Mollie Carroll Professor Suzanne Ingram English 1103 20 September, 2012 Annotated Bibliography Dawkins, Richard.

The God Delusion. New York: Bantam Books, 2006. Print. Richard Dawkins is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and author. He is called one of the Unholy Trinity along with Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. The first part of his book discusses why there is no god, while the rest covers issues of religion and morality. The God Delusion has four consciousness- raising messages: Atheists can be happy and moral; Natural selection and similar theories are superior to creationist theories; Children should not be indoctrinated in religion; Atheists should be proud. I believe the second part of the book that covers religion and morality will be the most useful to be, since my paper intends to discuss religion, not disprove it. This book discusses the morality of religion, and the ways it abuses its power by promoting hate and bigotry in the world. Harris, Sam. The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Print. Harris is an author as well as a philosopher, public intellectual, and neuroscientist. He is the co-founder as well as CEO of Project Reason: a foundation made to promote scientific knowledge and a secular society. This book covers many atrocious happenings made in the name of religion. From the inquisition, persecution of witches, to suicide bombings, Harris argues religion influences and encourages these acts. He also discusses how religion influences laws and legislation in the world and how they

influence drug policies, scientific research, and ethics. This book will be very useful due to its insight on wars, laws, and events that can be attributed to religion. Hitchens, Christopher. God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve Books, 2007. Print. Hitchens is a politically outspoken journalist and writer whose career spanned over forty years. He is well respected in the atheist community. In this book he analyzes multiple major religions, their purpose, how religion impacts the world, and the negative effects of religion. The book discusses how human morality is one reason religion is still clung to by the general public. This book discusses how religion suppresses the sexuality of the population by imposing a fear of healthy sexual activity from a young age. It also looks into how religion can impede scientific and medical advances. Many contradictions found in the bible are explored and discussed, as well as the beginnings of Christianity and Islam. This book seems like it can be a reliable source due to its range of study, and variety of topics it covers. Zuckerman, Phil. Society without God: What the least religious nations can tell us about contentment. New York: New York University Press, 2008. Print. Phil Zuckerman is a professor of Sociology and Secular Studies at Pitzer College in California. He has a large internet presence, often writing atheist articles for various websites. His book, Society without God, compares the most secular societies in the world (Denmark and Sweden) to some of the most religious. In his book he notes how these societies are some of the wealthiest, best developed, democratic, least corrupt, least violent, best educated, most environmentally compassionate, and happiest in the world. I think this book is important because it shows how atheist societies can be (not immoral and murderous as many would like you to believe) and how good for the world these societies can be.

Botton, Alain de. Religion for Atheists: A Non-believers Guide to the Uses of Religion. New York: Pantheon Books, 2012. Print. While Alain de Botton is not a professor or scientist, I believe his ideas and views placed in this book can be useful in my research. This book discusses atheism, religion, and how we can use religious ideas to further society. It discusses how religion can help people in society, and how we can take these religious practices (Catholic mass without religion! Spending time with other people!) and implement them to make a happier, closer society. Basically Botton is proposing that we take religious practices, remove the religious aspects and keep what is good and beautiful within them. Although this doesnt add much to my paper, I have never considered these ideas, and I would like to include them in my paper somehow. Dennett, Daniel. Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon. New York: Viking Adult, 2006. Print. Daniel C. Dennett is a philosopher, writer, and cognitive scientist. He is the co-director of the Center for Cognitive Studies as well as a Professor. This book uses evolutionary biology to suggest theories of the origin of religion and the evolution of modern religions. The later parts of the book discuss morality, the meaning of life, and what children should be taught in regard to religion. This book relies heavily on psychology, philosophy, and sociology to explain why people believe in religion. Im not as confident in this source as my others, but I think it can be useful. This book does not have definitive answers (but are there any in this field of research?), but I think its exploration of religion will be useful in my topic.