Online reading group and book discussion forum
  HOME FORUMS ABOUT BOOKS ADVERTISE LINKS BLOGS DONATE Chat [0] CONTACT  
View unanswered posts | View active topics It is currently Mon Mar 15, 2010 10:03 am

Upcoming Chats 
Casual Chat every Sunday 11:00 am Eastern • Casual Chat every Thursday at 9:00 pm Eastern



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Invite an Atheist to BookTalk 
Author Message
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membership
Genuinely Genius


Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 836
Location: Wyse Fork, NC
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post Invite an Atheist to BookTalk
"In the process of broadening our appeal, and gaining thousands of new members, we also experienced a decline in the total number of atheists and freethinkers. FACTS is an attempt to bring those quality members back to BookTalk.org by offering the same incredible book discussions we used to enjoy."
http://www.booktalk.org/FACTS-book-selections.php

In an attempt to reverse the decline of atheism at BookTalk I have taken it upon myself to invite interesting atheists to join, beginning with Matt Wallace, The Compleat Atheist:

http://www.compleatheretic.com/bio/ohair.html
Meeting Satan Herself

I hope my example will be imitated.


Fri May 29, 2009 9:41 am
Profile
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membership
Rhodes Scholar

BookTalk.org Owner
Diamond Contributor

Joined: May 2002
Posts: 9314
Location: Florida
Thanks: 121
Thanked: 37 times in 30 posts
Gender: Male
Country: United States (us)

Thanks
Post 
Thanks for inviting him, Thomas. We're always welcoming to new members, no matter what their religious belief. But I sure would love to see more non-believers in our ranks. Is this a blog you like to read?


Last edited by Chris OConnor on Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.



Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:25 pm
Profile E-mail YIM WWW
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membership
Genuinely Genius


Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 836
Location: Wyse Fork, NC
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
Chris OConnor wrote:
Is this a blog you like to read?


It's mostly autobiography. In the link Wallace is describing his attending an appearance of Madalyn Murray O'Hair and his support for her as a sixteen-year-old atheist. I enjoyed his account and am hoping that he will eventually show up here.


Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:40 pm
Profile
User avatar
Eligible to vote in book polls!

Bronze Contributor

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: New York
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
I'm an atheist, but I've never been invited by anyone else. I found BookTalk on my own.

Why is there a decline in atheism among BookTalk users, and why does it matter? :)


Thu Jun 18, 2009 1:01 am
Profile
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membership
Genuinely Genius


Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 836
Location: Wyse Fork, NC
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
The Real Macai wrote:
I'm an atheist, but I've never been invited by anyone else. I found BookTalk on my own.


I'd have invited you if I had known where you were. How could one find atheists to invite? Do you have atheist friends who might join also? Are you a member of an atheist network or society?

Quote:
Why is there a decline in atheism among BookTalk users, and why does it matter? :)


With the decline of atheistic totalitarian systems throughout the world, atheists are becoming an endangered species. I think they need special protection :)


Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:02 am
Profile
User avatar
Eligible to vote in book polls!

Bronze Contributor

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: New York
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
Thomas Hood wrote:
The Real Macai wrote:
I'm an atheist, but I've never been invited by anyone else. I found BookTalk on my own.


I'd have invited you if I had known where you were. How could one find atheists to invite? Do you have atheist friends who might join also? Are you a member of an atheist network or society?
Ah, the old recruitment quagmire. I've run online communities in the past, and I know that to get users, you need to have users.

Regardless, I do have atheist friends who might want to join.

Thomas Hood wrote:
Quote:
Why is there a decline in atheism among BookTalk users, and why does it matter? :)


With the decline of atheistic totalitarian systems throughout the world, atheists are becoming an endangered species. I think they need special protection :)
Haha. But atheism has become more commonplace overall in the United States for the past nineteen or so years! [1]

Though, seriously, why is the religious (or lack of religious) inclination of the userbase worth fretting over?


Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:11 am
Profile
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membership
Genuinely Genius


Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 836
Location: Wyse Fork, NC
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
The Real Macai wrote:
Though, seriously, why is the religious (or lack of religious) inclination of the userbase worth fretting over?


BookTalk has only two atheism-promoting members, its owner Chris and Frank the prison guard. There are others -- Geo, Interbane, Tarav -- but they don't have the fire in the belly of Chris and Frank. I am not an atheist of the Chris and Frank sort, but would like for atheism to have a fair representation, and for representation it needs numbers. You are a valued addition to BookTalk.

I have had no luck in recruiting new atheists for BookTalk. Any advice?

Tom


Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:29 am
Profile
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membership
Wisdom Personified

BookTalk.org Moderator

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1696
Location: NY
Thanks: 14
Thanked: 13 times in 7 posts
Gender: Male
Country: United States (us)

Thanks
Post 
Quote:
The Real Macai
Why is there a decline in atheism among BookTalk users, and why does it matter?


First of all the idea that there is a decline in atheist members is not entirely accurate… I will explain…

BookTalk used to be a freethinker and atheist community primarily… we did have out theist members and debates were commonly hot (and fun) but in an attempt to bring in more members Chris decided that making the site less specialized would benefit the community.

Chris revamped the site making it more about books than freethought.

Chris was right we have many more members than we used to and the book discussion portion of the site has grown tremendously.

However Chris is an atheist that wants to promote the benefits of rational thought, critical thinking, and freedom from dogma and superstition. Chris and I (as well as most atheists in this community) think that the world would be a better place with a little less religious bigotry and more rationality.

We believe that if we can help get even a few people to understand that atheism is an acceptable (even noble) way to live than we have helped our society.

To that end Chris wants to make sure that at least part of his site remains dedicated to that goal. And while atheist membership has not declined (I think we have more members than ever) we are in danger of becoming drowned out by the many theists that have joined the community.

This was not unexpected but, like I said Chris wants this site to remain to be a place where atheists are welcome and appreciated. In an effort to not be drown out by irrationality completely we simply need more atheist members.

Later

_________________
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.


Thu Jun 18, 2009 8:27 am
Profile E-mail
User avatar
Eligible to vote in book polls!

Bronze Contributor

Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 34
Location: New York
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
Frank 013 wrote:
Buncha stuff.
Fair enough. Just so you know, I actually came to this site not for the non-fiction (I prefer to read my non-fiction in news articles over reading a commentator's long-winded perspective on economics, for example), but the fiction. I now get a feeling that the fiction portion of BookTalk, in actually, is intended to take a backseat role to the non-fiction portion.

Thank you for the explanation, though.


Thu Jun 18, 2009 3:12 pm
Profile
User avatar
Years of membershipYears of membershipYears of membershipYears of membership
Wisdom Personified

BookTalk.org Moderator

Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 1696
Location: NY
Thanks: 14
Thanked: 13 times in 7 posts
Gender: Male
Country: United States (us)

Thanks
Post 
Quote:
The Real Macai
I now get a feeling that the fiction portion of BookTalk, in actually, is intended to take a backseat role to the non-fiction portion.


No section is intended to take a back seat to any other; you are free to enjoy any section you please. There were some good discussions about some fantasy books recently… and you may also start a thread about any book you are interested in.

Enjoy the site...

Later

_________________
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.


Thu Jun 18, 2009 10:53 pm
Profile E-mail
User avatar
Years of membership
Feeling comfortable now


Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 23
Location: Montreal, Canada
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post Just stumbled on this topic
and as you can tell, I rarely post, although I do pop in to read what posts I can manage. Life is hectic lately, but of all the online discussion boards I've come across, this is the one most appealing to me. I'm a novice book discussion member, whether online or in real life, so am learning a lot from everybody's posts. I am also an atheist, and am particularly glad to see the emphasis on rational thought and logic here.

