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ATHEISM—against religious belief
http://www.atheistfoundation.org.au/articles.htm: A large collection of articles, most of them
on topics I don’t (or barely) cover, such as atheism and humanism, Christian morality, Christmas myth, abortion, and
such—from Australia.
http://www.members.aol.com/ckbloomfld/index.html: By
the author of Biblical Errancy, Dennis McKinsey, a must reference work, published by Prometheus Press. His magazine Biblical Errancy, all 190 plus issues is avail on line.
A good scholarly source.
http://www.positiveatheism.org/: A library of materials of famous writers on
religious topics, including Clarence Darrow, Albert Einstein, Emma Goldman, Robert Ingersol, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Lewis,
Joseph McCabe, H.L. Mencken, Thomas Paine, Bertrand Russell, Mark Twain, and Voltaire.
There are articles, links, quotes, forum, letters, and more. This site
is the efforts of Cliff Walker.
http://spot.colorado.edu/~vstenger: the site of professor of Physics and Astronomy at University of Hawaii, and Adjunct Professor
of Philosophy at University of Colorado. He has written several books and articles
on the application of science to disprove divine design, and also to disprove the claim of healing spiritual energies, and that Quantum Mechanics supports mental manipulation of matter.
http://www.theatheistbible.com/: A bulletin board site with a collection
of topics, for those into discussion
DRUGS (recreational)
http://www.drugwarfacts.org/internat.htm: a library of data by nations:
an excellent book on the net and resource.
http://druglibrary.org/: an excellent collection of links presented by drcnet.org at http://stopthedrugwar.org/index.shtml, an activist group.
http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/psychoactives.shtml is the best darn drug site by a long shot. Contains accurate information
of a technical nature (lets the evidence speak) free of the hype of our government.
http://hightimes.com/ht/home/: the leading pot publication for 3 decades.
http://www.jackherer.com/chapters.html: An excellent pro-pot book on the net, plus
articles.
http://users.lycaeum.org/ a directory to other sites on drugs. A great resource.
http://www.natlnorml.org/index.cfm: the site of the leading organization for the legalization of marijuana with articles and
links.
ECONOMICS & POLITICAL
http://www.cato.org/: a conservative Washington organization that has been issue quality
studies for decades.
http://www.citizen.org/: represents consumer
interest in Congress and courts; advocacy and drug articles.
http://www.corporations.org/: on how our government gives charity to the rich and business. Great links and concise articles.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/index.htm: the Karl Marx library.
http://www.ratical.com/: excellent collection
of articles on economics and politics. There one on NAFTA at Seven is eye-opening.
http://www.taxpayer.net/: news on government spending.
http://www.tompaine.com/: an excellent liberal news source with daily updates plus current
events articles.
http://hdr.undp.org/: they do serious research on human development
and publish it in books, there is a data section and some good links.
http://www.whitehouseforsale.org/: gets to the core problem of the marriage of politicians and big business via the purse.
LITERATURE
http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html, texts in translation of Greek in Roman philosophers, 483 texts and 59,000 images (down
9/4) (no Epicurus).
http://www.4literature.net/authorlist.html a huge collection of books on line. It includes
most of authors of fiction, poets, some scientists, and many philosophers, including from Henry Adams to William Butler Yeats;
Aristophanes, Leibnitz, Adam Smith, Darwin and Thucydides. 1000s of books
http://classics.mit.edu/index.html, the MIT collection with links. 441 works of
classical literature by 59 authors.
MULTI-DISCIPLINES
http://www.bartleby.com/ a vast library of books on the web including The Harvard Classics, Columbia Encyclopedia,
Oxford Shakespeare, and much, much, more.
http://earth-history.com/Greece/ On the ancient world from America to Sumer;
India to Atlantis, Jewish and Arabia. A great resource.
http://www.epicurus.net/index.html: Extensive library of his works and other Greek Atomists.
http://www.iep.utm.edu/: Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, hundreds of articles,
very extensive on many related topics.
http://www.innvista.com/health/complement/touch.htm: From the New Age, religious perspective. At the innvista site is a collection of descriptions of various alternate therapies. Articles on the origin of Christianity, translations of the OT & NT, and much
more, much of it concise summations such as of the 22 amino acids, the Peloponnesian War, British history, and so on.
