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The Book of Religions
What are religions and why do people follow them? Where did they come from and how have they shaped our lives? This interactive book answers all those questions and more! David G McAfee and Chuck Harrison have once again teamed up to help everyone learn about beliefs, gods, and religions! It all started out with The Belief Book , then continued with The Book of Gods , and now it's time to learn all about religions, even how to create one of your own! The fully illustrated and interactive Book of Religions is for readers and thinkers of all ages, including kids and kids at heart.
- GenresChildrens
115 pages, Paperback
Published October 6, 2018
2 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
David G. McAfee
13 books168 followersDavid G. McAfee is a journalist and author of The Curious Person's Guide to Fighting Fake News, No Sacred Cows: Investigating Myths, Cults, and the Supernatural, and other books. He is a former columnist for Canadian Freethinker Magazine and a contributor to American Atheist Magazine. Mr. McAfee attended University of California, Santa Barbara, and graduated with bachelor’s degrees in English and Religious Studies with an emphasis on Christianity and Mediterranean religions. After experiencing discrimination within the American public education system as a result of his secular activism, David G. McAfee sought to help those who fear similar professional or familial consequences to their public non-belief.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 4, 2022
Unlike the other two previous books that took a bit of a more nonfictional/study guide-like approach to teaching readers about beliefs and then gods, The Book of Religions takes a drastic turn for the worse. Instead of discussing religions it instead explores religions by having readers create their own.
The same ice cream gag appears in all three books and in this one it is basically used to mention that the reader should make a religion that allows you to eat as much ice cream as possible. As the authors state: Don't like the idea of homework or bedtime? Don't like having to take tests or having to clean your room? Well, you'll never have to do any of those things again if you invent a god or idea that says you don't have to. You can claim it's against your religion! Nice way of convincing children to rebel against their parents quite early....
They state that Basically, religions are all about rules.. And there is usually very good reasons why religions do include a bunch of rules since the rules were meant to help take care of the people and to keep them safe. Take for example where the Judeo-Christian books state you shouldn't eat from the meat of a dead creature. We know that to actually be good now since of the fact that spoiled meat can lead to food poisoning or the rules to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves in a society. Who needs an explanation for that?
One of the examples mentions that we all got to know Buddhism in the second book but there was really no information for him. Other wrong information included was the fact that the Old Testament God came down to the earth to present Moses with laws as a burning bush. The burning bush message was to send Moses back to get his people freed and only was it later that he received the Ten Commandments and not from a burning bush. What is with these people who say they know better than the believers but cannot do their own research?
Other slightly off facts that they include is the mention that Joseph Smith wrote The Book of Mormon, which is suppose to have been translated by him. Others basically wrote the words but again who cares in the research right? Also they state that parables are catchy and tell important stories in a simple way. I would say that parables don't tell important stories in a simple way but explain it in a sense that parables are short stories that make it easier for believers of that religion to understand the message.
The book takes the path "but other people choose to devote their lives to gods who never interact with them". There are believers who would state otherwise that their deity/deities interact plenty with them whether those interactions can be measured by science.
Continuing withe shoved prior beliefs that mostly atheistic people are the hardest workers and the workers of good, Dave and Chuck tell the reader "In fact, you get bonus points if your religion can
actually help all people!
From Dave and Chuck: The whole world has been hurt because bad people with bad ideas have used nearly every religion as a weapon. Even people with good ideas have ended up doing bad things, like cutting family members out of their lives or trying to force others to live like them.
So, all your prophets have a big responsibility here. You don't want your religion used for evil! You want it to be used for good. And the religions mentioned above have done some truly amazing and wonderful things.
When we stop to think about the power religion still has in our society today, we can't help but notice how many people have suffered thanks to extremist followers. So religion has definitely made the world a much brighter place, as well as making it a darker one....
You should create a religion of brightness. A religion about love that actually is about love, and not about money, power, control or death. With less of that and more love, just imagine what a world it would be!
