Atheist Universe

May 15, 2006
In this work, essentially an update of Mills -s "Atheist Universe: Why God Didn -t Have a Thing To Do with It" (2004), he surveys a variety of topics, including intelligent design and the origin of the universe, as well as conducts what appears to be a mock interview with himself. While some of Mills -s arguments are logically sound, his antagonistic way of presenting them grows tiresome. For example, he avers that agnostics choose agnosticism over atheism primarily owing to a lack of -guts, - failing to support that assertion with anything other than his own opinion. In addition, he calls all Christian fundamentalists naï ve and suggests that all public schools are -miserable. - But perhaps his most egregious mischaracterization is his description of atheism as a positive philosophy. Most scholars would agree that atheism is not a philosophy, but a factual premise based on logical conjecture. In fact, atheism addresses only one question: does God exist? In light of the various philosophical worldviews -e.g., humanism, secular Judaism -by which atheists can choose to live their lives, Mills -s suggestion that atheism per se is a positive philosophy is unsubstantiated. Not recommended." - Brad S. Matthies, Butler Univ. Lib., Indianapolis"

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