1. Comment #60818 by action1976 on August 3, 2007 at 12:18 am

Title says it all to me

Enough Said.

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2. Comment #60820 by Corylus on August 3, 2007 at 12:22 am

I looked to see if there was a 'complete idiot's guide to atheism'. Couldn't find one.

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3. Comment #60822 by OkiMike on August 3, 2007 at 12:29 am

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have found our public school Old/New Testament textbooks!

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4. Comment #60827 by deviljelly on August 3, 2007 at 12:37 am

First pass, maybe someone else can do better



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5. Comment #60829 by Russell Blackford on August 3, 2007 at 12:49 am

I'm all for a bit of Voltairean mockery of religious dogma, but I think this thread rather misses the mark.

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6. Comment #60860 by jackanaples on August 3, 2007 at 2:41 am

Maybe you're missing the point of the thread? The two books shown above are real.

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7. Comment #60862 by tieInterceptor on August 3, 2007 at 2:53 am

"Maybe you're missing the point of the thread? The two books shown above are real."

the onion an reality are not that far appart ...

thanks for the heads up, I was puzzled, if it was real, is funny in a sad for humanity kinda way, if it was photoshop, then it was a poor joke by an atheist...

so, we win! yay

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8. Comment #60868 by pewkatchoo on August 3, 2007 at 3:08 am

You couldn't make it up. And I thought that my avatar was just a p1sstake. These guys do a better job of ridiculing themselves than we ever could.

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9. Comment #60882 by BAEOZ on August 3, 2007 at 4:20 am

Corylus:

I looked to see if there was a 'complete idiot's guide to atheism'.

I know that makes a lot of atheists feel smug that there's no idiot's guide to atheism, but is that because a guide to atheism requires you to be blank or because we atheists are so smart that you can't write an idiots guide for us? Personally, I think it's because we're aiming for the blank stage, thus we're arriving at what an innocent idiot would conceive of the world (metaphysically), not a WeeFlea sophisticated idiot. Put another way, we were all born atheist, so that blank state is atheist. The sophisticated state of forced belief or disbelief is tiresome to me.
(Caveat paucus pulex - est stultus deinde non respondere)

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10. Comment #60898 by Russell's Teapot on August 3, 2007 at 5:15 am

It's rather obvious that these are real...both link to their respective Amazon pages.

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11. Comment #60904 by corduroy11 on August 3, 2007 at 5:30 am

However, keep in mind that there is A Complete Idiot's Guide to Evolution, as well as Evolution For Dummies.
The above is funny and all, but take it with a grain of salt...

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12. Comment #60907 by Russell Blackford on August 3, 2007 at 5:38 am

Of course they're real. So are books like Computing for Dummies. It's mildly funny, but it's also a bit of cheap shot ... that's all. Not the sort of thing that I think should be on the front page like this. I'd rather save my mockery for religious doctrines that are genuinely absurd.

I'd also think it a cheap shot if someone wrote a book called The Complete Idiot's Guide to Evolution and a creationist site tried to get a laugh about how (obviously) only complete idiots could accept evolution.

Oh well, maybe I'm just in a humorless mood. Take no notice of me.

Russ the Grump

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13. Comment #60909 by wagnerpe on August 3, 2007 at 5:40 am

Haha I saw The Complete Idiot's Guide to Faith at the checkout counter of my local grocery store. I had a nice little chuckle to myself.

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14. Comment #60926 by Ian on August 3, 2007 at 6:19 am

I think some of you are allowing yourselves to be rather naive.

The publishing industry will sell any book they think will make money, irrespective of its quality or whether they agree with the position taken in the book. They won't care how incongruous it seems or whether we get a cheap laugh.

The 'for dummies' and 'for complete idiots' labels are trademarks, just like the 'for beginers' books. There is no reflection upon the subject matter and no guarantee of quality.

The danger in these books is that the reader may be fooled into thinking they know what they need to know, when they - like most books on religion - will be completely uncritical and leave the reader open to infection.

These books are cheap attempts to cash in on the controversey raised by Dennet, Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens.

These are the true fleas, because their relationship is truely parasitic.

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15. Comment #60927 by pewkatchoo on August 3, 2007 at 6:23 am

er Russell, I hate to burst your bubble but they did:

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-R-Evolution/dp/0028642260/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-8937944-1220709?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186147262&sr=1-2

http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Dummies-Math-Science/dp/0470117737/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/104-8937944-1220709?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186147388&sr=1-1

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16. Comment #60945 by ClemIsMe on August 3, 2007 at 6:53 am

The books are not the problem. Money to be made. The problem is that there is a market for them.

