Official Poll - 3rd Quarter 2006 NONFICTION book POLL!

riverc0il

another book on religion *sigh*

i am abstaining from voting for the moment. not really caring for the line up. likely i will see how voting pans out and vote three votes for which ever book is running second place to breaking the spell as a vote against it. banner of heaven also seems to have religious over tones. i may pass on the up coming reading, so i may abstain from voting all together in this poll.

Mr. Pessimistic

Banner of Heaven - 5

Breaking the Spell - 7

Directive - 1

Peace - 2

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

Once you perceive the irrevocable truth, you can no longer justify the irrational denial. - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

ginof

ok, I'm in!

change my 3 votes to 'peace'!

gino

Mr. Pessimistic

Banner of Heaven - 5

Breaking the Spell - 7

Directive - 1

Peace - 5

OOOPS! I never included Ginos votes for Directive anyway!

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

Once you perceive the irrevocable truth, you can no longer justify the irrational denial. - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

Chris OConnor

Thanks for keeping the numbers in line. ::80

Mr. Pessimistic

Its what I do!

Now if I could only keep YOU in line!

Mr. P.
::72

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

Once you perceive the irrevocable truth, you can no longer justify the irrational denial. - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

MadArchitect

Three votes for "A Peace to End All Peace".

Thanks for making the change, Chris. I figured there must have been some mistake.

And incidentally, I'm not against reading about religion. I'm constantly reading about religion, and not just from a theistic perspective. I recently read "Good Sense", by Baron d'Holback, one of the landmarks of Enlightenment atheism, and I'm currently reading Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding", which has been the philosophical basis for just about every piece of atheistic literature I've ever seen.

Three things bother me about the religious readings here. One is that the dominate the quarterly readings, and I think that we get short-changed as a group by not travelling down some other avenues every once in a while. If we mixed it up on a regular basis, I'd probably be more inclined to join in on a book like "The End of Faith". When it comes close on the heels of a number of other books that criticize religion, I'm less likely to pick it up. The second is -- and I know that this probably isn't going to change -- that nearly all of our religious readings are about the dangers of Judeo-Christian religion. I'd like to know a lot more about Shinto, Jainism, Native American religion, Druidism, and so on, but those aren't the sort of books that we as a group choose when we discuss religion. It doesn't offend me; I just find it tedious. And the third is that we haven't been picking very good books on (or against) religion. I didn't read "The End of Faith", but it got a lot of criticism even from people who agree with its basic standpoint. I did read "Value and Virtue", and was pretty disappointed on the whole. I'm not against reading about religion, even books that criticize religion, but it seems to me that BookTalk gives preference to those books, even over better argued and written books in other fields.

Mr. Pessimistic

Banner of Heaven - 5

Breaking the Spell - 7

Directive - 1

Peace - 8

Mr. P.

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

Once you perceive the irrevocable truth, you can no longer justify the irrational denial. - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper

tarav

Again, I feel I need to address the complaints about polls. First of all, the poll should not be the first time we hear about how you feel about a book that makes it to the poll. Please consider voicing your opinions more loudly and clearly in the nomination thread. I am not trying to say that anyone did/didn't do that, but am just reminding you to be clear about what books you would and would not like to see make the poll. Also, I would like to point out that Chris does not make the poll choices on a whim or on his own. For years Chris and I have tried to discuss with members in the chat room which books make it to the poll. We also read the nomination thread and together discuss what books would be best for the community. There are several factors that we consider before placing a book on the poll. Just to give you an example of one of the communications between Chris and I regarding this poll, I am pasting a communication from me to Chris about this current poll:
Maybe American Theocracy, Breaking the Spell and either Banner... or Directive 19 should make the poll. American...was suggested by Nick and supported by Dissident and God. Breaking...was suggested by Julian and supported by Nick, Tomiichi, and Tara. Directive 19 has garnered a bit of discussion already and the author is aware of our interest in his book. Banner...might make for good discussion as Big Love has been mentioned in another thread and has been airing on HBO. Those are my thoughts, for what they're worth! Of course, I like Ancestor's Tale, personally, but without much support from the community a longer book like that wouldn't do well on a poll or in a forum. The four I mentioned in my first sentence are the ones I think are best for the community.
Note: The nominated book I personally wanted to read, is not even one I suggested for the poll! However, I understand that what I like and what I'd like to see make the poll, may not always be what is best for the community. I don't get angry if the kind of books I like aren't on every poll. Lastly, we are not perfect and you just can't please everyone all the time!
My votes are:
2 for Breaking the Spell
1 for Banner Under Heaven

Mr. Pessimistic

Banner of Heaven - 6

Breaking the Spell - 9

Directive - 1

Peace - 8

Anyone wants to check me, please do...sometimes I trail off into senility...

Wha..?

Mr. P.
::72

The one thing of which I am positive is that there is much of which to be negative - Mr. P.

Once you perceive the irrevocable truth, you can no longer justify the irrational denial. - Mr. P.

The pain in hell has two sides. The kind you can touch with your hand; the kind you can feel in your heart...Scorsese's "Mean Streets"

I came to kick ass and chew Bubble Gum...and I am all out of Bubble Gum - They Live, Roddy Piper


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