QUACKERY
http://chirobase.org: a skeptical guide to chiropractic theories
and practices. Nearly 200 articles on the magical back adjusters.
http://www.citizen.org/congress/reform/drug_industry/ is there collection of articles on the financial aspects of drugs, pricing, and politics.
http://www.ncahf.org: by NCAHF the National Council Against Health
Fraud, a nonprofit, voluntary health agency that focuses upon health misinformation, fraud, and quackery as revealed through
scientific analysis. Excellent articles, limited collection.
http://www.quackwatch.org/: Guide to health fraud, operated by Stephen
Barrett, M.D., articles posted by medical doctors. Quality articles for the educated
audience. An entire section is fittingly on Chiropractics. Other sections on dentistry, nutrition, internet guide, quack watch, homeopath watch, multi level marketing
watch, and section by the National Council Against Health Fraud with a section of excellent links
http://www.worstpills.org/: One of 6 branches of Public Citizen. The site warns of dangerous drugs, and documents how the FDA deliberately fails to
protect the public.
RELIGION—by those of faith, a resource:
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/ A collections of Christian & Jewish sacred works, possible
the most extensive on the web.
http://www.earlyjewishwritings.com/ Possibly the largest library of Tanakh, deuterocanon, pseudepigrapha, Dead Sea Scrolls, Philo of Alexandria,
Josephus, and the Talmud. Great resource, and user friendly.
http://www.gnosis.org/library.html another extensive site that includes Gnostic Christian works, the Dead Sea Scrolls, Old Testament Pseudepigrapha,
Cathar, Manichaean, Mandaean, Alchemical texts, and others. Link to alchemical
writings at http://www.levity.com/alchemy/index.html, and much more (The first Christians writings were
strikingly similar to certain Gnostic works.)
http://www.harvardhouse.com/: lots of links, and material on the universe.
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/index.jsp This website contains the complete contents of the 12-volume Jewish Encyclopedia,
which was originally published between 1901-1906. The Jewish Encyclopedia, which recently became part of the public domain,
contains over 15,000 articles and illustrations.
http://newadvent.org A major Catholic site containing the Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica, and links to the top 50
Catholic websites in the world (by traffic).
http://www.sacred-texts.com/index.htm a collection of religious publications from over 100 different traditions,
from African to Zoroastrianism.
100s of books on line. It includes the sacred texts, related ancient works
such as the Gospel of Thomas, and those of a more literary nature such as The Divine Comedy, by Dante. A huge valuable resource collection.
RELIGION—by
those without faith
http://home.inu.net/skeptic/: Bible studies, authoritative, incredible complete.
http://www.nobeliefs.com/exist.htm:
a quality site, about 20 learned articles on
religion, book review, political articles, comic’s corner.
http://skepticsannotatedbible.com/: book by book bible in English with symbols to mark injustice,
cruelty, sex, contradictions, and other not so good stuff in the bible supported by commentary and links to other passages.
http://st09.startlogic.com/~pendrago/questions-christians.html: thorough & entertaining collection of bible contradictions
and other stupid stuff.
SKEPTICISM—critical of spiritualism, new age beliefs, etc.:
http://www.csicop.org/si/ The site of the Committee for the Scientific
Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, which publishes The Skeptical Inquire. The leading society of skeptics in the world.
The site includes articles from their magazine, links, bibliography, international list of organizations. I first subscribed to their publication around 1986.
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/skepticism/ a first rate library that brakes up skepticism into 11 topics
plus bibliography and links. The site is part of their huge library of philosophy
http://www.prometheusbooks.com: the best skeptical book publishing company. Their list of books with descriptions.
http://ww.skeptic.com: the Internet site for the Skeptic Magazine, Editor
Michael Shermer. Contains archives of articles.
I have subscribed since 1994.
http://skepdic.com: Contains The Skeptic Dictionary by Robert Carroll, over 460 first rate
articles on all the topics of interest to a skeptic—excellent.
https://webspace.utexas.edu/cokerwr/www/index.html/distinguish.htm: a professor explains why to be skeptical of various things,
https://webspace.utexas.edu/cokerwr/www/index.html/distinguish.htm: a concise page of definition of terms and 30 articles by
a university professor, and each article has several relevant illustrations—a gem.
