| Welcome to vBulletin FAQ |
vBulletin FAQ Navigation
Getting Started
Customizing your vBulletin
Search Engines & SEO
Making Money with a Forum
Promoting your Community
|
| Get your own vBulletin Today |
|
| Webmaster Help |
|
|
|
Nothing: Something to Believe in
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with N
|
Nothing: Something to Believe in |
Author: Nica Lalli
Published: 2007-03-14 |
List price: $18.98
Our price: $14.80
|
Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: November 20th, 2008 05:25:12 PM
|
|
|
Customer comments on this selection.
 Great!!
I was looking for a book to help me understand some of the things my son has been experiencing growing up in our non-religious household when all of his friends' families practice religions of one sort or another (I was raised as a somewhat conservative Mormon, so non-religious parenting is new for me). I found his book incredibly helpful and very fun to read! I would highly recommend it!
 chilling personal view of the "Jesus Freaks"
I enjoyed this quick read immensely, and had to laugh at Nica's childhood stories of being "nothing". But what really got to me was her sister-in-law..the "Jesus Freak". When she told Nica that "God was more important to her than her own son", I couldn't imagine wanting to be that person. How could you value your religion above your child? I liked seeing the personal side of being an atheist, and agreed with many of her political observations. Good book for people on both sides of the fence on this subject to read for insight.
 Missing A Little Something
Judging by some reviews, you almost feel the reviewers would like Nica Lalli to apologize for not having a more interesting action-packed life. Sorry but this is just a pretty normal woman who had a pretty normal childhood except for the fact that her parents were non-religious. That's one of the endearing qualities of the memoir. She seems so normal that you feel you already know her. Chances are you did know someone just like her.
br /
br /I say non-religious because I don't think you can necessarily say that they were atheists. When Nica was a little girl and asked her parents what they were (she had noticed that all her friends were of one denomination or another), they simply said "nothing" because they didn't feel they fell into any group. They could have said "well honey, we're atheists because we don't believe in God," but they didn't. And nowhere does she relay any birds and the bees talk from her parents on how God doesn't exist. They may simply have been agnostic. Surprisingly, we don't have enough information to know for sure.
br /
br /While "nothing" is a good title for the memoir, it does seem that the second half of the title "something to believe in" is perhaps a little misleading considering that this is not anything close to a treatise on atheism. And it does seem that a few people were expecting something more down that road.
br /
br /If the situation with the born-again in-laws was the one of two confrontations worth mentioning, then that itself is surprising, and again makes you lean more toward the agnostic label. Growing up as a somewhat practicing Catholic, I had more run-ins with die-hard believers than Nica seems to have had. It would be my guess that a family of outspoken atheists would have sparked a few more in-depth discussions on the hereafter than what we have here.
br /
br /Since Nica is roughly the same age as me, I could relate to many of her childhood memories growing up, and probably helped make it an enjoyable read. It's a fast and easy read with a few humorous moments, but a little light on insights. Perhaps I'm missing the point, but I can't help wishing that there was a little more something to this "nothing".
I am not nothing
Ken Kesey was quoted as saying, "To hell with facts, we need more stories!" He is probably completely correct, and for that reason we should welcome and encourage more atheist literature, including not only biographies but novels and short stories, as well as music, art, and so on.
br /Lalli's contribution is conventional atheist fare--a "deconversion" story, or a story of a life without religion. Such stories are clearly worthwhile, although we have seen lots of them, and Lalli has little to say that it particularly new or insightful. Much of the book is really not about religion at all but about the mundane trivia of her life, which I suppose needs to be told is a life-story is to be told, but frankly it is not all that interesting or important.
br /It is interesting when she talks about her own struggles with the religious environment and especially with her family and in-laws. The message here, which needs to be emphasized, is that we are swimming in a sea of someone else' religion, and THAT is the real challenge for atheists. Religion is so pervasive, and so taken-for-granted, that our "arguments" are feeble as long as our culture and world is dominated and colonized by religion. The most moving parts of the book are when she is confronting her in-laws who are absolutely sure that their religion is true--and that no one who disagrees with them is worthy of respect. Pages 200 and 201 should be required reading for all theists and atheists.
br /However--and this is a big however--I am stridently opposed to the theme of her book. As an atheist, I am not "nothing," and even to accept and to promote such language is foolish and self-destructive. I am many things: a man, a teacher, a son, a husband, an American, a pet-lover, and more. Lacking religion does not make a person "nothing," and it is horrible to think that it does. Nor do I "believe in nothing." That is silly talk. That is like saying that a single person is "married to no one," as if "no one" is a person. The proof of that absurdity is easy to demonstrate: if you are single, try listing "no one" as your spouse on your tax return and claiming an exemption. The IRS will remind you right away that "no one" is not a person but the ABSENCE of a person. Atheism, likewise, is not "believing in nothing" but the ABSENCE of religious belief. To assert otherwise is to let theists define us. Rather, THEY believe in nothing, since they literally believe in something that does not exist, that is nothing.
br /I will never call myself "nothing," nor encourage anyone else to call me or themselves that. It is nihilist and self-deprecating. One's something-ness and value does not come from one's religion, and we need to shout this from the rooftops. Atheists are somebody too, and we do not have to look for some "belief" to make us somebody. We must not let theists control the discussion, and we certainly must not "speak Christian" ourselves.
br /While I wish Lalli well, and welcome her to the community of atheists, I am surprised and disappointed that Prometheus chose to publish this book in its current form. It is not up to the standards of Prometheus and promotes confusion and self-disparagement among atheists.
Great look inside the life and mind of an atheist
This book is different than most of the atheist books on the market today, because it includes no arguments against religion or the existence of god. It has no arguments at all, except for those that Nica had with her family members in the past. This book is the story of Nica's personal journey from being uncomfortable as the only child in her school who was "nothing" to her coming to terms with the fact that she really does have many things to believe in, but none of them have anything to do with god or religion.
br /
br /The book is well written, funny, touching, and always interesting. Nica is open and honest about the twists and turns in her own spiritual adventures and search for meaning outside of the religious American mainstream. Sometimes a personal story does more to get to the heart of an issue than pages and pages of logical argument and polemics. I think Nothing should be required reading for both believers and unbelievers because it shows that we actually have more in common than is often acknowledged.
|
|
Our vBulletin book picks:
|
|
Find more vBulletin related products of interest.
|
