RECOMMENDED READING
  1. The Futile Search For A Historical Jesus
  2. Comparative Religion
  3. Solar Mythology
  4. The Origin, Evolution, and Future of Religion
  5. History of Christianity
  6. Critical Examination of The Bible
  7. Red vs. Blue: The Difference Between the Conservative and Progressive Thought Process
  8. Misc.

THE FUTILE SEARCH FOR A HISTORICAL JESUS
(In Chronological Order)
cover Syntagma Of The Evidences Of The Christian Religion by Robert Taylor. Year: 1828.
The Preface reads, “Thou hast in this Pamphlet all the sufficient evidence, that can be adduced for any piece of history a thousand years old, or to prove an error of a thousand years standing, that such a person as Jesus Christ never existed; but that the earliest Crhristians meant the words to be nothing more than a personification of the principle of reason, of goodness, or that principle, be it what it may, which may most benefit mankind in the passage through life.” (Syntagma is Greek for Constitution.)
Also available from Ballantrae Reprints (here #28 for only $13.75)
cover The Truth About Jesus — Is He a Myth?
By: Mangasar Magurditch Mangasarian
Year: 1909
Availabe for download from POWELLS.COM for only $1.99 in Adobe Acrobat Reader format.
Available for download from Project Gutenberg
Availabe online at http://englishatheist.org/indexpg1.shtml
See also 31 Sermons by M.M. Mangasarian on the CD-ROM Atheism - The Struggle Against Superstition from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
and see The Bible Unveiled by M.M. Mangasarian on the CD-ROM Freethought and the Bible from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover The Christ Myth (Westminster College-Oxford Classics in the Study of Religion) by Arthur Drews, C. Deslisle Burns (Translator). Year: 1910. Drews argues that no basis exists for seeking a historical figure behind the Christ myth. Through a comparative study of ancient religions, Drews shows that Christianity is a syncretism of various pagan and Jewish beliefs, and that a strong pre-Christian cult of Jesus as son of God and messiah existed.
cover Jesus—God, Man or Myth : An Examination of the Evidence by Herbert Cutner. Year: 1950. A thorough examination of all the 'evidence' any Christian apologist has ever cited to support the existence of a historical Jesus, along with an exhaustive search of all the other places we would expect to find some mention of Jesus had he existed. It's actually a boring book because it's so thorough. It's quite obvious from the evidence that the Jesus Story did not originate as the biography of a man named Jesus.
cover The Jesus Myth
By: George Albert Wells
Year: 1998
cover THE CHRIST CONSPIRACY: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Acharya S. Year: 1999. An excellent book examining the Jesus Story and the myths surrounding it, and the inexplicable dearth of historical evidence where there should be an immense plethora of evidence to support it. It combines together the research of everyone else. Highly recommended.
Detailed Table of Contents | More on this book at Acharya S website
cover THE JESUS PUZZLE. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus
By: Earl Doherty
Year: 1999.
Paul in his epistles never talks about a human Jesus here on earth. Paul's Jesus is always a spiritual Jesus in heaven. Strange that Paul would never mention Jesus' ministry here on earth if in fact it recently happened. Also discusses the hypothetical Q document which preceded the Gospels, of which the Q1 and Q2 strata never discuss a historical Jesus. Concludes with an examination of early church father's writing, who are often silent when it would have been natural to include quotes from the Gospels had they existed at the time.
Excerpts can be read at http://humanists.net/jesuspuzzle/
cover The Fabrication of the Christ Myth
By: Harold Leidner
Year: 2000.
An alternative explanation can be provided for Christian origins and early Christianity—one that does not require a "historical Jesus". All contemporary writers of the time seem to be completely unaware of Jesus and his crucifixion. Traces the origin of the passion narrative to Philo.
Who Was Jesus?
by Acharya S
Year: 2006.
Succinct 39 page eBook for donation of $5.
(284 page book now available below.)
Ethiopian Jesus Blond Jesus Native Jesus

cover Who was Jesus? Fingerprints of the Christ
By: Acharya S (D.M. Murdock)
Year: 2007.
Pages: 284
On those CSI TV shows they're always dusting for fingerprints, trying to figure out “Who was here?” and “What happened?” Their motto is, “Follow the evidence.” and “The evidence will tell us.” The evidence often contradicts their original assumption, pointing them in a new direction, where they eventually find the truth.