My next book to read is the one already discussed, When Good Thinking Goes Bad, just haven't had time to get around to it.


Sat Sep 05, 2009 6:07 pm
Profile
Newbie


Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 1
Location: Philadelphia
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: None specified

Thanks
Post 
New atheist booktalk member here! I'm glad to see we're welcome. ;) I'll try to get some of my friends to join, but most of them (unfortunately) are not readers...


Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:48 pm
Profile
User avatar
Sophomore


Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 294
Location: Bavaria
Thanks: 53
Thanked: 41 times in 36 posts
Gender: Female
Country: Germany (de)

Thanks
Post 
Hhhhhhmmmmmm.....now this is interesting: I'm also a born again atheist and proud to be one. And I managed to find this site on my own. Do we have built-in antenae?


Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:52 am
Profile
User avatar
Sophomore


Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 254
Location: Riverhead, Long Island
Thanks: 0
Thanked: 0 time in 0 post
Gender: Male

Thanks
Post 
oblivion wrote:
Hhhhhhmmmmmm.....now this is interesting: I'm also a born again atheist and proud to be one. And I managed to find this site on my own. Do we have built-in antenae?


... or maybe it was destined that you would find us :laugh2:

Welcome!

_________________
-Colin

"Do not tell fish stories where the people know you; but particularly, don't tell them where they know the fish." -Mark Twain


Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:30 am
Profile E-mail WWW
Online
Genuinely Genius

Silver Contributor

Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 862
Location: Florida
Thanks: 14
Thanked: 10 times in 10 posts
Gender: Male
Country: United States (us)

Thanks
Post 
maybe instead of an antenna it was your inner fish.


Mon Sep 28, 2009 10:05 am
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 31 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:

Recent Posts 
A Serious Man

Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:52 am

weaver

What movie scared you when you were a kid?

Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:47 am

xkimberleyx

Old Testament - Genesis (1 of 66)

Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:46 am

DWill

Hi everyone! from blankspace101

Mon Mar 15, 2010 9:42 am

xkimberleyx

Seen any good movies recently?

Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:56 am

justareader

Hello from Newfoundland

Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:35 am

oblivion

The Top 500 Poems

Mon Mar 15, 2010 8:33 am

oblivion

Hocus Pocus!

Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:24 am

Eyebrowse

Shout box

Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:07 am

Suzanne


Support BookTalk.org 
By supporting BookTalk.org you are promoting literacy and education. Donations help offset our operating costs, and allow us to make improvements to the community and reach out to readers that haven't yet discovered BookTalk.org. We need your support! See our supporters.
Make a one time donation
$5 per month
$10 per month
$15 per month
Recent donations or subscriptions
• RobK - $25 donation

Reading books is an activity that will allow your mind to stay focused.

BookTalk.org Chat Room 
Enter the BookTalk.org Chat Room

Enter our Chat [0]



Chinaberry Summer:
Riverton, Alabama 1947


Chinaberry Summer: Riverton, Alabama 1947 by Harris Green

By Harris Green

School's out and the boys expect to have a summer free from teacher demands but learn that Life is the most demanding teacher of all.

Booktalk.org Staff 
Administrators
Chris OConnor
MidnightCoder
Moderators
Frank 013
Interbane
Saffron
Suzanne

Kindle Wireless Reading Device


If you enjoy business bestsellers and would like to expand your business knowledge check out the quality book summaries offered by the world's leading book summary company.




BookTalk.org is a free book discussion group or online reading group or book club. We read and talk about both fiction and non-fiction books as a group. We host live author chats where booktalk members can interact with and interview authors. We give away free books to our members in book giveaway contests. Our booktalks are open to everybody who enjoys talking about books. Our book forums include book reviews, author interviews and book resources for readers and book lovers. Discussing books is our passion. We're a literature forum, or reading forum. Register a free book club account today! Suggest nonfiction and fiction books. Authors and publishers are welcome to advertise their books or ask for an author chat or author interview.


