--=====================_852515206==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Dear Freethinkers:

Attached to this email post is the January 1997 issue of "The Freethought
Bookshelf" in the form of an ascii document. Please let me know if you have
any difficulties in receiving it.

Incidently, you have cart blanche permission to forward any of these
freethought book reviews to thematically appropriate internet discussion
groups, newsgroups, or listservs. You can also use any of them in non-profit
newsletters or other freethought publications.

James A. Cox
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
http://www.execpc.com/~mbr/bookwatch/

--=====================_852515206==_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="FREETHOU"

THE FREETHOUGHT BOOKSHELF

The Big Domino in the Sky
Michael Martin
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, NY 14228
1-57392-111-4  $TBA  1-800-421-0351

The Stories In The Big Domino In The Sky And Other Atheistic Tales reveal the fallacies of
traditional arguments for the existence of God and the improbability of God's existence given the
evil in the universe. Defending a secular approach to morality, they expose the difficulties of
religion-based ethics and the social evils engineered by organized religions, in a way that will
delight and entertain. The individual stories are divided among four sections: Beginnings,
God-Fall, God-Doubt, and God-Rejection. 

Michael Martin is a professor of philosophy at Boston University and a skillful, articulate
storyteller.

Without a Prayer: Religious Expression in Public Education
Robert S. Alley
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, NY 14228
1-57392-097-5  $TBA  1-800-421-0351

In 1962 (Engel v. Vitale) and 1963 (Abington v. Schempp), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that in
public school classrooms the recitation of prayer and the reading of the Bible as a class exercise
are indisputably unconstitutional. Since that time, there have been hundreds of overt and
intentional violations of those decisions, leading to dozens of federal court cases in which the
judges and justices have reaffirmed the Court's original findings. Many of the challenges to the
Court decisions have sought to undermine the principle of church/state separation, a unique
concept carefully crafted by James Madison and many other founders of the United States.

Without A Prayer is the first thorough examination of school prayer to bring together the
experiences of parents and children involved in contesting public school-sanctioned prayer and
Bible reading subsequent to the Engel decision. Robert Alley explores the way in which terms like
"nonpreferentialism", "toleration", and "accommodation" are being used to hide violations of the
First Amendment. Alley has conducted extensive personal interviews with those involved in
prominent cases. Each first hand account clearly details how communities attempt to impose the
mores and cultural patterns of religion on their public schools: in some instances these
"Christians" have gone beyond angry protests to threats of violence against the parents and
children, and even as far as arson and other property damage.

To respond to the question, "What's wrong with a little prayer?" one need only observe the ways
in which religious fervor leads to the use of the Bible and prayer as a weapon against minorities.

Robert S. Alley is a professor emeritus of humanities at the University of Richmond (Virginia). He
is the author of The Supreme Court on Church and State, School Prayer, and the editor of James
Madison on Religious Liberty.

Astrology: What's Really in the Stars
J.V. Stewart, M.D.
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Dr., Amherst, NY 14228
1-57392-077-0  $TBA  1-800-421-0351

Do the stars and the planets affect us? Can astrologers use the stars to predict future events? How
accurate is the horoscope? Why is astrology so popular today? J.V. Stewart examines these and
other questions in Astrology: What's Really In The Stars. 

Of the enormous literature presently available on astrology, only a handful of books and papers
critically evaluate this subject, whether it be the origins of astrology or the personality and
behavioral predictions that it is believed to support.

In this meticulously researched work, Stewart traces the development of astrology from the
nomads who settled in lower Mesopotamia to Ptolemy in Hellenistic Egypt, upon whose
Tetrabiblos (with surprising little modification) Western astrology is based. Getting as close as
possible to the original source material, Stewart includes numerous translation s of ancient texts
as well as photographs and illustrations throughout. By providing pertinent historical information,
he shows how errors and discrepancies in horoscopic astrology keep popping up.

Astrology is enjoying a resurgence today, not only as a result of mystical and New Age fads that
ebb and flow over the years, but also because of a superabundance of easily accessible astrological
material that feeds the public's endless need to transcend the present and see into the future.
Astrology: What's Really in the Stars will enable readers to discern whether there is any merit to
these ancient beliefs.

J.V. Stewart, M.D., is an emergency physician and the author of numerous articles and books,
including Clinical Anatomy and Pathophysiology, and The Vital Signs. Over the years he has
developed an intense interest in the origins of astrology and why it continues to captivate millions
of people all over the world.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The Midwest Book Review is an organization dedicated to the encouragement of literacy and the
promotion of community library useage. All MBR reviewers are volunteers. No funding is
accepted from any publisher or author. Most of the books receiving our recommendation are
available through your local public library, either directly or through the inter-library loan service.

Full permission is granted to anyone wishing to forward any or all of our reviews to thematically
appropriate internet discussion groups, newsgroups, or listserves.

Your comments can be sent by email to any of the addresses listed below. You are also invited to
visit the MBR website. Please request our "Reviewer Guidelines" if you would like to add your
own reviews to the MBR website.

Midwest Book Review
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575
1-608-835-7937
mbr@execpc.com
mwbookrevw@aol.com
http://www.execpc.com/~mbr/bookwatch/
--=====================_852515206==_--