In this book Acharya examines all the evidence regarding Jesus. Every scrap of historical evidence we have, every metaphorical “fingerprint” left behind. Acharya follows the evidence, letting the evidence tell it's story. When we put it all together we get the best possible picture of Jesus and where the story came from.
More web sites and essays on the non-historical Jesus
OTHER BOOKS ON THE NON-HISTORICAL JESUS:



COMPARATIVE RELIGION
Comparative Religion shows how the stories in the Bible, including the Jesus Story, evolved from earlier preexisting stories.
(In Chronological Order)
cover DIEGESIS: Being a Discovery of the Origin, Evidences, and Early History of Christianity
By: Robert Taylor. Year 1829. A very thoroughly researched and well written book. This book was so many years ahead of it's time that it's still a useful reference even today. (Diegesis is Greek for Narrative.)
Available online at http://web.archive.org/web/20010722142329/http://aaaaa.itgo.com/index.html [A slow site so have patience])
Also available from Ballantrae Reprints (here #8 for $32.95)
cover The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviours by Kersey Graves. Year 1875.
A classic of Comparative Religion.
Be sure to read the Forward by Acharya S contained in this edition shown.
Also available online at http://media.isnet.org/off/XXtian/critic/16/16.html
Also at http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/kersey_graves/16/
Also at http://www.awitness.org/essays/bkup/16_crucified_saviors/
Available on CD-ROM for $6.95 from http://www.geocities.com/metatron32001/books4sale.htm
cover Biography of Satan: Exposing the Origins of the Devil by Kersey Graves. Year: circa 1877?
The Christian doctrine of a Devil and a hell were utterly unknown to the ancient Jews, and are nowhere taught in the Old Testament. The Christian's Hell is a transcript from Pagan tradition of heathen mythology.
Available on the CD-ROM Atheism - The Struggle Against Superstition from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover Bible Myths and Their Parallels in Other Religions
By: Thomas William Doane
Year: 1882.
Available on the CD-ROM Freethought and the Bible from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover The Non-Christian Cross: An enquiry into the origin and history of the symbol eventually adopted as that of our religion by John Denham Parsons. Year: 1896.
>>>Read the entire book online here.
Available on CD-ROM for $6.95 from http://www.geocities.com/metatron32001/books4sale.htm
cover Aryan Sun-Myths the Origin of Religion
By: Charles Morris
Year: 1899.
Shows how many Christian stories are found in other religions which predate Christianity.
Books by Max Müller (1823-1900). He did extensive research into Comparative Religion. Unfortunately his books are hard to find. You can find them in a university library. You might also find some used for sale at www.abebooks.com.
Books by Gerald Massey (1828-1907). He wrote extensively on Comparative Religion.
Browse the many books by Gerald Massey available at Kessinger Publishing, including the following:
cover Historical Jesus and the Mythical Christ: or Natural Genesis and Typology of Equinoctial Christolatry
By Gerald Massey.
Year: 1886.
cover Gerald Massey's Lectures by Gerald Massey. Year: 1900.
Available online at http://www.euser.net/gmass/masseylectures.htm
Also available at http://members.tripod.com/~pc93/gmlectrs.htm
cover The paganism in our Christianity by Arthur Weigall. Year: 1928.
Available on CD-ROM for $6.95 from http://www.geocities.com/metatron32001/books4sale.htm
Often a used copy can be purchased from abebooks.com
The book might be available for download from Project Gutenberg
cover Christianity Before Christ
By: John G. Jackson.
Year: 1985.
cover THE JESUS MYSTERIES: Was the original Jesus a Pagan God?
By: Timothy Freke & Peter Gandy.
Year: 2000.
Examines the close relationship between the Jesus Story and that of Osiris-Dionysus.
cover 101 Myths of the Bible: How Ancient Scribes Invented Biblical History
By: Gary Greenberg
Year: 2000.
Shows how many of the stories found in the Old Testament can be traced back to earlier stories from other religions. See www.biblemyth.com
cover Suns of God: Krishna, Buddha and Christ Unveiled
By: Acharya S
Year: 2004.
The tale of a miraculously born redeemer who overcomes heroic challenges, teaches ethics and morality, performs marvels and wonders, acquires disciples and is famed far and wide, to be persecuted, killed and reborn, is not unique but a global phenomenon recurring in a wide variety of cultures long before the Christian era. A superb scholarly work. Every detail thoroughly researched. Highly recommended.
(See http://www.truthbeknown.com/sunsofgod.htm)
Also see www.mythbytes.com Creation Myths, Flood Stories, etc. “Myth is other people's religion”
Also see A Brief overview of the study of Mythology and Folklore



