbelievers.

What You’re Not to Read

Don’t feel like you have to read every word to get something out of this book. I’ve made it modular, so you can flip to any part of the book and start reading at any heading without needing to have read anything up to that point.

Sidebars are interesting but nonessential, as is anything marked with the “Technical Stuff” icon. You can skip them at will. If anything makes your eyes glaze over, I’m sorry, and you can skip it.

Everything else is golden.

Foolish Assumptions

From the start, I assume a certain ideal reader. Here are the assumptions that I make about you:

You’re probably not an atheist yourself and don’t know much about the subject, but you’re curious and would like to learn more.

If you identify as atheist, agnostic, or secular humanist, I bet you can come away from this book knowing and appreciating more about the history and underpinnings of our worldview. If you can stand being relegated to the nosebleed seats for this performance, I promise to occasionally aim the KissCam at you or shoot a T-shirt your way.

You’re not actually a dummy. In fact, one of the best assumptions made by the publishers of the
For Dummies
series is that its readers aren’t dummies in general, just uninformed about a particular subject. So although I’ve tried to keep the tone light and the details brief, I assume you can chew on some serious ideas and handle a few unfamiliar terms.

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into five parts. Each introduces you to an important dimension of atheism.

Part I: Understanding What Atheism Is

The first part is all about the nuts and bolts of atheism: the labels (and labels, and labels) that go along with it, a few other key terms, how someone can be both an atheist and an agnostic, and what atheists actually believe, and don’t believe, and why.

Part II: Following Atheism through the Ages

Part II takes a reckless ride through the long, fascinating history of the idea that (despite persistent rumors to the contrary) there aren’t any gods, from ancient China and India to 21st century Britain and America.

Part III: Reading the Great Works of Atheism

Part III goes back to Square One and retraces the steps of atheism through the ages, this time using important written works in every era as stepping stones. If you’re looking for additions to your reading list, you can find them in this part.

Part IV: Living a Full Life without Belief in God

This part walks you through what it’s actually like being an atheist, including what atheists think about meaning, ethics, and death. Here I discuss how many nonbelievers are in the world today and why their influence is growing. I also discuss how the nonreligious get some of the benefits of the church without the detriments — and without the actual church.

Part V: The Part of Tens

Every
Dummies
book has a Part of Tens — lists with (about) ten fun and interesting things each that relate to the main topic. I cover surprising things about atheists, some famous nonbelievers you didn’t know are nonbelievers, and ways you can explore atheism.

Icons Used in This Book

You can notice these small icons in the margins that map important points in this book. Here are the icons I use:

This icon identifies a few of the most important atheists, agnostics, and humanists in freethought history.

This icon signals a bit of information that’s especially important to remember.

This icon points you to a bit of advice that can help in thinking about a difficult issue.