# Vox Day - The Irrational Atheist



## christianyouth (Dec 11, 2008)

I just got done reading this book. It was very well argued, very well written, and on top of that, it's free! For those of you who are being exposed to new atheism this book is mandatory.

From Wiki :



> The Irrational Atheist: Dissecting the Unholy Trinity of Dawkins, Harris, and Hitchens is a 2008 book by American writer and technology entrepreneur Vox Day,a weekly columnist on WorldNetDaily and member of the SFWA, MENSA and IGDA.
> 
> Vox addresses the anti religious arguments advanced by authors like Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens - who Vox labels the "New atheists" . Rather than argue for the existence of a particular God, the book concentrates on highlighting flaws in anti religious arguments. Vox is sympathetic with Dinesh D'Souza who asserted that even the worst atrocities caused by religion "are minuscule compared with the death tolls produced by the atheist despotisms of the 20th century". [1] Building on D'Souza's position, Vox has a sweeping looks at the average behaviour of Christian leaders since the dawning of Christendom and compares with the track records of the 89 known atheist leaders. He finds that over half of these leaders have committed acts of mass atrocity, so for atheist leaders mass murder is typical behaviour whereas for Christian leaders it is exceptionally rare. Vox adds that extending his analyses to Islamic and Pagan religious leaders doesn't significantly aid the atheist case.
> 
> The Irrational Atheist has been ranked #65 on the Amazon.com bestsellers list and has been downloaded free of charge by thousands of readers as Vox made his work available as a free E-Book. [2]



The Irrational Atheist - Downloads

In Christ,
- Andy


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## CDM (Dec 11, 2008)

christianyouth said:


> I just got done reading this book. It was very well argued, very well written, and on top of that, it's free! For those of you who are being exposed to new atheism this book is mandatory.
> 
> From Wiki :
> 
> ...



Mind you this is not theological work - as the author himself claims - however, he can't help but argue his libertatian free will, and consequently, open theism toward the end. (Mr. Beale is a *logical* thinking Arminian.)

Good read though, highly recommended for those that enjoy seeing the "New Atheists" trashed by their own arguments. 

Watch out for the author's use of some of his slang.


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## christianyouth (Dec 11, 2008)

That's a great point, Chris. There was one very vulgar phrase near the beginning that I forgot about. I don't endorse that, but I think the good of the book outweighs the bad.

As they say, eat the meat and toss out the bones.


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## he beholds (Dec 11, 2008)

I thought you were having this kind of Vox Day


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## christianyouth (Dec 11, 2008)

LOL Sis. Jessica, I'm a Baptist.


The only critique I have of the book is that it frames some of it's arguments in a pragmatic way. Who cares if atheism leads to totalitarianism? Who cares if theism is divisive? 

I guess in our emotionally driven culture, those pragmatic arguments may convince people. But I don't see what it actually has to do with the truth or falsity of the issues being discussed.

One great thing about the book is the quotations. He quotes a lot of the new atheists as well as quotes notable people to back up his points. When making the argument that atheists have more space in their belief system to justify atrocities, he quotes John Locke. When making the argument that atheists can justify anything by an 'ends justifies the means' morality, he quotes Bertrand Russel. His citations make this book very enjoyable.


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## matt01 (Dec 11, 2008)

christianyouth said:


> LOL Sis. Jessica, I'm a Baptist.


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## Zenas (Dec 11, 2008)

Then I'll have a Vox Day for the both of us.


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## CDM (Dec 11, 2008)

christianyouth said:


> LOL Sis. Jessica, I'm a Baptist.
> 
> 
> The only critique I have of the book is that it frames some of it's arguments in a pragmatic way. Who cares if atheism leads to totalitarianism? Who cares if theism is divisive?
> ...




Remember, the book was not meenat to argue for the existence of God - the Preface stated as much. The Totalitarian arguments formed were rebuttals to the New Atheist arguments that Religion is the soucrce of all wars, etc. IA is simply using the stick the Atheists use to beat them with it (in amusing fashion).


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## christianyouth (Dec 11, 2008)

Good point, Magnum.


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