10.27am

Because they don’t want to “Get in a long tube full of demons”.

9.22am

7.43pm

11.36am

10.01am

7.42pm

Came across this today and thought it was a powerful statement. I watched a docu-drama about Jonestown and read a book about it a couple of years ago called 1000 Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown. There is something I find  fascinating about the Jonestown story, and the way Jones got all those people to do the most horrible things, all on the promise of something better.

10.03am

10 word review of Jonestown: Paradise Lost

This is what happens when people blindly follow religious leaders.

10.41am

8.49pm

10.26am

As I have noted many times on this here blog, I am a big fan of podcasts. One of my favourites is called The Thinking Atheist which is hosted by Seth Andrews. The combination of his interviews, logical rants, and his dulcet tone of voice make for an excellent and entertaining podcast, so it was with interest that I purchased his book Sacred Cows.

It does exactly what it says on the cover – it takes a lighthearted look at different beliefs and traditions around the world, and gently mocks them with a bit of logic and reason. Sometimes the logic and reason aren’t even needed as the description of the belief or tradition itself is often enough to make you raise your eyebrows in a WTF manner.

The book covers a wide range of subjects from cargo cults, to papal elections, to the Satanic Panic and keeps you interested all along the way. The chapters are short enough that you can read them in one sitting which makes it perfect for commutes or a quick read before bed time. The illustrations by Vincent Deporter complement the text well, and give you a bit of a visual cue about what is being discussed.

My only gripe is a selfish one – I wish Seth had gone into more detail when exposing the ludicrous nature of some beliefs. I’ve have heard him eviscerate certain practices (his recent podcast on Programming is a great example of this), and would have loved to have seen him do this in the book. Of course, as noted on the cover, it’s not that kind of book, it is rather, a lighthearted look, not a deep expose.

Seth, if you ever read this, maybe your next book could be about that?  I would buy that in heartbeat.

I enjoyed Sacred Cows so much that I am now on the hunt for his first book Deconverted: A Journey From Religion to Reason, Seth’s memoir of waking up from religious belief.