SOLAR MYTHOLOGY
Solar Mythology shows how many of the stories found in the Bible, including the Jesus Story, originated as allegories for natural phenomena, such as the Sun's annual circular journey along the ecliptic through the twelve constellations of the Zodiac and the corresponding passage of the seasons of the year.
(In Chronological Order)
The Origin of All Religious Worship by Charles François Dupuis. Year: 1798. An early classic. See chapter IX, starting on page 214, titled, "An Explanation of the Fable, in which the Sun is worshipped under the name of Christ" Also see chapter XII, starting on page 408, which gives the Astral Mythology explanation of the Book of Revelation [The Apocalypse]. The Book of Revelation is just Solar Mythology, and makes sense as such, and doesn't make any sense in any other way. The entire book is available online click here. Note they offer to make a reprint of the book for you. Click on Reprint Information for this collection at the bottom of their page. (You also might find this book at a university library. Library of Congress Classification System BL75.D75213)
cover The Ruins or Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires and the Law of Nature
By: Constantin François de Volney.
Year: 1791.
Chapter XXII subsection xiii is titled, Christianity, or the Allegorical Worship of the Sun under the cabalistic names of Chrish-en or Christ and Yesus or Jesus.
Availabe for download from POWELLS.COM for only $1.99
cover THE DEVIL'S PULPIT: Astro-theological Sermons
By: Robert Taylor
  Vol. 1 (Sermons #1-23, 365 pp. 1831)
  Vol. 2 (Sermons #24-46, 368 pp. 1832)
(Both Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 are available from Ballantrae Reprints [here #4 for $27.00 each])
(only Vol. 1 is available from Amazon.com (Kessinger Publishing)
cover Fairy Tales: Their Origin and Meaning by John Thackray Bunce. Year: 1878.
Shows how many of our common fairy tales are derived from Solar Mythology.
Reprints available from Ballantrae Reprints (here #1 for $18.00)
Read the entire book online here [this site]
Often a used copy can be purchased from abebooks.com
Available for download from Project Gutenberg
cover The Gospel In The Stars by Joseph A. Seiss. Year: 1882.
Shows how elements of the Gospel story can be found in the constellations. Written by a devout Christian. Rather than conclude astronomy provides the origin of these stories, the author concludes, "Instead of proving Christianity a mere revival of old mythologies, they give powerful inpulse toward the conclusion that the constellations and their associated myths and traditions are themselves, in their original, from the very same prophetic Spirit whence the Sacred Scriptures have come." (See Vertical vs. Horizontal thinking) However, after reading the book I think Seiss is the kind of person who would find the Gospels in a random ink blot. I don't recommend buying this book. Seiss also completely misses the story of the Sun's annual journey through the Zodiac. Other authors have since written their own version of this book using Seiss as a reference.
cover Stellar Theology and Masonic Astronomy or the Origin and Meaning of Ancient and Modern Mysteries Explained
By: Robert Hewitt Brown
Year: unknown. Probably early 1900's.
cover Echoes of the Ancient Skies: The Stronomy of Lost Civilizations
By: E. C. Krupp
Year: 1983.
cover Christianity, Astrology and Myth
By: Larry M. Wright
Year: 2002.
Also available from Amazon.co.uk here
SOLAR MYTHOLOGY IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
cover ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN: The Cosmic Myth of the Bible
By: Michael Ledo
Year: 2007.
Most of the book concentrates on the Old Testament. The Old Testament is a cosmic myth which starts with creation and runs through the crowning of Solomon. This book details that myth as the foundation for the Old Testament. When the author uses the word "myth" he don't always mean fictional, but rather a blend of real people, places, combined with the astrological aspects of the stars and constellations.
Also see Solar Mythology and the Jesus Story [this site]
Also see Astrotheology And The "Jesus Story" Of The New Testament: Does It Originate With The Stars? [offsite]
For software see Starry Night Complete Space & Astronomy Pack http://store.starrynightstore.com/cpack2006.html $50.)



