BookTalk.org

Hi,

I'm Lex Bayer, the co-author of Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Rewriting the Ten Commandments for the 21st Century.

The book hopes to encourage a dialogue and inspire people to discover their own beliefs. I'd be very glad to hear your feedback.

More details about the book below

Cheers
Lex

Here is a quick Book Trailer
Book Trailer

Here is a brief synopsis:
Silicon Valley technology entrepreneur Lex Bayer and Stanford University humanist chaplain John Figdor turn conventional perceptions about atheism on their head. They show that atheism need not only be opposed to religion and God, but can also provide a clear set of constructive principles to live by that establish atheism as a positive worldview. Following a philosophical approach grounded in logic and evidence, Bayer and Figdor take us on an inspiring journey to discover how to live a reasonable, ethical, and happy life without God. And readers are encouraged to self-reflect and ultimately uncover their own set of personal beliefs.

You can order the book on Amazon here:
Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart

Here is our website for more information:
http://www.atheistmindhumanistheart.com/

I personally don't find a poll option that matches my viewpoint. The 10 Commandments are rules given by an imaginary being. So I'm not comfortable creating new ones. As long as the rules are attributed to a magical superhero I take issue with the whole thing. There is no difference between what you're asking and the question, "Do you think Santa Claus is being fair and moral when he rewards good little boys and girls with presents and punishes bad children with coal?"

But...I see where you're going with this and yes I do think the 10 Commandments suck and need to be rewritten. All of the ones that reference a deity can be deleted.


You shall have no other gods before Me. (Delete this since God doesn't even exist.)
You shall not make idols. (That is a personal decision. I can make idols if I want to make idols.)
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain. (Victimless crime for sure.)
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. (Delete since there really isn't a Sabbath day.)
Honor your father and your mother. (As long as your mom and dad aren't complete assholes and actually have earned your honor.)
You shall not murder. (Under most conditions taking a life is wrong but common sense can dredge up lots of scenarios where killing is OK.)
You shall not commit adultery. (Yes, not a nice thing to do. But it shouldn't be a crime to anyone other than the victim.)
You shall not steal. (No God needs to tell people to not steal.)
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (It all depends on the situation.)
You shall not covet. (Delete this one. Nature selected for the psychological "sin" of coveting or desiring our neighbors wife, house, car, etc... And there is nothing wrong with it as long as the desire doesn't manifest itself as a violation of your neighbor's rights or those of his wife. Lust is good, healthy and necessary for our species to flourish.)

Ditto what Chris wrote.

Strike them from the record!

(btw it reads "find" instead of "fine" in the poll.)

Hello Lex, thanks so much for posting on booktalk. I am glad to see that your interesting book has been selected for discussion, as it looks to raise important issues about the relation between faith and reason. The politics and ethics of the pentateuch raises fascinating historical and social questions, which I hope discussion of your book will provide opportunities to explore. I have bought it on Kindle and look forward to reading it soon. One thing I noted, one of you is a secular chaplain. That is a profession I have never encountered, but it looks interesting.

You shall not make idols. (That is a personal decision. I can make idols if I want to make idols.)

Not sure why, but this made me laugh for a good minute. I pictured you out in your garage carving out clay figurines of Elvis.

First, I would like to know more about atheist chaplaincy, for I find the notion interesting. Are there print or online sources which would be best to look over first in finding out about this?

Secondly, I like the idea of rewriting the Commandmants, but beyond the set written and performed by George Carlin I'm not sure how much longer you can stretch out the idea. Not saying I wouldn't give the book a read; just on first information of the subject this is my view. I was wondering if the author had addressed this comedian's work at all in his book, or if he went in a whole other direction.

I'm under the impression that an atheist chaplain does everything a theistic chaplain does without the God-stuff. They comfort, counsel and maybe do secular weddings and ceremonies. I'm guessing all of this.

Chris OConnor wrote:I'm under the impression that an atheist chaplain does everything a theistic chaplain does without the God-stuff. They comfort, counsel and maybe do secular weddings and ceremonies. I'm guessing all of this.

That makes a lot of sense, and I figured that's what they did. Do you know of any organizationss, books or articles I could turn to in order to read up on the subject? I find myself very much interested.

No, but I'm sure you can find info online. Or maybe once the discussion starts for this book the authors can explain it to us.

I'm under the impression that an atheist chaplain does everything a theistic chaplain does without the God-stuff. They comfort, counsel and maybe do secular weddings and ceremonies. I'm guessing all of this.

I think there has to be a shared worldview. There are atheists that believe things that I would disagree with, so their counsel wouldn't help me all that much.

What you have with religious counselors is a model of human psychology and behavior that people can relate to, but only if they believe. Sin in this instance is a cover word for ignorance of how people actually operate. Sometimes, a cover word is easier for people to understand, and they can work with it.

Psychiatrists fill the role by appealing to the way the human brain actually operates. But often times, any good resonant wisdom is lost in cloud of technical jargon and empathetic disconnect.

I think a humanist counselor with some psychiatry training would work wonders with the secular crowd. Wisdom that incorporates an understanding of secular ethics as well as an understanding of how the human mind operates.