50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison – A Review by OzAtheist
Finished reading the above book on my Kindle today, did I mention I have a Kindle? 
This is an excellent book for atheists and theists alike. For theists it gives them some questions to answer as to why they may believe in a god. For atheists it provides 50 reasons why believing in a god has no basis in reality, but it does it in a very nice way.
Unlike many other atheist tracts (Dawkins, Hitchens take note) this book is rather polite and not condescending (well not much) to believers. The book has certainly given me some positive ideas on how I should better interact with believers. Harrison makes some very good points about how non-believers might persuade believers to think about their position when it comes to believing in a god.
A fair few of the observations made in this book have been said many times before by many people. However, I think Harrison has done a very good job of putting them all together in the one book, and in a polite and thought provoking (particularly to theists) manner.
Here is the list of 50 reasons why people believe in a god:
- My god is obvious
- Almost everybody on Earth is religious
- Faith is a good thing
- Archaeological discoveries prove that my god exists
- Only my god can make me feel significant
- Atheism is just another religion
- Evolution is bad
- Our world is too beautiful to be an accident
- My god created the universe
- Believing in my god makes me happy
- Better safe than sorry
- A sacred book proves my god is real
- Divine justice proves my god is real
- My god answers prayers
- I would rather worship my god than the devil
- My god heals sick people
- Anything is better than being an atheist
- My god made the human body
- My god sacrificed his only son for me
- Atheists are jerks who think they know everything
- I don’t lose anything by believing in my god
- I didn’t come from a monkey
- I don’t want to go to hell
- I feel my god when I pray
- I need my god to protect me
- I want an eternal life
- Without my god we would have no sense of right and wrong
- My god makes me feel like I am part of something bigger than myself
- My religion makes more sense than all the others
- My god changes lives
- Intelligent design proves my god is real
- Millions of people can’t be wrong about my religion
- Miracles prove my god is real
- Religion is beautiful
- Some very smart people believe in my god
- Ancient prophecies prove my god exists
- No one has ever disproved the existence of my god
- People have gone to heaven and returned
- Religion brings people together
- My god inspires people
- Science can’t explain everything
- Society would fall apart without religion
- My religion is so old it must be true
- Someone I trust told me that my god is real
- Atheism is a negative and empty philosphy
- Believing in a god doesn’t hurt anyone
- The earth is perfectly tuned to support life
- Believing is natural so my god must be real
- The end is near
- I am afraid of not beleiving
By all accounts all of the above 50 reasons have been told to Harrison, I think I’ve heard most of them myself. Harrison does repeat himself a few times, but I have to forgive him this faux pas as so do most theists!
Overall, a good read, another book that should be compulsory reading by everyone on the planet.
Ahh but have you got your convention tickets
Yes, I have my atheist convention tickets, just need to book flights and accommodation.
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Will see you there then mate. And what’s with this rash of postings
I’m a logical, ethical, morally correct individual who just happens to be an atheist. I’m also a secular humanist. I’m very proud to be all of the affore mentioned, and totally uninfluenced by anything supernatural. I have few close atheist friends and many religious ones; I tolerate them and they tolerate me. Some of them are even in denial that I don’t profess a belief in the existance of gods because I have such high moral standards, and tell me things like, “You might not believe in ‘God’ but he believes in you.” and “You’re such a good person, you’re religious whether you know it or not.” I am one thing that all my religious friends are not: a hypocrite! As I type this, my wife, a Christian, over-sleeps and will miss church services today. Should I have awakened her?
welcome @ Ben, that is one of the things that galls me; religious people who think you have to believe in a god to be good. How wrong can they be?
I read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. I agree that Harrison treats believers gently, for the most part. That’s why I felt comfortable giving the book to a theist friend of mine who’s open to questioning her beliefs.
I like the parties and the fun. To hell with the religious overtones. I ignore it.
Hey Oz Athiest… thanks for your post! I reckon your on the money in many ways. I don’t celebrate Ramadan because I am not a Muslim. Why would I expect you to celebrate Christmas.
But I couldn’t disagree with you more on this statement….
“Much like from birth those same children are taught god is real and that he also rewards the good (promise of heaven) and punishes the bad (fear of hell).”
This isn’t what Christians believe. Some Catholics are taught this kind of doctrine but Christians have never said that people go to heaven because they are good.
Anyway… happy new year to you!
not sure how that happened but i responded in the wrong blog post. oops.
Between me and my husband we have owned more gadgets over the years than I can count, including GPS units, iPods (classic & touch), etc. I love Kindel, it’s by far the coolest toy I got. Why? Because I was happy to discover how well-designed and fun it was and how simple it is to use . Make sure you accuire the cover though as it gets scratched pretty easily.