50 Voices of Disbelief

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents a collection of original essays drawn from an international group of prominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literature, media and politics who offer carefully considered statements of why they are atheists. Features a truly international cast of contributors, ranging from public intellectuals such as Peter Singer, Susan Blackmore, and A.C. Grayling, novelists, such as Joe Haldeman, and heavyweight philosophers of religion, including Graham Oppy and Michael Tooley Contributions range from rigorous philosophical arguments to highly personal, even whimsical, accounts of how each of these notable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives Likely to have broad appeal given the current public fascination with religious issues and the reception of such books as The God Delusion and The End of Faith

50 Voices of Disbelief: Why We Are Atheists presents acollection of original essays drawn from an international group ofprominent voices in the fields of academia, science, literaturemedia and politics who offer carefully considered statements of whythey are atheists.* Features a truly international cast of contributors, rangingfrom public intellectuals such as Peter Singer, Susan Blackmoreand A.C. Grayling, novelists, such as Joe Haldeman, and heavyweightphilosophers of religion, including Graham Oppy and MichaelTooley* Contributions range from rigorous philosophical arguments tohighly personal, even whimsical, accounts of how each of thesenotable thinkers have come to reject religion in their lives* Likely to have broad appeal given the current publicfascination with religious issues and the reception of such booksas The God Delusion and The End of Faith

Acknowledgments ixIntroduction: Now More Important than Ever - Voices ofReason 1Russell Blackford and Udo SchüklenkUnbelievable! 5Russell BlackfordMy "Bye Bull" Story 10Margaret DowneyHow Benevolent Is God? - An Argument from Suffering toAtheism 16Nicholas EverittA Deal-Breaker 23Ophelia BensonWhy Am I a Nonbeliever? - I Wonder . . . 28J. L. SchellenbergWicked or Dead? Reflections on the Moral Character andExistential Status of God 33John HarrisReligious Belief and Self-Deception 41Adèle MercierThe Coming of Disbelief 48J. J. C. SmartWhat I Believe 50Graham OppyToo Good to Be True, Too Obscure to Explain: The CognitiveShortcomings of Belief in God 57Thomas W. ClarkHow to Think About God: Theism, Atheism, and Science 65Michael ShermerA Magician Looks at Religion 78James RandiConfessions of a Kindergarten Leper 82Emma TomBeyond Disbelief 86Philip KitcherAn Ambivalent Nonbelief 97Taner EdisWhy Not? 105Sean M. CarrollGodless Cosmology 112Victor J. StengerUnanswered Prayers 118Christine OverallBeyond Faith and Opinion 123Damien BroderickCould It Be Pretty Obvious There's No God? 129Stephen LawAtheist, Obviously 139Julian BagginiWhy I am Not a Believer 145A. C. GraylingEvil and Me 157Gregory BenfordWho's Unhappy? 161Lori Lipman BrownReasons to be Faithless 165Sheila A. M. McLeanThree Stages of Disbelief 168Julian SavulescuBorn Again, Briefly 172Greg EganCold Comfort 177Ross UpshurThe Accidental Exorcist 182Austin DaceyAtheist Out of the Foxhole 187Joe HaldemanThe Unconditional Love of Reality 191Dale McGowanAntinomies 197Jack DannGiving Up Ghosts and Gods 200Susan BlackmoreSome Thoughts on Why I Am an Atheist 204Tamas PatakiNo Gods, Please! 211Laura PurdyWelcome Me Back to the World of the Thinking 220Kelly O'ConnorKicking Religion Goodbye . . . 226Peter AdegokeOn Credenda 230Miguel Kottow"Not Even Start to Ignore Those Questions!" A Voiceof Disbelief in a Different Key 236Frieder Otto WolfImagine No Religion 252Edgar DahlHumanism as Religion: An Indian Alternative 259Sumitra PadmanabhanWhy I Am NOT a Theist 263Prabir GhoshWhen the Hezbollah Came to My School 270Maryam NamazieEvolutionary Noise, not Signal from Above 274Athena AndreadisGods Inside 279Michael R. Rose and John P. PhelanWhy Morality Doesn't Need Religion 288Peter Singer and Marc HauserDoctor Who and the Legacy of Rationalism 294Sean WilliamsMy Nonreligious Life: A Journey From Superstition to Rationalism300Peter TatchellHelping People to Think Critically About Their Religious Beliefs310Michael TooleyHuman Self-Determination, Biomedical Progress, and God 323Udo SchüklenkAbout the Contributors 332Index 338