non believers and religious literature.

[nailit]

From browsing around the Q&A in this section of AB, it appears obvious that religious people are loathe to read anything that is contrary to their faith. However, I was wondering about the reverse of this. What 'faith' literature have non believers read? As mentioned elswhere on AB I regularly read Watchtower and Awake magazines of the JW's. Ive read the entire bible, some of the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita. Ive read works by numerous christian apologists and classics such as the Pilgrims Progress and nearly all of C S Lewis' work.
(must admit that ive never read the Book of Mormon even though I have a copy)
It does brass me of a bit when religious people accuse me of been closed minded when Im quite willing to read their books but they wont reciprocate and read books that question THEIR beliefs.
So, what religious literature have you read?

[vetuste_ennemi]

Ditto to a lot of that, Nailit.
G. K. Chesterton is worth a read for an insight into the religious mind. His book Heretics (an attack on various forms of modernism) is brilliant. Less impressed by the more obvious apologetic Orthodoxy which I got recently on my Kindle. I've also downloaded a couple of C. S. Lewis's which I'd read as a youngster. Still to re-read them.
Don't bother with the Book of Mormon: it is as obvious a human fabrication as the Koran, with which it shares the same amount of moral edification, i.e. none.
I'm always keen to hear of interesting stuff arguing our case, especially from the moral perspective. Please recommend some books if you can.

[jomifl]

Apart from the compulsory bible reading when at school and the odd skim through watchtower, (but having to give up because of a strange mixture of amusement, exasperarion and incredulity) I have not read any, and don't expect to do so. The reason for this is that being an atheist my view is that no matter how convincing the religious texts may appear to be, they amount to nothing since no kind of god exists.

[mibn2cweus]

Save yourself a lot of time and trouble by examining and evaluating the premise, that faith trumps reason, that deuces (along with everything else) are wild and bear no distinction to aces, truth or reality. If you're willing to swallow that premise than you have already presumed that any perversion acquires legitimacy and validity by virtue of belief thereby making of your own mind an open book . . . indistinguishable from fiction.

[naomi24]

I think a lot of atheists read religious works - that's often the very reason they are atheists - but few religious people seem to read much at all that they think might contradict their beliefs.

[naomi24]

Sorry, I didn't answer the question. Among other things, various interpretations of the bible, the koran, the Book of Mormon, and a mound of books written by the ‘God-fearing’.

[sandyRoe]

What is it that you're searching for, Naomi?

[naomi24]

Nothing Sandy. I've found it.

[jomifl]

Naomi, it's all here @....

[nailit]

""What is it that you're searching for, Naomi? ""
Why do believers always think that atheists are looking for something because we read religious literature? Ive had this levelled at me numerous times and the simple answer is that im not 'looking' for anything. Simply curious as to the way other people percieve the world.
(I also like a good laugh at times)

[FredPuli43]

Atheists have a list of banned books,which it is quite wrong for us to read, like the Vatican had (I wonder why the Church had such a list) . And we don't have an atheist 'blasphemy'or 'heresy'. How 'close minded' does a church have to be to stop its adherents from reading something?
No, I have enjoyed reading Chesterton and other Christian writers, though the experience is rather like reading of early astronomy. Very intelligent people believed that the solar system was earth centred. Their ingenious explaining of any phenomenon which did not fit, rather than their accepting the simple explanation contradicting their belief, are striking.

[seadogg]

You'll know this one Fred,
Malt does more than Milton can
To justify God's works to man
(may not be exact quote from GKC.)

[seadogg]

Go outside and see Venus under the crescent Moon.

Beats religious lit. for me anyday.

[jomifl]

Venus is always more seductive than religion.

[naomi24]

Fred, //Atheists have a list of banned books,which it is quite wrong for us to read//

We do? What would they be then?

[ll_billym]

I very rarely read religious literature and if I do it is almost certainly for laughs, I think that there is some worthwhile stuff some of it but, like religion itself, it is mostly guff.

My opinion is that if somebody is not willing to at least admit that the explanations given by religion for a lot of things are at best arbitrary then it is not really worth their while reading any atheist books anyway, or any of my time worrying about it.

I have read the bible mostly, I did try to read all of it once but didn't make it out of Genesis - it's boring stuff and it oversimplifies events and feelings in my opinion. Apart from that just a few JW mags and Mormon stuff for giggles.

[jomifl]

I had assumed (perhaps incorrectly) that Fred had mistakenly left out the word 'don't'.

[sandyRoe]

They could start here. Who knows, it might change their lives.
http://www.saintaquinas.com/overview.html

[FredPuli43]

birdie , et al., I missed the typo in my post. The sentence was meant to say that atheists DON'T have a list [of banned books].LOL

[boxtops]

My reading list is very similar to yours, nailit, out of sheer interest and the wish to be better informed about different people's belief systems - and I'm currently speaking with someone who teaches on the early Mediterranean faith systems and the origins of all the temples on Malta and other islands.

Working in the NHS, I believe that the more we can understand about different faiths and the influence those religious and cultural requirements can have on healthcare, the better patient-focused care we can deliver. One size doesn't fit all.