THE ORIGIN, EVOLUTION, AND FUTURE OF RELIGION
cover The Ruins or Meditations on the Revolutions of Empires by Constantin François de Volney. (Originally published in 1791, updates were apparently made until his death in 1820. Volney does draw from the works of Dupuis (above)). The 1890 publication referenced here also contains Volney's book The Law of Nature.)
Recommended Reading: Chapter XXII Origin and Filiation of Religious Ideas.
Download the book from Project Gutenberg
Availabe for download from POWELLS.COM for only $1.99
cover The Childhood of Religions: Embracing a Simple Account of the Birth and Growth of Myths and Legends.
By: Edward Clodd.
Year: 1878.
cover Lectures on the Origin & Growth of the Conception of God as Illustrated by Anthropology & History (The Hibbert Lectures 1891) by Count Goblet D'Alviella. Year: 1891. In 1891 the University of Brussels had an excellent History of Religion department, judging by this book written by the chair of the department back then. It does an excellent job tracing the evolution of religion, religious practices, and beliefs, from ancient times to the then present day (1891). It has good insight into how religion has evolved from the dawn of man to the present day (which was then 1891). By drawing on his extensive knowledge of how religion has evolved over time up to the then present day, the author predicts what society's future religion might be like. It's interesting to see a century later that back in 1891 he pretty much predicted the future of religion correctly.
cover Astral Worship by J.H. Hill. Year: 1895.
This little gem of a book gives a succinct overview of the evolution of religion from ancient worship of personified nature to Christianity today. It's a beautiful roadmap that puts all the pieces together, though if you're not familiar with all the pieces you might get lost.
Available from Amazon.com
Also available from Ballantrae Reprints (here #6 for $10.50)
Read the entire book online here [this site]
Available for download from Project Gutenberg
cover Pagan and Christian Creeds
By: Edward Carpenter
Year: Shortly after 1919. Around 1920-1922.
This book covers the origins of 1) Solar and astronomical mythology. 2) Food and vegetation mythology. 3) Life and fertility mythology.
Availabe for download from POWELLS.COM for only $1.99
Download the book from Project Gutenberg
Available online at many places including http://www.edwardcarpenter.net/#pagchrist
cover Why Christianity Must Change or Die: A Bishop Speaks to Believers in Exile by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 1998. The believers in exile are people who want to believe but can not deny the reality of modern day science which contradicts the Bible. Christianity must change its outdated interpretation of the Bible or Christianity will die because the next generation will dismiss the old outdated interpretation as hopelessly antiquated and incompatible with today's scientific knowledge.
(View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]
cover A New Christianity for a New World: Why Traditional Faith is Dying & How a New Faith is Being Born by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 2002. Recommended Reading: Chapter 3, which is an excellent summary of the evolution of religion, from the dawn of human consciousness to the present day. Drawing upon his lifetime of experience as a Bishop and his knowledge of the past evolution of religion, John Shelby Spong predicts what the religion of our future might look like. Only time will tell if he is correct, but my guess is he got it right, just as Count Goblet D'Alviella (above) pretty much got it right when he predicted the future of religion back in 1891. (View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]
Also see the essay Towards A New World Religious Philosophy by Scott Bidstrup. Explores the failures of existing religions, the need for a new world religion, and the characteristics that religion should have.



HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY
cover Celsus, on the True Doctrine : A Discourse Against the Christians
By: Celsus [R. Joseph Hoffmann, Translator]
Year: circa 170AD

cover A Short History of the Bible by Bronson C. Keeler. Year: 1881.
"The Protestants, finding themselves confronted with an infallible [Catholic] church, had to oppose it with an infallible book. And they made a book infallible, which before had not been considered so."
Also available from Kessinger Publishing
cover History of the Christian Religion to the Year Two Hundred
By: Charles B. Waite.
Year: 1900
Also available from Kessinger Publishing
cover Forgery in Christianity A documented Record of the Foundations of the Christian Religion. by Joseph Wheless. Year: 1930. Examines the disgraceful history of the Catholic Church. For hundreds of years the Catholic Church forged religious documents for political purposes. The religious document would be claimed authentic, written by one of the apostles or sometimes by Jesus himself. The document would invariably imply that the Catholic Church had been given supreme God ordained authority to rule the world. Hundreds of years later, after the Church had firmly established itself as the God ordained supreme infallible authority and a very powerful political ruler, the forged documents were exposed as frauds, but by then it didn't matter; the Catholic Church had firmly established itself as the supreme authority, and no longer needed the framework of forged documents to keep it standing.
Read the entire book online at http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_wheless/forgery_in_christianity/
Also available on the CD-ROM Atheism - The Struggle Against Superstition from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover Misquoting Jesus
By: Bart D. Ehrman
Year: 2005 We have no original documents. All we have are copies of copies of copies... As the scribes made copies they introduced alterations both intentional and unintentional. Some of these alterations significantly changed the meaning of the text. The author started as a born-again Christian who believed the inerrancy of the Bible, until he investigated the sources for himself. Apparently every generation of scholars must relearn what scholars like Robert Taylor knew two centuries ago.
Also see the essay The Bible And Christianity — The Historical Origins by Scott Bidstrup.



CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE BIBLE
Even though the following books were written over a time span of 200 years, the arguments within are essentially the same, showing nothing much has changed in the past 200 years. Christianity is still falling apart but not falling down.
cover The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine. Year: 1795.
    Thomas Paine was a political philosopher whose writings had great influence during the American Revolution (1775-1783) and the French Revolution (1789-1799). He boldly states his anti-Christian pro-Science Deist view, dissecting the Bible exposing how it falls apart under scrutiny. Should be required reading for all high school students, but the schools won't touch it because it's about religion.
    Schools think "Separation of Church and State" means they shouldn't talk about religion, leaving that topic to the Churches. This is unfortunate as students are not taught about our founding father's strong Anti-Christian Pro-Science Deist beliefs, allowing fundamentalist churches to make the absurd claim that our fathers were Christians who wanted the United States to be a Christian nation, when actually the opposite is true.
    The Declaration of Independence mentions in the first sentence, "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." The "Laws of Nature" is what we today call Science, and "Nature's God" is a reference to the God of Deism, not the God of Christianity. The first amendment to the Constitution ensures that our government will not be a Christian Government. To the extent that we today are free to pursue Science we are fulfilling our founding father's American Dream. To the extent that religion interferes with our pursuit of Science our founding father's American Dream is thwarted.
Available online at The Secular Web
Available online at University of Adelaide Library E-Books
Available online at Positive Atheism
Download the book from Project Gutenberg
cover Bible of Bibles by Kersey Graves. Year: circa 1881?
The Hindoo Bibles; the Egyptian Bible; the Persian Bibles; the Chinese Bibles; the Jews' Bible (the Talmud); the Christian Bible; the Mahomedan's Bible (The Koran); and a few others. Shows many parallels between the Old Testament stories and Hindoo, Egyptian, and Persian stories which predate them. Also takes a close look at the many Christian Biblical errors in science, history, morals, religion, and general events.
cover Bible Unmasked by Joseph Lewis. Year: 1926
Examines all the shocking sex stories in the Bible. See Sex in the Bible
Also availabe for download in two formats from POWELLS.COM for only $4.79
    1. Adobe Acrobat Reader format
    2. Microsoft Reader format
This plus 4 other books by Joseph Lewis are available on the CD-ROM Atheism - The Struggle Against Superstition from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover Is It God's Word? An Exposition of the Fables and Mythology of the Bible and the Fallacies of Theology. by Joseph Wheless Year: 1926. A brutal look at the Bible, walking through the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation (except it doesn't cover the Book of Revelation). Similar to Thomas Paine's Age of Reason, so not much had changed in 131 years.
Read the entire book online at http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/joseph_wheless/is_it_gods_word/
Also available on the CD-ROM Atheism - The Struggle Against Superstition from BANK OF WISDOM - Rare Books on CD-ROM.
cover Who Wrote the Bible? by Richard Elliott Friedman. Year: 1987. The best general reference on the Documentary Hypothesis. The book goes into the history and evolution of the J, E, P, and D sources, and shows how they influenced the writing of the first five books of the Bible. The appendix has a useful chart that separates the biblical verses by source (click here).
Also available from: Barns&Noble.com
cover Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism: A Bishop Rethinks the Meaning of Scripture by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 1991. The Bible can not be interpreted literally. It is not without error. It does contradict itself. A deeper understanding is achieved when we accept this.
(View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]
cover Is The Bible The Word Of God? by Emmett F. Fields. Year: 1995. (38 pages). Succinct and well written. The God of the Old Testament commands murder, rape, slavery, incest, and all that is repulsive to our nature. He is cruel, jealous, violent, vindictive, and vengeful. The Catholic Church promotes fear and even reaches beyond the grave with fear of a hell eternal and never ending.
cover The Sins of Scripture: Exposing the Bible's Texts of Hate to Reveal the God of Love by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 2005. Examines the "terrible texts" of the Bible which promote overbreeding, denigration of women, hostility towards homosexuals, corporal punishment of children, and anti-semitism. View an excellent lecture by John Shelby Spong on this topic at http://www.uctv.tv/library-test.asp?showID=9117 “Osama Bin Laden hurled his suicide airplanes into the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon, invoking God. George W. Bush invoked God when he began the Iraq war, hurling his missiles and his bombers on the people of Iraq. Palistinians in the name of God strap dynamite around their waste and go into Jewish restaraunts or Jewish busses killing themselves and anyone else who is hapless enough to be in that location. And not to be outdone, Jewish people invoke God when they send their tanks into the Gaza strip or into the West Banks smashing the homes of would-be terrorists. One has only to go to Ireland where you can find Catholics who invoke God while they kill Protestants. And not to be outdone Protestants invoke God when they kill Catholics. Have you ever wondered what kind of religion it is that produces this kind of behavior?” (See Spong's synopsis of The Book of Hosea, which concludes this lecture, to understand why Spong remains a Christian.)
(Bishop John Shelby Spong is a true NF "Idealist" all the way. They are rare and special people.)
(View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]
(See also Bishop Spong Speaks Out: Sept. 11 and Death of God, the Father / the Bishop & the Cosmologist)