Navigation 
MAIN NAVIGATION

HOMEFORUMSABOUTBOOKSTRANSCRIPTSOLD FORUMSADVERTISELINKSFAQDONATETERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

BOOK FORUMS FOR ALL BOOKS WE HAVE DISCUSSED
The Passion of the Western Mind by Richard TarnasThe Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le GuinThe Genius of the Beast: A Radical Re-Vision of Capitalism - by Howard BloomAlice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Empire of Illusion by Chris HedgesThe Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner The Extended Phenotype by Richard DawkinsSmoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil GaimanThe Selfish Gene by Richard DawkinsWhen Good Thinking Goes Bad by Todd C. RinioloHouse of Leaves by Mark Z. DanielewskiAmerican Gods: A Novel by Neil GaimanPrimates and Philosophers: How Morality Evolved by Frans de WaalThe Enormous Room by E.E. CummingsThe Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar WildeGod Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher HitchensThe Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama Paradise Lost by John Milton Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics, and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism by Kevin PhillipsThe Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson BurnettGodless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan BarkerThe Things They Carried by Tim O'BrienThe Limits of Power: The End of American ExceptionalismLolitaOrlando by Virginia Woolf On Being Certain by Robert A. Burton50 reasons people give for believing in a god by Guy P. HarrisonWalden: Or, Life in the Woods by Henry David ThoreauExile and the Kingdom by Albert CamusOur Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are by Frans de WaalYour Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year-History of the Human Body by Neil ShubinNo Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthyThe Age of American Unreason by Susan JacobyTen Theories of Human Nature by Leslie Stevenson & David HabermanHeart of Darkness by Joseph ConradThe Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window Into Human Nature by Stephen PinkerA Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled HosseiniThe Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Philip ZimbardoResponsibility and Judgment by Hannah ArendtInterventions by Noam ChomskyGodless in America by George A. RickerReligious Expression and the American Constitution by Franklyn S. HaimanDeep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Phil McKibbenThe God Delusion by Richard DawkinsThe Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal by Jared DiamondThe Woman in the Dunes by Abe KoboEvolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction by Eugenie C. ScottThe Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael PollanI, Claudius : From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius, Born 10 B.C., Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 by Robert GravesBreaking The Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Daniel C. DennettA Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East Peace by David FromkinThe Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey NiffeneggerThe End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason by Sam HarrisEnder's Game by Orson Scott CardThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark HaddonValue and Virtue in a Godless Universe by Erik J. WielenbergThe March by E. L DoctorowThe Ethical Brain by Michael GazzanigaFreethinkers: A History of American Secularism by Susan JacobyCollapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared DiamondThe Battle for God by Karen ArmstrongThe Future of Life by Edward O. WilsonWhat is Good? The Search for the Best Way to Live by A. C. GraylingCivilization and Its Enemies: The Next Stage of History by Lee HarrisPale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space by Carl SaganHow We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God by Michael ShermerLooking for Spinoza: Joy, Sorrow, and the Feeling Brain by Antonio DamasioLies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al FrankenThe Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature by Matt RidleyThe Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature by Stephen PinkerUnweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder by Richard DawkinsAtheism: A Reader edited by S.T. JoshiGlobal Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind From the Big Bang To the 21st Century by Howard BloomThe Lucifer Principle: A Scientific Expedition into the Forces of Nature by Howard BloomGuns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared DiamondThe Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl SaganBury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee BrownFuture Shock by Alvin Toffler

OTHER PAGES WORTH EXPLORING
Baloney Detection KitBanned Book ListOur Amazon.com SalesMassimo Pigliucci Rationally SpeakingOnline Reading GroupTop 10 Atheism BooksFACTS Book SelectionsAdvertise on BookTalk.org

Copyright © BookTalk.org 2002-2010. All rights reserved.
Website developed by MidnightCoder.ca
Display Pagerank