Religion Construction Kit

[zompist]

It's done! See this page for a description, and links to buy it.

The paperback is available now— the e-book is coming soon.

[Lērisama]

My Christmas list has grown.

[Ares Land]

It's done! See this page for a description, and links to buy it.

The paperback is available now— the e-book is coming soon.

Excellent news!

[Raphael]

Ordered it!

[Ketsuban]

My copy is also on its way.

[alice]

I await mine with eagerness.

[Raphael]

Ordered it!

And it has arrived.

[zompist]

And it has arrived.

That was fast!

[Raphael]

And it has arrived.

That was fast!

I ordered it Thursday, and they told me it was on its way yesterday.

[alice]

I await mine with eagerness.

And it has arrived.

[Ketsuban]

I notice the logo for Yonagu Books on the spine has changed since the last book I bought!

Typos found:

• beckause on p65.
• A double space after the word tribute on p105.
• succesors on p126.
• ecclesiatical on p137.

[zompist]

I notice the logo for Yonagu Books on the spine has changed since the last book I bought!

Typos found:

• beckause on p65.
• A double space after the word tribute on p105.
• succesors on p126.

Argh... these all survived fourteen readers, too. Thanks for pointing them out.

[Ketsuban]

Do you want me to keep going as I continue through the book?

[zompist]

Do you want me to keep going as I continue through the book?

Sure, though it's more convenient for me if you e-mail them all at once.

[keenir]

as soon as Barnes&Noble carries it, I'm placing my order. very looking forwards to this.

[Raphael]

as soon as Barnes&Noble carries it, I'm placing my order. very looking forwards to this.

I don't think B&N sells self-published books.

[zompist]

as soon as Barnes&Noble carries it, I'm placing my order. very looking forwards to this.

I don't think B&N sells self-published books.

Sure it does!

[Raphael]

as soon as Barnes&Noble carries it, I'm placing my order. very looking forwards to this.

I don't think B&N sells self-published books.

Sure it does!

Ah, thank you, my mistake!

[Raphael]

Finished it. Great! A few tiny nitpicks:

Page 62: There's a very brief discussion of the habit of comparing the mind to the most complicated machine one can think of, and the examples given are clocks in medieval times and mills in the 18th century. Shouldn't that be the other way around?

Page 131: it's mentioned that Henry VIII confiscated the monasteries in Britain. I'm pretty sure that he didn't confiscate any monasteries in Scotland, given that he didn't rule that country.

As for the repeated assertions that no one sees themselves as evil: I guess we've been through that before, and are unlikely to ever resolve it. For a start, a lot of people prefer villainous to heroic characters in fiction. Aside from that, some people are clearly proud of their cruelty and ruthlessness, and see the idea that one shouldn't be cruel and ruthless as contemptible weakness. And some people routinely use "do-gooder" as an insult for their opponents.

[Ketsuban]

[S]ome people are clearly proud of their cruelty and ruthlessness, and see the idea that one shouldn't be cruel and ruthless as contemptible weakness.

Isn't that a value judgement on your part? It looks to me like they're asserting that cruelty and ruthlessness aren't (or are not necessarily) evil traits, not that they view themselves as evil. What virtue are they asserting which cruelty and ruthlessness serve? (For example, the ideology of the colour black in Magic the Gathering has individualised freedom in the vein of the Melian Dialogue—"the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must"—as its dominant virtue, as opposed to the colour white and its focus on rules of conduct and either egalitarianism or "a place for everything and everything in its place" prescriptivism.)

And some people routinely use "do-gooder" as an insult for their opponents.

That's not an assertion the speaker does not wish to do good—it's a criticism of a perceived sense of moral superiority in the accused (who is cast as calling anyone who doesn't agree with and help them as not doing good).