RED vs. BLUE:
The Difference Between the Conservative and Progressive Thought Process
Whichever side you're on, it's hard to comprehend how the other side thinks differently. The following essay and books illuminates the different thought processes.
COGNITIVE SCIENCE

THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT BOOK! Democrats are losing elections because, "Issues are largely irrelevant. That is the lesson Democrats must learn — the reality of the political mind." See Lakoff: http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/09/02

We understand the concept of government being dictators, or presidents, or kings and queens, but we don't understand the concept of government being powerful private corporations. We don't even have a word for it.

Cognitive Science shows if people don't have a concept in their head, then they simply don't recognize what is happening around them, and don't even know they are failing to comprehend something important that is happening right in front of them.

Conservatives have outsourced government functions to private corporations. They outsourced much of the military to a private corporation called "Blackwater". Blackwater is a private army of paid soldiers. The U.S. Congress has no control over Blackwater. Blackwater operatives in other countries are neither under U.S. legal jurisdiction nor the legal jurisdiction of the country they are in. They are a law unto themselves. They also have a reputation for being trigger-happy, and in the incident that brought the company to national attention, killed seventeen Iraqi civilians, including a mother and her baby. When U.S. Congressman Darrell Issa wanted to go to Iraq with half a dozen FBI criminal investigators to investigate this Blackwater incident, he learned they all would be transported and protected by bodyguards from the very same firm he intended to investigate.

Wherever Blackwater functions, it governs—it takes on the power and duties of a government—but it is ruled by profit and is not accountable to those it governs. Nobody elected Blackwater, and nobody can vote it out of office.

Conservation of Government
Deregulation and privatization do not eliminate government; they only shift the power elsewhere, making it unaccountable and taking away it's moral mission. They govern us, but without accountability. Their mission is not to protect and empower the public, but to maximize profits. We don't have a concept of this being a form of government, a very bad and dangerous form of government. It's a concept we don't have. We don't even have a word for it. Therefore we don't recognize it, even though it's already happening all around us, and democracy is the first casualty.

Let's call this new form of government Privateering.
(An appropriate word considering it's previous meaning.)

