Since the best defense is a good offense, the Freedom From Religion Foundation has published two timely freethought "classics" this month, sounding the alarm bell about the dangers of a growing union between religion and government.
The books are: Woe to the Women: The Bible Tells Me So, by Annie Laurie Gaylor, an entertaining and readable primer on bible sexism, and Lead Us Not Into Penn Station: Provocative Pieces, a collection of spirited essays by FFRF founder Anne Gaylor on the need for freedom from religion.
In these critical days when fundamentalists are trying to unite church and state, it behooves thoughtful women and men to "know thine enemy." Lucidly argued, concise and thorough, Woe to the Women--The Bible Tells Me So challenges the concept of the bible as a "good book." The easy-to-read expose examines the harm of biblical teachings, rules and stereotypes about women.
Woe to the Women, in print from 1981 - 2001, has just been reissued in an updated, expanded form as a pretty hardback (264 pages, $15.00).
The revised edition contains several new chapters, including one on religious terrorism, and an epilogue documenting a plethora of recent events proving the continuing threat organized religion poses to women worldwide.
In addition to the handy compendium of more than 200 sexist verses, compiled for the reader "who is too busy (or too non-masochistic) to study the bible," the revision includes relevant biblical passages in full at the book's conclusion. "After all, many of us feminists don't like to be seen in public with a bible," says Annie Laurie.
In Lead Us Not Into Penn Station: Provocative Pieces, Anne Nicol Gaylor goes after religious myths with verve, and makes the case for the need for freedom from religion. (80 pages, photographs, $10.00)
Anne succinctly demolishes the Ten Commandments ("What's Wrong with the Ten Commandments"), the myth of a loving Jesus ("Was Jesus a Horse Thief?"), the bible's sanction of slavery ("Slavery: 'A Trust from God' "), and documents "Hitler's Religion."
Lead Us Not Into Penn Station goes after religious sacred cows, such as bible-belt journalism, Christian funerals, and the death penalty. It offers affectionate profiles of freethinking pioneers, and is a personal and appealing introduction to nonbelief, reason-based ethics and timely state/church issues by one of the nation's leading freethought activists.
"To be free from religion is an advantage for individuals; it is a necessity for government," Anne concludes.