Good God! (And Other Follies) Essays on Religion

by Heinegg, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780761836032
• ISBN10: 0761836039
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-08
• Publisher: Hamilton Books

Summary

Good God! (And Other Follies) takes a critical and satirical look at the wave of religiosity now sweeping the country. From faith-based initiatives to bans on stem cell research, from public postings of the Ten Commandments to attacks on evolution, American godliness has apparently never had it so good. Much of this behavior and even more of the God-talk accompanying it, whether fueled by passionate faith, cultural resentment, or political opportunism, is intellectually absurd. This book points out some of the features of the absurdity and moves beyond them back to the underlying fallacies," contradictions, and, at times, sheer nonsense that beset not only Christianity, but also Judaism and Islam as well. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Peter Heinegg is Professor of English at Union College.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Bullish on God	p. xi
Speaking of God-But Why Bother?	p. 1
Theism for Beginners	p. 3
All Those Opposed to Morality, Please Raise Your Hand	p. 9
The Ten Commandments: Believer Beware	p. 10
Apologizing for God	p. 17
Theo-dicey	p. 18
The God of the Dead	p. 23
Day of Wrath: Catholic Death	p. 24
A God with Hair on his Chest	p. 31
God-Talk/Guy-Talk	p. 33
Thank God Almighty, Free at Last (Not)	p. 37
The Unsinkable Illusion	p. 39
No Discouraging Words, Please	p. 45
Roy Rogers, Theologian	p. 46
God Answers Your Questions About Sex	p. 51
Catholic Sexology: A Syllabus of Errors	p. 53
It Pays to Believe	p. 59
Selfless?	p. 61
Pentateuch's Plan for Proper Penile Poking Imperiled by Perverts	p. 65
Was Jesus Gay?	p. 68
Intercourse with God	p. 73
How's Your Prayer Life!	p. 76
Oh, Wow, It's a Miracle!	p. 81
Is That All There Is?	p. 82
Soul-Shmole, It's My Body I'm Worried About	p. 87
Lucretius in Schenectady	p. 89
"The Trumpet Shall Sound"-And Then What?	p. 93
Fifty Questions About Immortality	p. 95
A God We Can Identify With	p. 99
And You Think Your Job Sucks	p. 101
Go Figure	p. 105
The God Who Knew Too Much	p. 106
All Praise to the Ens Realissimum!	p. 109
Retrench, Retrench	p. 111
Don't Touch Idols: The Guilt Comes Off on Your Hands	p. 115
Jesus Said What? False Notes in the Gospels	p. 116
How Sweet the Sound	p. 121
Beyond the Beyond	p. 123
Bible? Bible? Who Reads the Bible?	p. 127
Here Come Da Judge: Biblical Legends as Gallows Humor	p. 128
So That's What the Snake Meant	p. 139
Dead Center	p. 141
Medical Update to Genesis 3	p. 145
End Game	p. 147
Finimondo	p. 148
And You Thought Jews & Christians Were Crazy	p. 151
Booing and Laughter: Hume Truths about the Qur'an	p. 152
Conclusion	p. 163
101 Uses for God	p. 163
About the Author	p. 167
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