↑ This book is quite an eye opener! ↑

cover MORAL POLITICS: How Liberals and Conservatives Think by George Lakoff. Year: 1996 (2nd edition 2002). “Contemporary American Politics is about worldview. Conservatives simply see the world differently than do progressives, and both often have a difficult time understanding accurately what the other’s worldview is.” Lakoff explains that Conservatives and Progressives have two very different concepts of Morality. This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to understand the other side's point of view. Since this book takes work to understand, I've made an outline of the main points. Click here for outline. See a lecture given by George Lakoff at http://www.uctv.tv/library-popup.asp?showID=11194 Also see RED vs. BLUE: The Difference Between the Conservative and Progressive Thought Process
cover Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff. Year: 2004. This book summarizes the results of Moral Politics (above). However, if you are not familiar with the foundation that Moral Politics builds, you won't possess the right categories to place the results in. You'll think Lakoff is just talking about "Spin", as that will be the closest category you can put the results in. But it's not "Spin". It goes much deeper than that.
cover Whose Freedom?: The Battle Over America's Most Important Idea by George Lakoff. Year: 2006.
Tremendous insight starting with chapter 7! Chapters 1-6 review the ground covered in Moral Politics. Then Lakoff goes on to explain how conservatives argue on the basis of direct causation, whereas progressives argue on the basis of systemic causation. Here's an example he gives:
     “Suppose you own the mineral rights to a mountain in West Virginia and you want to blow the top off it and start mining coal. Suppose you don't have the money for equipment and can get the money only by stealing it. Stealing money causes financial harm and is thus an imposition on the victim's freedom. According to simple freedom, you are not free to cause harm by stealing the money and then mining the coal. Stealing money is directly causing harm, and conservatives as well as progressives would recognize this as a prohibition.
     “Now suppose you have the mineral rights and the money for the equipment. You intend to blow off the top of the mountain and start mining coal, sending large amounts of pollution into nearby streams. That pollution would contain mercury, which poisons the water, poisons fish, builds up in the environment, and ultimately winds up in people's bodies, including the bodies of pregnant women. Right now, one woman out of six in America of childbearing age has so much mercury in her body that it threatens the viability of the fetus and can contribute to serious birth defects. Your coal mine would be contributing systemically to causing mercury poisoning, infant death, and lifelong illness. Should you be free to contribute systemically to causing such harm?
     Conservatives tend to argue that your coal mine would not directly cause any known particular deaths or illness, and so you—and others—should be free to mine your coal.”
cover Thinking Points: Communicating Our American Values and Vision by George Lakoff. Year: 2006.
The Rockridge Institute. A think tank dedicated to strengthening our democracy by providing intellectual support to the progressive community. Headed by Senior Fellow George Lakoff.
Rockridge Nation. A community project of The Rockridge Institute.
RED FAMILY, BLUE FAMILY: Making Sense of the Values Issue. This 12 page essay by Doug Muder succinctly summarizes the different thought processes conservatives and progressives use.
TEMPERAMENT THEORY
cover Please Understand Me II: Temperament, Character, Intelligence by David Keirsey. Year: 1998. A classic book on the 16 different personality types identified by Myers-Briggs. Myers-Briggs divides personality types into four major categories, with each category having four subcategories, for a total of 16 different personality types. Understanding that other people actually think in different ways from you is initially a hard concept to learn, but eventually you'll understand why most other people seem to be different from you—it's because they are. Again, there is no "right" personality type, there are just different personalities. Also see www.keirsey.com where you can order the book direct.

There appears to be a connection between conservative thought and the SJ 'Guardian' personality type described in this book. Not that all Guardians are conservative, but possibly many conservatives are Guardians who don't understand there are other personality types. Conservatives classify all these other people as immoral.

cover Presidential Temperament: The Unfolding of Character in the Forty Presidents of the United States
by Ray Choiniere, David Keirsey.
Year: 1992.
A good companion to Please Understand Me II. Gives real life examples of the various character and temperament types.
LINGUISTICS
Linguistics is a subset of Cognitive Science, which is what Prof. George Lakoff studies and uses to disect the progressive and conservative thought process.
cover Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism Into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show by Geoffrey Nunberg. Year: 2006. Lakoff talks a lot about language and how the conservatives have taken control of our language defining the words and phrases we use. Here's a book by a linguist explaining the same thing.
cover The Language Instinct: How the Mind Creates Language by Steven Pinker Year: 1994. No politics in this book, but a good precursor to Moral Minds below which uses the recent scientific study of language as explained in this book as an example of how to scientifically study our inborn natural instinct of morality. This is a well written easy to read book which makes a complicated subject easily accessible to the layperson.
SOCIOBIOLOGY
EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY
     I have yet to find a book that explains why humans adopt children. Darwin gave us the idea that animals should naturally evolve to care for their children, since those that don't shouldn't prosper as well in the long run. So it should be natural for us to deeply care for the survival of our own children. Dawkin's "Selfish Gene" theory of evolution advances this idea to include caring for our close relatives, since close relatives share at least some of our genes, and it's the survival of the genes that counts.

     But we still haven't a decent explanation of why humans adopt children. Evolutionary Biology says adoption is a burden that doesn't help spread one's own genes, and hence shouldn't be logical. Dawkins just brushes aside the adoption issue saying it's a "misfiring" of the selfish gene rule which evolution hasn't bothered to weed out.