The above message intrigues me the most since they acknowledge all the bad and extremists in religions but atheists and agnostics have also contributed to using their beliefs as weapons. As a result no religion or belief system is immune to being safe. And even if it was the author and illustrator make no mention on how you can keep your supposed religion pure from human intentions just like any of the other older religions haven't been able to stay pure to their original core beliefs.
Actual formatting problems of the book include the same messy Introduction as the second book where it is thrown in with both dedication as well as the About Author and About Illustrator.
Also since of its interactive format in convincing readers to make their own religion the book is full of empty spots to encourage the reader to come up with writing their own beliefs. Take for example the waste of twenty-five blank pages at the end.
In the Religions Around the World, the information was cut off to put a crescent moon over the text.
And then continuing from the previous book Dave and Chuck are still full of themselves. Just like in the other books they love to give the readers definitions of certain words that are used then follow these definitions with an example in which their names Dave and Chuck are presented. After a while this gets old and if you don't believe me this particular sentence structure can be found twenty-two times in the first book, twenty times in this book and sixteen times in the last book. And yes that's a grand total of 58 times you have to hear them refer to themselves as the most superior, wise, all-knowing beings of these books.
In the end this is mostly a book from the series that I would safely can be skipped unless you are interested in allowing your child to learn and make as an example their own religion as part of their growing up process.
The same ice cream gag appears in all three books and in this one it is basically used to mention that the reader should make a religion that allows you to eat as much ice cream as possible. As the authors state: Don't like the idea of homework or bedtime? Don't like having to take tests or having to clean your room? Well, you'll never have to do any of those things again if you invent a god or idea that says you don't have to. You can claim it's against your religion! Nice way of convincing children to rebel against their parents quite early....
They state that Basically, religions are all about rules.. And there is usually very good reasons why religions do include a bunch of rules since the rules were meant to help take care of the people and to keep them safe. Take for example where the Judeo-Christian books state you shouldn't eat from the meat of a dead creature. We know that to actually be good now since of the fact that spoiled meat can lead to food poisoning or the rules to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves in a society. Who needs an explanation for that?
One of the examples mentions that we all got to know Buddhism in the second book but there was really no information for him. Other wrong information included was the fact that the Old Testament God came down to the earth to present Moses with laws as a burning bush. The burning bush message was to send Moses back to get his people freed and only was it later that he received the Ten Commandments and not from a burning bush. What is with these people who say they know better than the believers but cannot do their own research?
Other slightly off facts that they include is the mention that Joseph Smith wrote The Book of Mormon, which is suppose to have been translated by him. Others basically wrote the words but again who cares in the research right? Also they state that parables are catchy and tell important stories in a simple way. I would say that parables don't tell important stories in a simple way but explain it in a sense that parables are short stories that make it easier for believers of that religion to understand the message.
The book takes the path "but other people choose to devote their lives to gods who never interact with them". There are believers who would state otherwise that their deity/deities interact plenty with them whether those interactions can be measured by science.
Continuing withe shoved prior beliefs that mostly atheistic people are the hardest workers and the workers of good, Dave and Chuck tell the reader "In fact, you get bonus points if your religion can
actually help all people!
From Dave and Chuck: The whole world has been hurt because bad people with bad ideas have used nearly every religion as a weapon. Even people with good ideas have ended up doing bad things, like cutting family members out of their lives or trying to force others to live like them.
So, all your prophets have a big responsibility here. You don't want your religion used for evil! You want it to be used for good. And the religions mentioned above have done some truly amazing and wonderful things.
When we stop to think about the power religion still has in our society today, we can't help but notice how many people have suffered thanks to extremist followers. So religion has definitely made the world a much brighter place, as well as making it a darker one....
You should create a religion of brightness. A religion about love that actually is about love, and not about money, power, control or death. With less of that and more love, just imagine what a world it would be!
