What to do when sent a Jesus book

[Wolfman]

I like Wolfman's idea, except I agree with Beelzebuddy's tweak:



This is the nicest thing you can do for anyone - introduce them to critical thinking, and The Demon-Haunted World is still the best introduction. Next best is Martin Gardner's Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, if you think the word "demon" will put them off, like it did for someone I recommended it to.

Another great book to recommend would be "Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me)"

 

[Cainkane1]

So I am awaiting the third book from a Christian relative sent to me since becoming an Atheist six years ago. I have been unfailingly open and read both previous books cover to cover. I plan to do so with the third. I responded to the previous two with the basic message that they were unconvincing and perhaps they should consider that what they believe is false and should be rejected (never get a response to that last bit)

Has this happened to anyone here and if so, what did you do?

Donate the books to a library.

 

[Wolfman]

Donate the books to a library.

Or perhaps more fittingly, a paper recycling program

 

[marplots]

I think you have to read the book if someone gives it to you. This doesn't mean you have to call upon the Saving Grace of Jesus, welcome Him into your heart, and be assured of Heaven - all that's just a side benefit.

 

[Dinwar]

I think you have to read the book if someone gives it to you.

Why? In what way does transfer of ownership confer a duty to read the book? And when? I've got a backlog that would take years to work through--starting with the Harvard 5 Foot Shelf series. Does my duty require me to stop reading what I'm reading now and focus on this gift? Or do I get a grace period to finish the book I'm on? (Probably not wise, since I tend to read thick books, and if I get a book at the start of a 1,000 page book like "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" it's gonna be a while.)

Sorry, I don't buy it. The act if giving a gift is on the giver; the recipient is under no obligation other than to be charitable and gracious upon reception, unless the gift is intentionally insulting. After that, the recipient owns the material and what they do with it is their business.

 

[Kopji]

From my perspective of Being an atheist 'convert' for about 20 years now, you sound like you are doing well. "Carry on" - .fun

Nobody ever sent me any books but I had plenty of religious books that seemed to involve a kind of sadness if I just threw them away. Maybe all this is a little like grieving. Some books from my grandparents held a kind of sentimental value. I found it useful to gather them up and place them lovingly in a box high up in the garage.

Depending on your faith tradition, 6 years may not be a very long time. They probably still hope you will return, and by accepting and reading their gifts you encourage those hopes at least a little bit. Perhaps atheist-converts by our upbringing, have learned to use hopes as a lever more than we should.

You did not mention which books they are sending you. I'm going to take a stab - if they are the popular Lee Strobel's 'Case' books I'm afraid they are in for a long disappointment because if you found one unconvincing - they are all just more of that. If you do feel the need to read books they send you, you might ask for someone interesting to read like Dietrich Bonhoffer or John Spong. Humm, although this might be a bit like choosing the form of your destroyer. (Obscure Ghostbusters reference).

 

[epeeist]

So I am awaiting the third book from a Christian relative sent to me since becoming an Atheist six years ago. I have been unfailingly open and read both previous books cover to cover. I plan to do so with the third. I responded to the previous two with the basic message that they were unconvincing and perhaps they should consider that what they believe is false and should be rejected (never get a response to that last bit)

Has this happened to anyone here and if so, what did you do?

If you are sent a book as a gift, you're not obliged to read it. If you're given a sweater, you're not obliged to wear it. If you're sent a sweater you dislike, the appropriate response is "thank you" (and in some cases if you can avoid causing offense, thank you but it's the wrong size or you're allergic to wool or whatever to avoid future waste), not "I'll only wear the sweater I dislike if I can give you a sweater you dislike and you wear it"

Now, if you get sent an average of one book every 2 years from a relative who (I assume) you get along with otherwise, they're motivated by concern for you, etc., then for you to choose to read a book you're not interested in every 2 years is nice, and suggests an open-mindedness, but it's not necessary (I suppose if it's a close relative who taught you to read and saved you from drowning, you might feel a stronger obligation...).

I'm devoutly religious, and I think it would be wrong of me to ignore something that might challenge my faith (that would be closed-minded), but that doesn't mean I'm obliged to read everything that anyone anywhere says I "should" read because it proves/disproves/whatever a set of beliefs/disbeliefs. I've read some Dawkins and some Hitchens, and if someone I know/like/respect recommends I read something by Hitchens I will, unlike Dawkins (I gave it a chance, to my reading he's nowhere near as good a thinker/analyst of religion as Hitchens or many other less-known atheists were/are). I recall some people saying their faith was challenged by the Da Vinci Code, which I thought was incredibly stupid (if a clearly fictional novel makes you lose faith, I don't think you really had faith), I prefer to read series in order and the first one was so stupid and unscientific in a number of respects (and made false claims about antimatter in the preamble, e.g. saying the only difference was charge, ignoring other properties such as spin), that I saw no reason to read another crappy book by the same author.

 

[citizenzen]

I think you have to read the book if someone gives it to you. This doesn't mean you have to call upon the Saving Grace of Jesus, welcome Him into your heart, and be assured of Heaven - all that's just a side benefit.

I completely disagree. I was just talking to my wife about this very subject the other night. You can't obligate someone to read what you send them, you can only suggest they do so with that gift.

Otherwise, a beautiful gesture transforms into a kind of slavery. You'd force people to spend hours of their time reading something that may not interest them in the least. A gift could easily become a burden and a source of resentment, exactly the opposite of what a gift is intended to be.

 

[maxpower1227]

I think that I'd respond by telling them that I'm willing to read the books they send me, if they'll send the books that I send them. They send me a book about the Bible...I send them Dawkins' "Greatest Show On Earth".

I took this approach once with an online acquaintance. She was a very devout Christian, and some time after learning I was an atheist she recommended that I read Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ". I agreed and asked her in return to read Thomas Paine's "The Age of Reason". I suffered through a used copy of Strobel's (inane and intellectually dishonest) book, but never got a chance to share my thoughts on the book as I stopped hearing from the person entirely.

 

[Howie Felterbush]

Hollow it out and use it to hide a pint bottle of gin.