     But it's obvious why people adopt children. It gives them great joy. Joy is a reward not yet factored in. Why do people have sex? To propagate their genes? No, people have sex because it feels good. Propagating one's genes just happens to be a side effect. If propagating one's genes were paramount, then no one would have bothered inventing birth control. Yet birth control is heavily used all around the world. Adoption and birth control seem to contradict the "Selfish Gene" version of evolution.

     The difference between progressives and conservatives seems to be partially based on whether one believes people are generally altruistic or generally hedonistic. Of course one can make the argument that people are altruistic because it makes them feel good, hence they are basically hedonistic. But why should it make us feel good to be altruistic? Why did that evolve? And why are we outraged if someone starts taking advantage of our altruism? Why are we outraged if some young teenager riding their bicycle to school is hit by a car and killed (as happened here recently)? We are outraged, and demand justice. Their must be a balancing of the moral books. If the driver is to blame the driver must be severely punished and forced to pay retribution. But if the child is to blame then it's just another Darwin Award — sad, but that teen got what he deserved. These are all deeply established emotional responses we have. But why has evolution endowed us all with this set of emotional responses? Can we say we have naturally evolved to be altruistic? Are people naturally virtuous or selfish?

cover Moral Minds: How Nature Designed Our Universal Sense of Right and Wrong
by Marc D. Hauser
Year: 2006.
The Moral Animal: Why We Are, the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology
by Robert Wright
Year: 1994.
The first ¾ of this book introduces well the concept of Evolutionary Psychology. The last ¼ uses faulty logic to conclude we should all be liberals.

The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
by Matt Ridley
Year: 1996.
The first ¾ of this book introduces the concept of Evolutionary Psychology, though it is riddled with faulty logic throughout. The last ¼ uses faulty logic to conclude we should all be conservatives.

So there's your choice. Faulty logic to conclude we should all be progressives, or faulty logic to conclude we should all be conservatives.



MISC.
cover THE BIBLE UNEARTHED: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts by Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman Year: 2001. "We will reconstruct the history of ancient Israel on the basis of archaeological evidence—the only source of information on the biblical period that was not extensively emended, edited, or censored by many generations of biblical scribes." An excellent book detailing what really happened in Old Testament times. The evidence clearly shows the Biblical version of history is wrong. Highly recommended.
cover Christian Mythology Unveiled by Mitchell Logan(?), 1842(?). This wonderful book has a little bit of everything, making it a very interesting book to read. It also contains The Humble Petition of The Spinsters to the Legislature of Great Britain and Ireland on why divorce should be legal. Available from Ballantrae Reprints (here #6 for $21.00). [NOTE: The authorship and date of this book is not certain, as the book itself was published anonymously with no date.]
cover This Hebrew Lord: A Bishop's Search for the Authentic Jesus by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 1988.
Most of my Where Is God? page comes from chapter 3 of this book.
(View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]


cover Living in Sin?: A Bishop Rethinks Human Sexuality by Bishop John Shelby Spong. Year: 1990.
(View an excellent entertaining lecture by Bishop John Shelby Spong) [offsite. UCTV show #9117]
cover The Fallen Star: or the History of a False Religion
Also contains A Dissertation on the Origin of Evil
By: E.L. Bulwer & Lord Brougham.
Year: Unknown. Probably 19'th century.
The Fallen Star is a fictional story about a shrewd person who gains immense power by pretending to be a prophet.
Available for download from Project Gutenberg
cover Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science, Faith, and Love
By: Dava Sobel
Year: 2000
Did you know Galileo had a daughter?
See Galileo vs. the Church for more on Galileo.
cover The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe
By: Steven Weinberg
year: 1977
Describes the theoretical aspects of the first three minutes of the universe. See Modern Cosmology.
cover Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction
By: Eugenie C. Scott, Executive Director of the National Center for Science Education.
year: 2004
"Students are ill-served if in the name of 'fairness' or 'critical thinking' they are misled into believing that there is a controversy in the scientific world over whether evolution occurred. There is none. Although the teaching of evolution is often regarded as controversial at the K-12 level, the subject is taught matter-of-factly in every respected secular and sectarian university or college in this country, including the Baptist institution Baylor, the Mormon flagship university Brigham Young, and, of course, Catholic Notre Dame."
See also Evolution: “theory” (guess) vs. “Scientific Theory” (well-established explanation of all the facts) [this site]



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Last Update: September 18, 2008