The above message intrigues me the most since they acknowledge all the bad and extremists in religions but atheists and agnostics have also contributed to using their beliefs as weapons. As a result no religion or belief system is immune to being safe. And even if it was the author and illustrator make no mention on how you can keep your supposed religion pure from human intentions just like any of the other older religions haven't been able to stay pure to their original core beliefs.
Actual formatting problems of the book include the same messy Introduction as the second book where it is thrown in with both dedication as well as the About Author and About Illustrator.
Also since of its interactive format in convincing readers to make their own religion the book is full of empty spots to encourage the reader to come up with writing their own beliefs. Take for example the waste of twenty-five blank pages at the end.
In the Religions Around the World, the information was cut off to put a crescent moon over the text.
And then continuing from the previous book Dave and Chuck are still full of themselves. Just like in the other books they love to give the readers definitions of certain words that are used then follow these definitions with an example in which their names Dave and Chuck are presented. After a while this gets old and if you don't believe me this particular sentence structure can be found twenty-two times in the first book, twenty times in this book and sixteen times in the last book. And yes that's a grand total of 58 times you have to hear them refer to themselves as the most superior, wise, all-knowing beings of these books.
In the end this is mostly a book from the series that I would safely can be skipped unless you are interested in allowing your child to learn and make as an example their own religion as part of their growing up process.
May 24, 2020
So. I find myself on the fence about this book. You see, I personally find religion to be repugnant.
Mind you, I believe that one's personal beliefs (whatever they may be) are sacred. I believe that the deities of our ancestors are culturally, spiritually, philosophically and psychologically important to such a degree that they deserve respect. Therefore, I find implications that beliefs ought to be able to withstand a run through the Scientific Method or the idea that one can just make up a god of ice cream breakfasts to be offensive. Unsurprisingly, I didn't appreciate either of the first two books in this series.
But, again, I find religion repugnant. It isn't beliefs or gods that send entire cultures off to war with each other, or burn people at the stake, or hand out paper cups of purple kool-aid. It's what human beings DO with their beliefs and their gods when they come together and form religions with strict rules and hierarchies and positions of power. It's religions that pit man against man, culture against culture, and cardinal against cardinal in the epic cage match to become the next pope (I'm told that's how it goes).
So, again, I'm conflicted on this book. I found the atheistic approach here less grating than in the previous books, but then I found the author's very notion of kids inventing their own religions to be absolutely, positively horrifying. Do you WANT a generation of little L. Ron Hubbards running around? Because this is how you get a generation of L. Ron Hubbards running around!!!
Mind you, I believe that one's personal beliefs (whatever they may be) are sacred. I believe that the deities of our ancestors are culturally, spiritually, philosophically and psychologically important to such a degree that they deserve respect. Therefore, I find implications that beliefs ought to be able to withstand a run through the Scientific Method or the idea that one can just make up a god of ice cream breakfasts to be offensive. Unsurprisingly, I didn't appreciate either of the first two books in this series.
But, again, I find religion repugnant. It isn't beliefs or gods that send entire cultures off to war with each other, or burn people at the stake, or hand out paper cups of purple kool-aid. It's what human beings DO with their beliefs and their gods when they come together and form religions with strict rules and hierarchies and positions of power. It's religions that pit man against man, culture against culture, and cardinal against cardinal in the epic cage match to become the next pope (I'm told that's how it goes).
So, again, I'm conflicted on this book. I found the atheistic approach here less grating than in the previous books, but then I found the author's very notion of kids inventing their own religions to be absolutely, positively horrifying. Do you WANT a generation of little L. Ron Hubbards running around? Because this is how you get a generation of L. Ron Hubbards running around!!!
March 22, 2020
Of the three books in this series this was my least favorite. It was okay considering less that 70 of it's 101 pages had text.
It was not nearly as informative as the Belief book. Or even the Gods book. This one felt like an afterthought that could have been added as a fun end of book culminating activity for the Gods book.
