It's funny, I have that on books-on-tape, and love listening to it. (If I have kids, they'll surely grow up with it as well.) But I wouldn't consider them the same kind of book at all.
Dawkins' book is about debunking religion, and to a lesser extent theism as a whole, whereas Carl Sagan's book is simply about promoting skeptical inquiry. Most of his examples are more about things like UFO sightings, spoon-benders, or crop circles. If I recall, he doesn't really say anything specifically against religion, except in its more extreme forms. And he certainly doesn't take a stance on theism versus atheism in it. While it's a good book, he takes the safe route like many other authors and doesn't say anything that would be controversial, at least among educated people. The message is basically just "think for yourself, and examine the evidence before believing some crackpot's theory, or some guy on TV". Consider the source, etc.
You're probably right about Michael Shermer, although I haven't read any of his books or writings. Dennett's book I might read at some point, having enjoyed Consciousness Explained so much. I just feel like writing/reading about religion is genreally such a huge waste of time, otherwise I would have already read it.
I'd actually really like to read some stuff by Patricia or Paul Churchland... the more I hear about them the more I think I would like what they have to say. I'm kind of curious, being so close to them, what you think of their work (specifically, what you think of eliminative materialism)... maybe an entry some time?
I haven't read Russell's Why I Am Not A Christian, but I remember when I first heard of that, I decided that at some point in my life I would write a book called "Why I Am Not An Objectivist", the first chapter of which will be called "Why It's Not Worth My Time To Explain Why I Am Not A Christian".
There is actually another book that came out recently, by Sam Harris, called "The End of Faith". Which I thought of after I said "this is the first of its kind". However, from reading the reviews I get the feeling that Sam Harris just doesn't go far enough in his criticism, at least for my tastes.
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Carl Sagan's Demon-Haunted World
It's funny, I have that on books-on-tape, and love listening to it. (If I have kids, they'll surely grow up with it as well.) But I wouldn't consider them the same kind of book at all.
Dawkins' book is about debunking religion, and to a lesser extent theism as a whole, whereas Carl Sagan's book is simply about promoting skeptical inquiry. Most of his examples are more about things like UFO sightings, spoon-benders, or crop circles. If I recall, he doesn't really say anything specifically against religion, except in its more extreme forms. And he certainly doesn't take a stance on theism versus atheism in it. While it's a good book, he takes the safe route like many other authors and doesn't say anything that would be controversial, at least among educated people. The message is basically just "think for yourself, and examine the evidence before believing some crackpot's theory, or some guy on TV". Consider the source, etc.
You're probably right about Michael Shermer, although I haven't read any of his books or writings. Dennett's book I might read at some point, having enjoyed Consciousness Explained so much. I just feel like writing/reading about religion is genreally such a huge waste of time, otherwise I would have already read it.
I'd actually really like to read some stuff by Patricia or Paul Churchland... the more I hear about them the more I think I would like what they have to say. I'm kind of curious, being so close to them, what you think of their work (specifically, what you think of eliminative materialism)... maybe an entry some time?
I haven't read Russell's Why I Am Not A Christian, but I remember when I first heard of that, I decided that at some point in my life I would write a book called "Why I Am Not An Objectivist", the first chapter of which will be called "Why It's Not Worth My Time To Explain Why I Am Not A Christian".
There is actually another book that came out recently, by Sam Harris, called "The End of Faith". Which I thought of after I said "this is the first of its kind". However, from reading the reviews I get the feeling that Sam Harris just doesn't go far enough in his criticism, at least for my tastes.