I found this book to be one of the most important reads for the decade. I just finished reading Guns,Germs and Steel (finally) recently so just want to keep the recommends going on this board--much better than the temple sort.

"God is Not Great" Christopher Hitchens

"The Demon-Haunted World; Science as a Candle in the Dark" Carl Sagan

Anything and everything by Richard Dawkins

"Why People Believe Weird THings" Michael Shermer

All of this is sooooooooooo much more satisfying and enlighteng than a lifetime of Mormon pablum.

The first chapter was so well-written and so insightful, it gave me chills.

A very wise book.

I've been watching clips of debates on YouTube featuring Harris, Hitchens, Dawkins et al. Their opponents are theists of many stripes; christian, catholic, protestant, muslim, jewish etc. However I have yet to see them cross swords with a Mormon. I would pay to see Elder Holland lock horns with Hitchens It will never happen though. The TSCC would never let their views and the views of a skeptic be seen side by side for comparison

I can't imagine a single GA with brains enough to argue theology or philosophy on a level that would approach what Harris, Hitchens or Dawkins can do.

Perhaps there is a BYU professor that might have such skills...

The one by Dan Barker (Freedom From Religion Foundation), not the one by Ann Coulter. Another one of his "Losing Faith in Faith" is really good.

But, The End of Faith, is still the best from that genre.

If you want to read some things that are not necessarily from an athiest perspective, but more on how early Christianity evolved into what it is, an excellent book is "The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity," by Hyam Maccoby. This gives you a lot of good talking points with Fundamentalists (Christians and Mormons) and is laid out in a very easy-to-read and understand manner. Another good one is "The Misunderstood Jew," by Amy-Jill Levine (or A.J. Levine). She is a professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt and I went to a lecture she did and was absolutely fascinated. LOVED listening to such an intelligent woman speak on the subject.

I will look into your recommendations. I love the Dan Baker books. Currently reading Christian No More by Jeffrey Mark.
Just half way through so no review, but I found much of what I've read to ring a few bells.

He's considered one of the "Four Horsemen", along with Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris.

As far as I know he's the one holdout, arguing that religion is an inevitable naturally evolving phenomenon which may have BOTH adaptive and maladaptive effects. He admits that "breaking the spell" might ruin the "enchantments" of religion, ie, throwing the baby out with the bathwater. In the end he argues for exposing religion, but admits there's risk.

I just have to put in here one of my favorite quotes from Harris' book:

"If we better understood the workings of the human brain, we would undoubtedly discover lawful connections between our states of consciousness, our modes of conduct, and the various ways we use our attention. What makes one person happier than another? Why is love more conducive to happiness than hate? Why do we generally prefer beauty to ugliness and order to chaos? Why does it feel so good to smile and laugh, and why do these shared experiences generally bring people closer together? Is the ego an illusion, and, if so, what implications does this have for human life? Is there life after death? --- These are ultimately questions for a mature science of the mind. If we ever develop such a science, most of our religious texts will be no more
useful to mystics than they now are to astronomers."

I loved that book, but I kinda glazed over when he started talking about consciousness. Talks about consciousness always get so deep; I have a hard time with them, but I hope to one day understand more. I like to recommend Sam Harris' other book to my friends because it doesn't only apply to Mormons, but other Christians as well: Letter to a Christian Nation. It's only about 100 pages, so it's an easy read and it's all common sense. Or so you would think...

The Moral Landscape: How Science Can Determine
Human Values

* Event Date: Sunday, October 24, 2010 at 2:00 pm

* Location: Beckman Auditorium
* Speaker: Sam Harris
* Tickets: $10 Skeptics Society members/Caltech/JPL community; $15 everyone else. Tickets may be purchased in advance beginning Sept. 13, 2010 through the Caltech ticket office at 626-395-4652 or at the door. Ordering tickets ahead of time is strongly recommended. The Caltech ticket office asks that you do not leave a message. Instead call between 12:00 and 5:00 Monday through Friday.

Sam Harris

SAM HARRIS’S FIRST BOOK, The End of Faith, ignited a worldwide debate about the validity of religion. In the aftermath, Harris discovered that most people — from religious fundamentalists to nonbelieving scientists — agree on one point: science has nothing to say on the subject of human values. Indeed, our failure to address questions of meaning and morality through science has now become the most common justification for religious faith. It is also the primary reason why so many secularists and religious moderates feel obligated to “respect” the hardened superstitions of their more devout neighbors. In this explosive new book, The Moral Landscape, Sam Harris tears down the wall between scientific facts and human values, arguing that most people are simply mistaken about the relationship between morality and the rest of human knowledge. Harris urges us to think about morality in terms of human and animal well-being, viewing the experiences of conscious creatures as peaks and valleys on a “moral landscape.” Just as there is no such thing as Christian physics or Muslim algebra, there can be no Christian or Muslim morality.

Too many years in the church. It took on a different meaning for a second. :--)