Religious books

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Hi all,

**STRANGE POST WARNING**

My other half seems to be going through some sort of religious crisis that has arisen from the fact that she is not christened. Although she is a bright girl who i thought was under the same belief as myself (bible = old story book etc) it seems she wants to learn more.

Ive read the bible myself as i was very bored for a couple of weeks and tbh i think that any religious text like that would cause more trouble than its worth. Id like some recommendations on books that look at different religions from all perspectives so that she can make her own mind up.

I know a bit but my ramblings are obviously biased towards the "its all a load of poppycock" side of the coin :) Ive told her to read as much as possible and to look at everything with a scientific outlook, she is currently reading "life after life" by Raymond Moody, a book about near death experiences. Ive ordered her "the god delusion" aswell.

I really need some decent suggestions on similar books or factual books on the different religions.
 
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Why dont you let her read what she wants to instead of you forcing your opinion on her.

Books on Buddhism and Taoism I found very readable and applicable to every day life.
 
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Man of Honour
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I'd also suggest picking up a copy of The Dawkins Delusion as well. Written by a man equally scientifically qualified as Richard Dawkins and held in similarly high esteem, it makes a good counter to the atheist fundamentalism present in Dawkin's work.

Do you want books on Christianity or books associated with other religions to?
 
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Dolph said:
I'd also suggest picking up a copy of The Dawkins Delusion as well. Written by a man equally scientifically qualified as Richard Dawkins and held in similarly high esteem, it makes a good counter to the atheist fundamentalism present in Dawkin's work.
Perhaps this isn't the right thread for it, but I'd like to know what you find so 'fundamentalist' about Dawkins' book. I'm just reading it now, after having ignored it for quite some time, and I've yet to encounter anything approaching fundamentalism. He's quite careful to state that it would be impossible to disprove the existence of God, and that he doesn't himself believe with 100% certainty that there is no God. Instead, he makes a relatively good case for why the existence of God is a scientific question (with a suitable definition of the word 'God') and goes from there.

The only obvious weakness that I've seen in his argument is his insistence that an intelligent creator would necessarily have to be more complex than his creations - which is philosophically unsound, but on a common sense level seems quite plausible.
 

Zip

Zip

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Bear said:
Why dont you let her read what she wants to instead of you forcing your opinion on her.


Agreed.

And i dont beleive ypou read the Bible tbh. Its not just talk about God and Jesus you know, there is lots of Violence and a whole book based on Some guy with 13 or so wives and sex.]

Something that a fair few peoplelook for when they weatch movies or read books :)
 
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Conversations With God Books I,II & III by Neale Donald Walsch. Well worth a read. Her intuition will guide her very well. It's great that she's questioning things and opening her heart/mind. I also found simplicity and truth in Taoism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
 
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MNuTz said:
My other half seems to be going through some sort of religious crisis that has arisen from the fact that she is not christened. Although she is a bright girl who i thought was under the same belief as myself (bible = old story book etc) it seems she wants to learn more.

Ive read the bible myself as i was very bored for a couple of weeks and tbh i think that any religious text like that would cause more trouble than its worth. Id like some recommendations on books that look at different religions from all perspectives so that she can make her own mind up.

Tbh you can't just expect to pick up a Bible and understand what the Christian faith is all about. If your other half wants to learn about Christianity then instead of reading a book I suggest she considers going on the Alpha course. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_course
 
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mrk1@1 said:
Who are very nice people, well all the ones I met have been and boy can they lay on a tofu feast :D

You get them sometimes in Hyde Park... very cool friendly people. Shame the coppers try to ruin their fun by telling them to stop playing so loud :S
 
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Bear said:
Why dont you let her read what she wants to instead of you forcing your opinion on her.

Books on Buddhism and Taoism I found very readable and applicable to every day life.

Did you not read my post at all, the reason I'm getting her books from either side of the religious debate is so she can make her own mind up. She has no idea what books are out there, i know of a few which I've ordered for her and i came on here asking for opinions on other books. If you can explain why this is 'forcing my opinion on her' id be happy to hear it, am I not encouraging her to read both sides of the argument and make her own mind up?

The same goes for Zip, if you don't believe I've read the bible that's fine as tbh it doesn't bother me in the slightest. I never stated it was just about God and Jesus and I stand by my belief that a) It would be too hard going and b) there are better books out there for understanding Christianity. (same point Scorza made)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, I will go an look up these books. As for the course, i cant see her being up for it but ill mention it.

She is interested in every religion, well the serious ones anyway, Jedi didn't go down to well :p She did show interest in Buddhism when i mentioned it though.
 
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squiffy said:
I take it "something is missing" in her life, and somehow religion is going to fill it?

Not really, its just that we have a civil wedding booked as i wasn't keen on the whole "must go to church X number of times" that comes with a religious wedding and she isn't christened.

She also works with some dumb ass bloke who is pushing 60 and insists about talking about his fanatical Christian beliefs. Things like how when the when the end of days comes and about people being judged and not going to heaven etc. I would love to tell him to shut his mouth about it all but the g/f wont let me.

We have our own beliefs regarding afterlife etc but it gets to me when people push their beliefs onto others. I think she wants to learn about each religion in order to educate herself and put her mind at rest.
 
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Tell her to read Leviticus and Numbers job done after that.

(their the sections that include such brilliance as, you can't sacrifice a bull if its member is to large or too small for use- what they mean by member i can only imagine.) Also Mosses wandered in the desert for 40 years not because it was a long journey but because god told him to wonder till the entire generation that escaped Egypt died. He(Mosses) also ordered women and children killed too, they might make her not feel so great about the whole thing after that.


Edit: Get her to ask the guy if he ever sacrificed a lamb with a wart as thats a sin ;)
 
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Arcade Fire said:
Perhaps this isn't the right thread for it, but I'd like to know what you find so 'fundamentalist' about Dawkins' book. I'm just reading it now, after having ignored it for quite some time, and I've yet to encounter anything approaching fundamentalism. He's quite careful to state that it would be impossible to disprove the existence of God, and that he doesn't himself believe with 100% certainty that there is no God. Instead, he makes a relatively good case for why the existence of God is a scientific question (with a suitable definition of the word 'God') and goes from there.

The only obvious weakness that I've seen in his argument is his insistence that an intelligent creator would necessarily have to be more complex than his creations - which is philosophically unsound, but on a common sense level seems quite plausible.

For the simple reason that the existence of a omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent being within or without the universe isn't something that can be explored using the scientific method. It can't be tested and therefore is a question that is wholly unscientific. Further still, no-one can really give any examples of what evidence of the presence or absence of a god would look like. To try and use the scientific method to argue about the issue is to fundamentally misunderstand science. To blindly believe in the absence of a god in the absence of any evidence and then to proclaim your position as "the only logical one" is about as fundamentalist as you get.

I've not read the book, but it seems to me that to even approach the question this way is to be a bit confused about what's going on.
 
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