For Immediate Release
Contact:
Merrill Miller, 202-238-9088 ext. 105, merrillmiller@americanhumanist.org
(Washington, D.C., Feb. 4, 2015)—Humanist Press, the publishing arm of the American Humanist Association, is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of a new book from Barbara G. Walker, the acclaimed feminist author of such works as The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets and The Woman’s Dictionary of Symbols and Sacred Objects. Walker’s latest book, Belief and Unbelief, to be released on March 2, takes a hard look at religion, criticizing its patriarchal roots while envisioning a better future in which equality between the sexes is achievable.
Belief and Unbelief contains 22 new essays that cover a broad spectrum, leading the reader through the history of human society. Walker explains passionately in plain language how a disconnect with the Goddess traditions, which reflected the rhythms of the natural world, turned religion into a tool for the oppression of women. In “Religion as the Root of Sexism” she examines the teachings of prominent theologians and how their works contributed to women’s subjugation under their husbands and the church. Her writings also detail “The Islamic Holocaust” being perpetrated against women, as well as how today’s Christian “God the Monster” has been used to terrify children into submitting to dogma. In her essay “Does Religion Make People Good?” Walker responds with an emphatic “No!”, citing extensive evidence in “Biblical Morality.”
Woven through Walker’s criticisms of religion, however, is a powerful and positive argument for the return to an egalitarian world in which women and men are equals and society is made up of caring communities that value individuality and creativity. Her closing essay, “Family and the Future,” imagines such a world and highlights the ways in which women and men are already working together to make this dream a reality.
The book has already received advanced praise from reviewers, including Foreword Reviews, which lauded it as “a well-researched analysis of the impact of faith and beliefs on society” that “advocates for a peaceful, secular world.”
Barbara G. Walker is the author of numerous books on feminism, religion, cultural anthropology and mythology from the viewpoint of prehistoric matriarchies.
Belief and Unbelief will be available in paperback for $18.99 and ebook for $9.99 at humanistpress.com. Ebook copies are currently available for pre-order on Amazon here.
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Founded in 1941 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., the American Humanist Association (AHA) works to protect the rights of humanists, atheists and other non-religious Americans. The AHA advances the ethical and life-affirming philosophy of humanism, which—without beliefs in any gods or other supernatural forces—encourages individuals to live informed and meaningful lives that aspire to the greater good of humanity.
Humanist Press is the publishing house of the American Humanist Association, providing material for the humanist/freethought/atheist market since 1995.