The Way of the Heathen: Practicing Atheism in Everyday Life

by Greta Christina

So you're an atheist. Now what? The way we deal with life — with love and sex, pleasure and death, reality and making stuff up —can change dramatically when we stop believing in gods, souls, and afterlives. When we leave religion — or if we never had it in the first place—where do we go? With her unique blend of compassion and humor, thoughtfulness and snark, Greta Christina most emphatically does not propose a single path to a good atheist life. She offers questions to think about, ideas that may be useful, and encouragement to choose your own way. She addresses complex issues in an accessible, down-to-earth style, including: Why we're here, Sexual transcendence, How humanism helps with depression — except when it doesn’t, Stealing stuff from religion, and much more. Aimed at new and not-so-new atheists, questioning and curious believers, Christina shines a warm, fresh light on the only life we have.

Genres: Atheism, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Religion

304 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2016

About the author

Greta Christina has been writing professionally since 1989, on topics including atheism, sexuality and sex-positivity, LGBT issues, politics, culture, and whatever crosses her mind. She is on the speakers's bureaus of the Secular Student Alliance and the Center for Inquiry. She is editor of the "Best Erotic Comics" anthology series, and of "Paying For It: A Guide by Sex Workers for Their Clients." Her writing has appeared in multiple magazines and newspapers, including Ms., Penthouse, Chicago Sun-Times, On Our Backs, and Skeptical Inquirer, and numerous anthologies, including "Everything You Know About God Is Wrong" and three volumes of "Best American Erotica." She lives in San Francisco with her wife, Ingrid.

Reviews

[Jeff Koeppen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greta Christina is one of the brightest lights in the atheist community. I've listened to some of her speeches but this is the first book of hers I've read. She's a great speaker and an engaging writer. I listened to this on Audible and she narrates it herself, which is a bonus.

In this book she explains how to be a good atheist and live progressively in light of the issues we face non-believers face in modern times. She approaches every subject from the exact opposite angle I approach life from as a straight, old, white guy. She covers countless topics in a rapid-fire manner in 62 chapters, most of which are between five and ten minutes long. The book is full of humor and wit.

This would be a good book for a new atheist, especially one from a marginalized group, but any non-believer or potential non-believer will glean a lot of great insight from it.

[Traci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Engaging and written in Greta Christina's signature conversational tone. Filled with good ideas and awesome outlooks on life and love and happiness and getting along in the world. Short chapters and a definite page-turner. I would definitely recommend this book to others and I absolutely see myself rereading it.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

So this would technically be a "beginner's book" on common sense issues and how to think. Short chapters, enjoyable read.

[Richard Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books you never want to come to an end and when it does you think of 10 people you want to gift it to. Greta's narration is terrific and enhances the substance of her writing. The implications of one's world view are staggering: it will decide the course of the one and only life you get to live here on Earth. Greta systematically parses out these implications in just about every area of life from the point of view of a worldview informed by reason and evidence. This book does what all good books do: it makes you examine your own views, thoughts and conclusions about things and the reasons why you hold them. If you are a believer who is friends with a non-believer and want to understand their view of the world then this is a book you want to read. If you are a minister/clergy and sincerely want to understand the non-religious view of the world then this is a book you want to read. Finally and most importantly, if you are a non-believer, especially a new one, and want to understand the implications of a life based on reason and evidence as opposed to superstition then this book is a terrific roadmap and travel guide to the brave new world that has opened up to you.

[Felicite Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book might be good for teens or young adults who are trying to understand atheism, be it their own non-spiritual journey or that of a friend/family member.

But as an atheist who already has her own thoughts, this book didn't benefit me. Though the author and I agree quite a bit, I would've done this differently. She does include some great quotes, tho.

[Blair Hodgkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone letting go of the baggage of a religious or semi-religious upbringing, a book like this is essential, and fortunately this is one of the better books of its kind that I have encountered. Disentangling morality and ethics (including sexual ethics) from religion-based codification is something this book encourages and enables while acknowledging that doing so is an achievement in and of itself. The writer's essays help to illustrate the many ways in which an atheist may learn to let go of purpose assigned by ancient texts from dead societies to embrace a common-sense, evidence and science-based sense of meaning in the universe... a meaning we can largely determine for ourselves. I would highly recommend it to anyone who fears that the loss of faith is equal to a loss of meaning in life.

[Yvonne Dimech · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was about atheism. There’s hardly any mention of atheism at all. This is nothing more than some angry old hag preaching political BS throughout. I love the trigger warnings before every chapter. Calm down lady, I’m not that sensitive and neither is the majority of people in the world. Blabbering essays that seem to ramble on, disjointed and all over the place. This is a great indoctrination piece for young wanna be activists, but not a book about atheism.

[Toby Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The idiosyncratic and personal style of this does mean it may not hit with everyone (or each part hit equally, as I found), but in many ways that's a feature rather than a bug - a lot of this book is encouragement for the reader to explore irreligion in their own way, with Christina's own anecdotes just as examples or illustrations. And her informed, nuanced, and above all personable style makes it very useful for that. Should be better known than it is among the secular.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Greta Christina is one of the most articulate, persuasive authors I have ever read. Her perspective on social justice, morality, and meaning in life are superb. Her voice is conversational, approachable, and enjoyable to read. I can't recommend this book highly enough.

[John Ronald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing blast from the past by atheist and LGBT+ activist Greta Christina focusing on positive affirmations for the godless life.

[MKF · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this made me feel like I could be reading an atheist bible. The essays are the author's opinions, ideas, and beliefs on everyday things and how we can use them to better ourselves and the world. I agreed with some of the things mentioned but others made the author seemed a tad uninformed or closed minded on topics. Racism and police brutality are a big item brought up over and over again. Her focus mainly only on African Americans and every now and then Trans. I do believe racism is a problem but I believe everybody can be a victim including whites. That is why we need to work together with all the different races to deal with it. Police brutality is also a problem but again all races are victims not just one group. The media only focuses on one race and do not tell all the facts creating a race problem. I think when she mentions blacks being killed for just being black is continuing what the media pushes. I am not saying cops do not do that I am saying that not all cases are because of skin color which she fails to mention in every section it is brought up. If you read this book I hope you take from it what you can if it helps but learn all you can about the topics and more and form your own opinions, ideas, and beliefs. This is the author's idea of what practicing atheism is like and you will discover your own path.

[Renia Carsillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you are new to Atheism, ignore the blurb for this book and skip it. It's likely to overwhelm you.

I really wanted to like this book. The title is cute and I'm a fan of the author's activism work. Unfortunately, the overwhelming feeling of being preached stayed with me through every single one of these rambling essays. The book isn't cohesive, seems like it would be terribly overwhelming for someone just emerging from religion, and carries what seems like an unnecessary trigger warning at the beginning of every single chapter. I'm a fan of these warnings, used in appropriate ways, but it seems like one at the beginning of the book would have been enough.

I agree with the author on most of the points she makes in the book, but the arguments are scattered, disorganized, and covering enough topics to fill five books.