WAR, NUCLEAR ENERGY, ENVIRONMENT:
www.abomb1.org, Trinity Atomic Web Site. The purpose of Trinity Atomic Web Site is to tell the story
of nuclear weapons through historical documents, photos, and videos.
http://alsos.wlu.edu. Alsos Digital Library for Nuclear Issues - Nuclear Pathways Member. The Alsos digital library is
a collection of annotated references to resources that offer a broad, balanced perspective of topics relating to the origins,
functions, and legacies of the Manhattan Project. The critical task of the Alsos project is to integrate these references
into a structured collection that allows users to examine this important period of history from many perspectives. The materials
referenced includes books, articles, videos, images, and web sites.
http://www.atomicarchive.com/librarymenu.shtml Atomicarchives.com, a great resource with library holding
on history, science, arms control treaties, educational resources, and more.
www.bullatomsci.org, the leading organization against nuclear weapons. They’ve
published Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist since 1947. They have a number
of articles from this magazine on line.
www.chemcases.com/nuclear/. Nuclear Chemistry and the Community - Nuclear Pathways Member, part
of the ChemCases website, this unit covers the basic concepts of nuclear chemistry. This site explores the legacy of radiation:
the fear of contamination, the problems in the generation of nuclear power, the widespread medical uses of radioisotopes,
and the worldwide question, as yet unsolved, of what should be done with nuclear byproducts.
http://www.fas.org/main/home.jsp, information al site on the amount and types of weapons world wide, with emphasis on the U.S. and
nuclear weapons.
http://www.nuclearfiles.org/ A project of the nuclear age peace foundation. An excellent library of materials related to the danger posed, including a
photo gallery.
http://www.wagingpeace.org/index.htm
another
peace group with good resources
http://nuclearweaponarchive.org, The Nuclear Weapons Archive. An excellent and extensive site for learning more about
nuclear weapons. This website offers extensive information on the history and status of nuclear weapons. The site is organized
chronologically, with a section on the physics that led up to the Fat Man and Little Boy atomic bombs, a section on atomic
and nuclear weapons since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and a section on the current state of nuclear weapons in the world.
BOOKS
Atheism: The Case Against God,
George H. Smith, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, 1979. An excellent, balanced, understandable
collection of rebuttals to all the sophistries done in the service of faith: the
best of its kind.
The Bible According to Mark Twain,
Edited by Howard Baetzhold & Joseph McCullough, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1995.
A collection of delightful stories that satirize the Bible and Christian belief.
Letters from the Earth is Twain’s last and best work. No work better exposes
the contradictions of Christianity.
A Consumer’s Guide to “Alternative Medicine”, Kurt
Butler, an encyclopedic expose of nutrition gimmicks, health hoaxes, and medical quackery in all their forms. Prometheus Books (a guarantee of quality).
Did Jesus Exist, G.A. Wells, Prometheus
Books, Buffalo, NY. A few works are so good, that reading anything else on the
topic is disappointing. However, there is Helms (below) and Wells’ The
Historical Evidence for Jesus, 1988. A thoroughly researched study that demonstrates
that there is no historical Jesus. Concise, complete, authorities, and logically
sound. The culmination of 3 centuries of scholarly analysis: the final word, almost. There are here 4 articles by Wells.
Euthyphro, Plato. The
Socratic method at its best. The dialogue shows that the gods could not be authors
of the moral code, but rather followers. What is moral right exists independent
of divine proclamation. Thus there is no need to turn to Jehovah to find out
what is morally right and morally wrong.
Gospel Fictions, Randel Helms, Prometheus Books, Buffalo, NY, 1988. The best biblical study by a Christian, and much, much better than his other book
(flight of religious thinking, Who Wrote the Gospels). He convincingly
shows how the Gospels were written not as history, but as books of faith; thus the Helms’ title. As books of faith, the Gospels had Jesus do miracles greater than those in the Old Testament and had Jesus
fulfill Old Testament prophecies. Biblical exegeses at its best.
The Other Bible, Edited by Willis Barnstone, Harper & Row, Publishers,
New York, 1984. A long overdue gathering of the extra biblical works (the previous
one in the 1920s, by Oxford). If one is to understand the Bible, one must understand
its audience and the issues being addressed and its competing related doctrines. Many
of the works are similar to those found in the Bible.
Philosophically Thinking, Elizabeth and Monroe Beardsley, Harcourt,
Bruce & World, New York, 1965. Excellent 120 pages on religion: clear, convincing, balanced. A must read is Direct Experience
of God, in Chapter 2. In Socratic style it is shown that the argument from
personal religious experience to a proof of religious matters is not compelling. An
excellent introduction to philosophy. I took Elizabeth Beadsley’s 4th
year ethics course.
Writings on Religion, David Hume, edited by Anthony Flew, Open Court,
La Salle, Illinois, 1992. Of historical interest and intellectual exercise. Hume is the best philosopher—as measured by how much above the shoulders he
stood—since the ancient Greeks. His On Miracles is definitive for
his period. For those with the appropriate background, very enjoyable.
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