Damned Good Company
20 Rebels Who Bucked the God Experts
Damned Good Company is a Profiles in Courage for humanists –
a book to make humanists proud of themselves.
An April, 2009 story from the Dallas Morning News tells of local
atheists who bought billboards saying “Don't believe in God? You
are not alone.” “Our purpose is not to convert anybody,” said Terry
McDonald, who was responsible for the campaign. “The intention
is to let people who already don’t believe know they’ve got
company.”
Throughout history, men and women around the world have listened
to the prevailing wisdom of what God was supposed to have said
and what God wants us to do. They have seen those who claim a
lock on that wisdom given free reign to run society as they see fit –
or, as they would have it, as God ordains. Every now and then
someone has the gumption to say “No! The emperor isn’t wearing
any clothes! I don’t believe you speak for God, and I am not going
to do what you say.”
Their stories inspire those today who want to stand up to the
Christian Right, the Muslim fanatics, the oppressiveness of Catholic
and Jewish orthodoxy, the rising Hindu Taliban, and everyone else
who claims the God-given right to tell the rest of us what to do.
Damned Good Company will tell twenty dramatic tales of conflicts
between God experts and humanist rebels, from earliest times
through the 21st century, featuring all major religions around the
world. The song remains the same: Han Yu’s banishment from the
9th century Chinese court for questioning the worship of the Buddha’
s finger mirrors Baruch Spinoza’s expulsion from his 17th century
Amsterdam Jewish community for questioning Moses’ authorship
of the Torah. By contrast, Talleyrand never believed in God, but
used religion shamelessly to advance his political ambition –
exactly as Mussolini did a century later, and as the book will argue
Barack Obama is doing today.
Rudyard Kipling wrote that “If history were taught in the form of
stories, it would never be forgotten.” These twenty stories will
juxtapose heroes with villains to illuminate the battles over claims to
divine authority in a way that readers will not forget. Darrow and
Bryan faced each other in a courtroom; Woolston and Cromwell
lived decades apart, but each personifies a point of view so vividly
that pitting one against the other illuminates the struggle between
Puritanism and Deism that continues unabated today. Nehru and
Gandhi are more often considered friends than opponents, but their
religious differences were profound, with tragic consequences that
have yet to play out.
Can't wait to read it? Well, you'll have to; it's still in progress. While
waiting, you can read a new article every week in my blog relating
a current headline or anniversary to a scandal of religious history.
20 Rebels Who Bucked the God Experts
Damned Good Company is a Profiles in Courage for humanists –
a book to make humanists proud of themselves.
An April, 2009 story from the Dallas Morning News tells of local
atheists who bought billboards saying “Don't believe in God? You
are not alone.” “Our purpose is not to convert anybody,” said Terry
McDonald, who was responsible for the campaign. “The intention
is to let people who already don’t believe know they’ve got
company.”
Throughout history, men and women around the world have listened
to the prevailing wisdom of what God was supposed to have said
and what God wants us to do. They have seen those who claim a
lock on that wisdom given free reign to run society as they see fit –
or, as they would have it, as God ordains. Every now and then
someone has the gumption to say “No! The emperor isn’t wearing
any clothes! I don’t believe you speak for God, and I am not going
to do what you say.”
Their stories inspire those today who want to stand up to the
Christian Right, the Muslim fanatics, the oppressiveness of Catholic
and Jewish orthodoxy, the rising Hindu Taliban, and everyone else
who claims the God-given right to tell the rest of us what to do.
Damned Good Company will tell twenty dramatic tales of conflicts
between God experts and humanist rebels, from earliest times
through the 21st century, featuring all major religions around the
world. The song remains the same: Han Yu’s banishment from the
9th century Chinese court for questioning the worship of the Buddha’
s finger mirrors Baruch Spinoza’s expulsion from his 17th century
Amsterdam Jewish community for questioning Moses’ authorship
of the Torah. By contrast, Talleyrand never believed in God, but
used religion shamelessly to advance his political ambition –
exactly as Mussolini did a century later, and as the book will argue
Barack Obama is doing today.
Rudyard Kipling wrote that “If history were taught in the form of
stories, it would never be forgotten.” These twenty stories will
juxtapose heroes with villains to illuminate the battles over claims to
divine authority in a way that readers will not forget. Darrow and
Bryan faced each other in a courtroom; Woolston and Cromwell
lived decades apart, but each personifies a point of view so vividly
that pitting one against the other illuminates the struggle between
Puritanism and Deism that continues unabated today. Nehru and
Gandhi are more often considered friends than opponents, but their
religious differences were profound, with tragic consequences that
have yet to play out.
Can't wait to read it? Well, you'll have to; it's still in progress. While
waiting, you can read a new article every week in my blog relating
a current headline or anniversary to a scandal of religious history.
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Luis Granados
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