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17. Comment #60952 by stevieb on August 3, 2007 at 7:05 am

http://www.amazon.com/Intelligent-Persons-Guide-Atheism/dp/0715632299/ref=sr_1_1/102-8997046-0978566?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186149887&sr=8-1

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18. Comment #60960 by hcholm on August 3, 2007 at 7:18 am

How could you miss this one:



( http://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Dummies-Richard-J-Wagner/dp/0764544829/ref=pd_sim_b_2_img/105-5113720-3737252 )

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19. Comment #60974 by Kakashi_monkey on August 3, 2007 at 8:11 am

I saw the above book at Price Chopper recently. These books are actually good; only idiots get suckered into religion and stay there. The christians are stabbing themselves with these!

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20. Comment #60979 by irate_atheist on August 3, 2007 at 8:22 am

Surely the title is a typo?

Should it not be 'The Complete Guide to Christianity's Idiots'.

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21. Comment #61000 by konquererz on August 3, 2007 at 9:35 am

there are plenty of people stating that this is not called for or the article misses the point. You are missing the point, these books are being sold on amazon.com, its not just funny, its reality!

From Amazon.com

Book Description
A Christian guide to living a faith-based life.

Here is a timely guide to the timeless issues of why some people choose to believe in a loving and forgiving God and how the Christian faith can yield benefits in every aspect of life—from family issues and career crises to devastating tragedies. Each chapter includes a variety of self- discovery exercises, tips, and helpful sidebars that explain faith from a conservative Christian perspective.

• Rich with Bible quotes and faith exercises
• Everyday advice for bringing faith into family and work life
• Resource section for additional reading and faith-based web sites


About the Author
Rev. Charles W. Moore, D. Min., is president of Northern Baptist Theological Seminary, a conservative American Baptist institution in suburban Chicago since 2001.
Robert Bittner is a full-time freelance journalist and a former book editor at Tyndale House. He is executive vice-president of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

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22. Comment #61005 by TinyRobot on August 3, 2007 at 9:46 am

I think i'm totally with RussellBlackford on this one. I don't see any point in smugly laughing at the title to these books. I actually own the complete idiot's guide to islam (and astronomy). They're not bad books but the quality is patchy. They're just a brand name and an introduction to particular topics. Anyone who wants to be serious about these areas would have to go further, but at least it's a start. I am imagine the brand name was chosen for its 'shock' value (or something along those lines as opposed to being an attempt to insult its readership.

Also, i think there should be a complete idiot's guide to atheism (if there isn't already). You don't need to be a member of some intellectual elite to appreciate a well constructed and logically sound argument. Remember, 'ignorance' is not necessarily an insult - there are many things about which i am ignorant. Let's not be irrational here folks!

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23. Comment #61008 by TinyRobot on August 3, 2007 at 9:52 am

Konquerez,

I don't see what's funny about these books at all (admittedly humour is difficult to objectively justify so let's just agree to disagree) and i don't see why you express incredulity at the existence of such titles (i apologise if you are not incredulous - i'm inferring a tone in your message). There are literally hundreds of these books - it doesn't mean that the topics treated of within their pages are all idiotic. (incidentally i am not defending 'faith' or 'christianity' or anything like that).

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24. Comment #61034 by Corylus on August 3, 2007 at 11:37 am

Hmm, I admit my first comment was a bit flippant and thoughtless - rightfully chastized BAEOZ! Hangs head.

However, on further reflection, I am actually seeing opportunity here. As I understand it these books are bought by people who actually wish to learn things, but are willing to be self-depreciating about their current state of knowledge. (E.g. 80 year olds buying Computing for Dummies because they want to know how to research their family tree online).

What easily accessible books can you currently recommend to people (those with really short attention spans), when you want to show them that atheists are not necessarily miserable buggers or immoral slugs?

I presently go for Julian Baggini's - Atheism: A Very Short Introduction (From the Very Short Introductions range). However, this hasn't even been reviewed by anyone on Amazon yet and it has been out for a couple of years now. Books by philosophers aren't known for being best sellers.

Maybe if anyone is going to write "Atheism for Dummies" it should be RDF?? There is enough material on this site for several such books. There could be nice friendly pictures of happy atheists. Little text boxes with arguments about Hilter and atheism. That sort of thing.

This could be a moneyspinner for RDF, and show that atheists can have a sense of humour as well (rather than sitting in cafes, dressed in black, looking miserable, and smoking French cigarettes).

Another point. It may be that someone is already planning such a book, which badly done could be an absolute disaster...

Thoughts anyone?

1) Good Idea?
2) Neutral Idea?
3) Bad Idea?
4) Dreadful Idea?
5) Corylus talking out of her furry little butt?

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25. Comment #61035 by Steven Mading on August 3, 2007 at 11:43 am

There's an issue of prior art here. The complete idiot's guide to christianity has been published for a very long time now. In fact, it was the first mass-produced book ever published on the Gutenberg press.

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26. Comment #61046 by Klaatu barada nikto on August 3, 2007 at 12:17 pm

Just the tip of the iceberg. http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Browse/BrowseStdPage/0,,265293,00.html

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27. Comment #61082 by Duff on August 3, 2007 at 2:33 pm

irate atheist,
No, it should be "The Complete Guide FOR Christianity's Idiots."

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28. Comment #61085 by stereoroid on August 3, 2007 at 2:40 pm

There actually is a Religion For Dummies book. Authors: Rabbi Marc Gellman, Monsignor Thomas Hartman - how objective!

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29. Comment #61096 by GoatBoy36 on August 3, 2007 at 3:10 pm

tinyrobot,

you're quite right, there are a lot of these textbooks, on a lot of different subjects. I've picked up a couple over the years, if I want a quick intro to a particular piece of software or whatever. A quick search on Amazon & you can find "Windows XP for Dummies", "Building a Web Site for Dummies", "Office 2007 for Dummies", "Italian for Dummies", "Neuro-linguistic Programming for Dummies" and so forth .. There is a nice little website at:

http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/

gb.

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30. Comment #61116 by stevieb on August 3, 2007 at 5:53 pm

the public shouldn't need "atheism for dummies" any more than "not believing in santa for dummies". how about "thinking for dummies" or "logic for dummies"?

the counter to these "X for dummies" and "complete idiot's guide to X" is the "intelligent person's guide to X". the catalog is not as broad as its competitors, but it does include atheism (see my above post)

-steve

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31. Comment #61133 by Dr Benway on August 3, 2007 at 7:59 pm

Yawn. Wake me when they write, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Idiocy.

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32. Comment #61303 by Lionel A on August 4, 2007 at 1:57 pm

How about 'Alister McGrath for Dummies'?

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33. Comment #61305 by Johnny O on August 4, 2007 at 2:11 pm

There actually is a Religion For Dummies book. Authors: Rabbi Marc Gellman, Monsignor Thomas Hartman

It should be Religion IS For Dummies!!

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34. Comment #61318 by Nails on August 4, 2007 at 3:31 pm

Wow! what a coincidence!!!
I found a very similar book on my mother's bookshelf a couple of days ago, and I read her the first page.
I harps on about the roots of religion; how 3,000 or so years ago mankind was a struggling to find answers and basically survive, most children died young and 30 was a a good life expectancy....
So why then, are nearly all the biblical characters a few hundred years old?
The reply I got from my deluded mother?
"It's not to be taken literally, you know."

*shakes his head and sighs*

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35. Comment #61320 by Shuggy on August 4, 2007 at 3:45 pm

stereoroid wrote:

There actually is a Religion For Dummies book. Authors: Rabbi Marc Gellman, Monsignor Thomas Hartman - how objective!

I wonder how it treats Islam - or indeed
Protestantism/Hinduism/Buddhism/Shintoism/Jainism/Confucianism?

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36. Comment #61347 by DNAtheist on August 4, 2007 at 10:34 pm

Russell Blackford,

You aren't alone. I didn't find this joke clever either.

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37. Comment #61575 by greg_m on August 5, 2007 at 8:32 pm

Darned if I could figure out how to post an image, but another shocker is 'The Complete Idiot's Guide to Being Psychic': http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Idiots-Guide-Being-Psychic/dp/0028629043/ref=sr_1_1/002-3474964-7384026?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186370845&sr=1-1

The irresposible morons who publish this nonsense need to be boycotted.

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38. Comment #61637 by USA_Limey on August 6, 2007 at 3:55 am

DNAtheist, your avatar would make a great T-Shirt!

Maybe even better with just the red "A" and the rest of the word missing.

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39. Comment #61698 by Mat on August 6, 2007 at 11:53 am

@ Dr Benway - please change your avatar, it's just too scary.

:)

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40. Comment #61703 by Dr Benway on August 6, 2007 at 12:29 pm

Dr Benway - please change your avatar, it's just too scary.

Mat, I'm merely supporting Dawkins and his FREAK OUT! campaign. Everyone ought to wear the psychic smile in solidarity for a day, or as the spirit moves.

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41. Comment #62078 by Russell Blackford on August 8, 2007 at 5:30 am

stevieb, I don't think you'll like The Intelligent Person's Guide to Religion. According to the discussion in Pataki's Against Religion, it's by a theist philosopher, John Haldane, who apparently brings out a lot of the by-now-familiar epistemic relativism type arguments to support religious faith.

Maybe someone who is familiar with the book at first hand can confirm or correct this information.

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42. Comment #62572 by DNAproduct on August 10, 2007 at 6:51 am

I absolutely do have a sense of humor, and find many articles and postings on this site hilarious, including most of "The Onion" articles which some people clearly don't find funny at all.
I see the humor in this article, and it got a smile out of me, but when I read Russel Blackford's post (#12), I realized I fully agreed with him. This particular cheap shot feels a bit too much like some of the smug self-congratulatory things I hear and read from some religious people.

On the other hand, I'm glad it was presented here just so that it could lead to Steven Mading's comment (#25). A quick, day-brightening piece of comedic genius, in my opinion.

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