A must read for the modern atheist

Love it. Finally, an atheist book that talks about current times and events. This book is fun, and is a relief from the intense philosophical approaches of say, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Two things I took away: 1) when I tell someone I don’t believe in God, I get asked, “so how do you think everything came about?” I’ve struggled with that. Now, just not believing in God is enough. I do not have to be an expert in every imaginable field and explain how things came about. 2) I now look at my kids lying to me a different way. I don’t get so bent sit of shape about it.

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Highly recommended

A very well written, clearly explained and relatable description of the thought processes and inner arguments an atheist goes through as they work up the confidence to come out to family, friends and community.

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"beautiful"

I so enjoyed reading this book and yet am finding it hard to put into words just what I liked so much about it... To be sure, the reasoning and arguments put forth in it are lucid and insightful, but more than that the word that comes to mind is that it is "beautiful" - the humanism, the wit, the invitations, the confessions - all of it. And, indeed, the audiobook is beautifully read with all the nuances you could wish for by the author herself. Well done Kate Chohen, and thank you.

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Comfort in Being an Atheist

I enjoyed Ms Cohen's journey into Jewish atheism. As a 74 yr old 2nd generation Holocaust survivor I struggled with committing to being an atheist & being disloyal to my father, who has since passed away 4 yrs ago. I have raised 3 children who were bar/bat mitzvah & feel strongly about being Jewish as do I, I just don't believe in a god. Ms Cohen's straightforward approach to atheism delivers the honest revelation without apology to being Jewish & atheistic at the same time without the hoops & hurdles of being ritualistic. Bravo and well done!

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Encouraging!

Through entertaining and eye opening stories, the author gives excellent reasons for atheists to be open about their non belief and use the word atheist. Loved it!

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What we all need to hear.

Felt kinship with that author: my kids also made me an atheist. Thank you for this book.

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If you don’t believe in god - don’t be afraid to own it!

This is thoughtful, helpful, logical, friendly, accessible guide for normal people who don’t believe in god. Kate Cohen tells about her experience growing up and then raising a family while being truthful concerning her beliefs. This is a book whose time has come. The author’s voice & style are pleasant and clear. It was a pleasure to spend 7 hours with Kate.

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Excellent Argument for Embracing the Truth

This is an excellent short book which premise is in the title: stop rolling along with societal religious norms and pretending to believe and just be an out atheist. She argues that if more of us come out and let our non-beliefs be known that atheist would be less of a maligned word in society. (Although I found that "atheist" certainly isn't a negative word in Great Britain). Even today there are a number of US states where non-belief in a god disqualifies a person from holding public office. In the book she even reads some of the statutes and they actually kind of disturbing. These states have amended their constitutions many times over the years but have never removed this belief-in-the-supernatural requirement. It's crazy. And this country appears to be heading down the god road even faster right now.

The author, Kate Cohen, is a Washington Post columnist and as such this is really well written, and I listened to the Audible book which she narrates which is always a plus.

Kate Cohen grew up Jewish but never really believed in a god and and met her husband, who she met in college was also raised Jewish but is a non-believer. For a while she pretended to believe to appease family members and associates but came to the conclusion it was better to be true to herself and openly embrace reality. When raising their children Kate and her husband decided to be truthful with their kids about how the world really worked. This caused some friction between her family and her the older generation of believers as one would expect.

The book is divided in to two parts: The Making of an Atheist, in which Kate describes her upbringing and path to rejecting belief and raising her own kids in the truth; and, What We Lose is What We Gain, in which she describes how she navigates this supernatural-haunted country in terms of religious rites of passage, holidays, and church attendance.

The two main parts are sandwiched between a prologue and an epilogue. In the prologue she recounts the story of Rebecca Vizmun, who in in 2013 was interviewed on CNN after a tornado destroyed her home and killed 24 people in her town. Vizmun was asked by Wolf Blitzer if she was thanking the Lord for saving her daughter and husband and she responded by saying "I'm actually an atheist". Post-disaster piety thrown in the mud where it belongs. The epilogue includes a delightful story of her young daughter setting an adult straight about Santa Claus in a post-Christmas conversation and puts an exclamation point on her message to get out there be honest - "everyone who conceals the truth makes it harder for other people to be honest".

In the section Why I Don't Call Myself an Agnostic she explains that she is sure god does not exist and offers her four key points for non-belief:

1. The Greek myths are obviously stories, the Norse myths are obviously stories, L Ron Hubbard and Joseph Smith obviously just made that shit up. Extrapolate!

2. Life is confusing and death is scary, naturally humans want to believe that someone capable is in charge of everything and we that somehow continue to live after we die, but wanting doesn't make it so.

3. The holy books that underpin some of the biggest theist religions are riddled with "facts" now disproved by science and "morality" now disavowed by modern adherence. Extrapolate!

4. The existence of child rape and other unfathomable cruelties.

She goes on to say, "If you are not using the term 'god' to mean a deity with the capacity to design, to choose, to create a being actively engaged in human affairs and instead are using it describing nature itself then you're falling in to the trap that Daniel Dennett calls "belief in belief in god."" I think a lot of people think this way. It's obvious there is no one up in the clouds pulling puppet strings or watching over us. We are on our own and need to face up to that, but until society comes to its senses, us atheists will continue be the oddballs.

I loved this. I've read a lot of similar types of coming out books so some of it felt repetitive but I appreciate how well written this one was and the confident, unabrasive tone. 4.5 stars.

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Excellent reflective book

Very well written book of the authors journey individually as well as with her family and raising her children. She reflect deeply into her decisions and is honest when those choices did not match up with her current values. Reading this made me reflect on how I’m raising my kids, our traditions, and the things we do without thinking. This book has made me think about how to be a better father.

I think this is a worthy read whether you are an atheist or not. If you are not, then it’s a non-judgmental look at another group’s perspective. If you are, it has a lot of insight on how to stay true to your beliefs while maintaining the best parts of religious practice, such as the community.

Highly recommend, well worth the read.

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Outstanding

This is a fantastic piece of thinking, reflection, and writing. The prose is precise and lacks any pretension. Kudos.

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