The Way of the Heathen

[Tom Palven]

Hadn't heard of Greta Christina until her book The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life was assigned at a Humanist Book Discussion meetup.

Finished the book last night. Think it is terrific and I love Greta.
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Heathen-Prac ... he+heathen

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Where ya been, youngin'?

[Gord]

How do you practice atheism? Is there such a thing as a non-practising atheist? I mean, to practice a religion means you follow the doctrine of that religion; is there an atheist doctrine of which I have so far been blissfully unaware? 'Cause if so...meh. I'd rather not, thank you.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

How do you practice atheism? Is there such a thing as a non-practising atheist? I mean, to practice a religion means you follow the doctrine of that religion; is there an atheist doctrine of which I have so far been blissfully unaware? 'Cause if so...meh. I'd rather not, thank you.

prac·tice
ˈpraktəs/Submit
noun
1.
the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method as opposed to theories about such application or use.
"the principles and practice of teaching"
synonyms: application, exercise, use, operation, implementation, execution More

[Gord]

How do you practice atheism? Is there such a thing as a non-practising atheist? I mean, to practice a religion means you follow the doctrine of that religion; is there an atheist doctrine of which I have so far been blissfully unaware? 'Cause if so...meh. I'd rather not, thank you.

prac·tice
ˈpraktəs/Submit
noun
1.
the actual application or use of an idea, belief, or method as opposed to theories about such application or use.
"the principles and practice of teaching"
synonyms: application, exercise, use, operation, implementation, execution More

How do I do that with atheism? If I don't do whatever it is I don't do, am I a non-practising atheist? What is the application of my lack of a belief in a thing?

I never do astronauty stuff, like floating around the room or wearing fishbowl over my head and fighting Martians (astronauts do that stuff, right), so have I been practising non-astronautism my whole life without even realising it? Egad! Imagine all the energy I must have been expending, engaged in all this practising of non-things that I haven't been non-doing all this untime!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Don't go to church, don't support religions or their profiteers, educate people that there's another way, not just the God's Way.

[psychiatry is a scam]

could try reading the book ?

except you cant immediately attack the author ; so guess that's not an option

[Gawdzilla Sama]

could try reading the book ?

except you cant immediately attack the author ; so guess that's not an option

Butthurt much?

[bobbo_the_Pragmatist]

Practicing Atheism: my application is to not "go all religious" on other subjects like politics, sports, racism, nationalism, tax policy, immigration etc. Lots of ways to substitute faith for facts.

[Tom Palven]

According to Wikipedia Greta Christina is, among many other things, co-organizer of the Godless Perverts Social Club in San Francisco.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greta_Christina

The name reminded me of our local ladies rugby team, The Sinners.

It's a group of young ladies of all sizes, shapes, nationalities, and colors, who play rugby against teams from colleges and junior colleges in the area including biggie, Florida State, and despite it being a rough game with hard tackling, it's all done in a spirit of fun.


While "The Jacksonville Sinners" may not be as great a name as The Godless Perverts Social Club, at least it has it all over The New Orleans Saints.

[Lausten]

Just want to add my vote for this book. It is simple and useful and practical advice. She looks at issues from prayer to hedonism from multiple angles and never gets preachy.

I came across Greta late in my Christian days. She has a somewhat famous blog post about why she is angry. It sites multiple verses and historical precedents. This book is not the angry Greta though.