Add to this that the copy I purchased had editing and formatting problems and it is easy to see why I was thoroughly unimpressed with this book. Over 30 pages were just blank space to write! Save trees and give instructions in book 1 of the series to get a notebook so the reader can document thoughts, activities, exercises and overall growth by answering the questions or doing the activities.
Even worse, activities were not engaging enough that a kid would would complete them just for interest sake. I will not use this third book in the series as part of my Beliefs/Religion unit.
At the expense of trying to be non threatening and kid friendly, this book came across as sarcastic but in that way that makes it clear a person is not even aware of what they are doing.
This last book in the series was not worth the buy for me. It left a lot to be desired in terms of actual educational value. It should get a new edition with the help of an educator or it should be canned once current stock runs out and just added as a final part of the Gods book.
It was not nearly as informative as the Belief book. Or even the Gods book. This one felt like an afterthought that could have been added as a fun end of book culminating activity for the Gods book.
Add to this that the copy I purchased had editing and formatting problems and it is easy to see why I was thoroughly unimpressed with this book. Over 30 pages were just blank space to write! Save trees and give instructions in book 1 of the series to get a notebook so the reader can document thoughts, activities, exercises and overall growth by answering the questions or doing the activities.
Even worse, activities were not engaging enough that a kid would would complete them just for interest sake. I will not use this third book in the series as part of my Beliefs/Religion unit.
At the expense of trying to be non threatening and kid friendly, this book came across as sarcastic but in that way that makes it clear a person is not even aware of what they are doing.
This last book in the series was not worth the buy for me. It left a lot to be desired in terms of actual educational value. It should get a new edition with the help of an educator or it should be canned once current stock runs out and just added as a final part of the Gods book.
January 16, 2025
I liked The Belief Book and The God Book, but I do not like this 3rd book on religion. The book is mainly about making up your own religion. I think anyone who believes in a religion would find the book offensive. I was hoping it would be a primer about world religions, but it is more mocking the whole concept of religion. The author shares that all religions have done horrible things in the name of their god, but didn't share the benefits of participating in a religion. I definitely suggest that parents read this book before sharing it with their children. Personally, I would only have read the vocabulary sections and summaries of the main religions to my child and would have skipped the rest.
May 23, 2019
As something informative, the book was superficial. It would have been great if it had more info for kids about religions and less white pages to draw.
The style was apologetic, almost as if religions are something needed.
It lacks that atheist point of view inciting to think, so children realize that religions are a bunch of nonsense. Like Bill Maher said, "I don't ridicule religion; it ridicules itself.
It was amusing to find satanism commented on the book :-D
The style was apologetic, almost as if religions are something needed.
It lacks that atheist point of view inciting to think, so children realize that religions are a bunch of nonsense. Like Bill Maher said, "I don't ridicule religion; it ridicules itself.
It was amusing to find satanism commented on the book :-D
September 11, 2019
Finished out the trilogy of religion books for my 7 year old. I feel the same about this one as the previous two - the ideas are good, the execution is lame and repetitive. My son did not like the interactive activities and so much of the book is blank pages. I would have liked more details about specific religions instead of the focus on making up your own religion, which my son was not excited about.
April 6, 2024
The first book is still the best. This one introduces more religions, but it's all tongue-in-cheek and sometimes disingenuous. I do think this a valuable read for my children, but I'm glad I read the trilogy before letting my kids read them, because I can accurately fill in gaps or point them in a more academic direction.
August 26, 2022
This for me was by far the weakest book in the series. Partially because it felt like just a lot more of the same and partially because there was so much about writing your own religion, which was of no interest to us.
February 4, 2022
The editing and construction of the book were horrible. The content was okay
August 8, 2023
This was a good intro to "Religion is Whatever someone Else says it is" for my children but was overall cheesy and felt like a college student project.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews