atheist Archives

28 Best End of Faith Quotes

July 5, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

While I have been blogging for over three years, it was only two weeks ago when I first read and reviewed Sam Harris’s 2004 “New Atheist” bestseller, The End of Faith. I made it known in that review that The End of Faith is far from one of my favorite books, but I’ve found that it can be easy to separate the book as a whole from its quotability.

Like his colleagues Dawkins and Hitchens, Harris knows how to throw down a quotable one-liner with the best of them. Admittedly, Harris often uses harsher language than I feel comfortable using myself, but at the end of the day our values are more or less in line with one another. At the same time, I find it worth noting that several of Harris’s political or societal themes written about in 2004 feel all too timely today in 2020. So without further ado, here are 28 of The End of Faith‘s most memorable quotes!

Book Review: The End of Faith by Sam Harris

June 21, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Once upon a time, I read books to learn the arguments for and against the existence of god and for religion in general. It only took so long for me to feel fully comfortable on the side of atheism. Now my reading has expanded more into things I’m curious about like paleoanthropology and early Christianity. Relaxing with a good book has been one of my very favorite pastimes for a while. But I knew that my atheist reading repertoire wouldn’t be complete until I had finished Sam Harris’s The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. Unfortunately, it was anything but relaxing. In fact, I’d say that reading this was exhausting.

Do All Lives Matter?

June 14, 2020October 31, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Yes, all lives matter.

So why, in that case, does saying so offend so many so deeply?

Since the Black Lives Matter movement began at the hands of three powerful Black women in 2013, it has been criticized for its exclusivity. “What about white lives? Asian lives? Mexican, Russian, Indigenous lives? Don’t they matter?” people say. To this, those three women, and the global network that has since grown out of their movement, would say yes, of course. All lives matter.

Book Review: Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman

June 7, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I had been meaning to read Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman for several months, but I kept putting it off. Now that I’ve finally read it, I wish I had done so earlier. It was incredible!

Book Review: The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack by Ian Tattersall

May 24, 2020September 4, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

Three weeks ago, I reviewed my first ever Ian Tattersall book, Masters of the Planet. As I said then, Ian Tattersall is the curator of the American Museum of Natural History’s Spitzer Hall of Human Origins. He’s been involved in paleoanthropology since the 60’s, and his books combine his undeniable expertise with just enough of his own evidence-based opinions and a dash of wit.

Why Fish Don’t Have Fur: Reading My Favorite Creationist Children’s Book

May 17, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Have you ever been going along throughout your day, minding your own business, when suddenly you were bombarded with an absolute fossil of a buried memory? Or rather, you get bits and pieces of a memory of an old book, movie, or TV show? When this happens, it can be next to impossible to think about anything else until you remember exactly what it is that your brain is reminding you of.

Book Review: Masters of the Planet by Ian Tattersall

May 3, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you have been following my blog for a while, then you might know that I’m becoming a bit of a fanatic for paleoanthropology. The study of human origins has taken over my bookshelf, and I’ve found myself daydreaming about going back to human origins exhibits in museums. This is easy to do each time I get really lost in another book on the topic. This time, that book was Ian Tattersall’s Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 5: Throwing Your Life Away

April 26, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Just when you thought, or at least hoped, that I had forgotten about my series reacting to Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life, I’m posting about it yet again. On the bright side, we are nearly finished with this damaging book! This will be my reaction to Purpose Four out of five. This time, it’s all about serving God.

36 Best Founding Myth Quotes

April 19, 2020December 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

A few months ago, I wrote a rave review of one of my now-favorite books, Andrew Seidel’s The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. Being such a fan of the book, and being in agreement with so many of Seidel’s ideas, you can imagine how excited I was last October when I learned that I could meet him on his book tour in April!

Of course, his lecture with the Pittsburgh Freethought Community has been not canceled but sadly postponed for obvious reasons. As the PFC’s marketing chair, I had excitedly but prematurely drafted an advertisement for Seidel’s visit. For now, though, I will stash away my excitement for the day when Seidel finally makes it to Pittsburgh and instead share with you 36 of my personal favorite quotes from his brilliant book.

I Read a 100-Year-Old Book on Evolution

April 12, 2020August 13, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

I have been excited to write this post since last May. My husband and I were on a weekend trip in State College, PA celebrating our six-year dating anniversary by visiting all the local bookstores as we like to do. In a cute café and bookstore called Webster’s, I came across a uniquely rustic book called The A B C of Evolution by Joseph McCabe. It was $20 which is above the average price for a used book, but something told me I would never find a book like this again, so I bought it. Part of what sold me was the copyright date of 1920; at the time I thought to myself that that would soon be 100 years ago! Since then I’d been waiting for the perfect time in 2020 to look back at where the study of evolution was 100 years ago.