Atheism Bumped Off Corporate Bookshelves In Texas?

By Duncan Diablo: 2007-08-19 05:59:05

Atheism Bumped Off Corporate Bookshelves In Texas?

Here’s a big duh for you: Religion is big business, and not just for Pat Robertson and his cadre of old-lady robbing televangelists. The monolithic mega-church down the block isn’t the only massive corporation making big bank from mankind’s continuing insistence on believing in imaginary friends. When was the last time you walked into a Barnes & Nobles? Most of them now sport a bigger than ever “Religion” section, and it seems to grow by at least a shelf or so every time I walk through the door. There was a time not so long ago when the Walden Books “Religion” section amounted to a couple of shelves full of cheap Bibles. Now Religion seems to have supplanted most of their fiction section, taking over half the store in the process. It’s weirdly appropriate that it’s fiction which so often ends up being shoved out of the way by a hodgepodge of books on god. Good luck on finding the latest Stephen King novel, it’s probably been misfiled behind a hymnal.

The really strange thing isn’t the way religion has become such a hot seller to the casual, mainstream book buyer. Most people have lives that suck, and what better way to feel better about being a loser than reading something which tells you there’s an all powerful being out there who has a plan for you and even if his plan kind of seems lame right now, don’t worry you’ll be dead some day and then you’ll end up playing a harp or banging forty virgins. Say what you want about Muslims, but they really do have the best version of heaven. No, it’s not weird that religion should be such a hot topic on everyday bookstore shelves. What’s weird is that the forces of anti-religion don’t seem to be represented.

If like me you’re unfortunate enough to live in Texas, walk into any chain bookstore. It doesn’t matter which one. Take your pick. Borders, Barnes & Nobles, and Walden Books seem to be the most prevalent in my area. Feel free to try used bookstores as well. Half Price Books is a major player. Now try to find a book on atheism. Or, let’s not make this so specific. Try to find any book of any kind which might sort of indicate that hey, this religion thing is kind of dumb. You’ll try the religion section first because, well, that’s where it’d be if it’s anywhere. There you’ll likely find row after row of written dissertation on the awesomeness of Christianism, a shelf or two on Muslims, and if they’re lucky even the Hindus have a corner all their own. You’ll see books on dead religions, Wiccans, even devil worship. If people have worshipped it, Barnes & Nobles has a book on it. What you won’t find, not in the religion section or any other section in the store, is a book on not mindlessly bowing down to something that doesn’t exist.

Judging from the content of your average mega-chain bookstore, you might assume such books themselves don’t exist or that if they do there’s simply no one interested in them. You’d be wrong. Two seconds of searching on the internet will reveal scores of recommended reading lists on the subject, and even more importantly scores of people interested in reading them. Estimates indicate there are nearly 1 billion people in the world who identify themselves as either atheist, agnostic, or non-religious. If not believing in god were a religion, it’d be the third most popular religion in the world, right behind Christianity and Islam. So why isn’t anyone selling books on it?

I’m not asking for an aisle full of atheism examination here, but how about a shelf? Scratch that, how about two tattered skepticism books shoved in haphazardly next to a series of dissertations on the worship of Chia pets? It’s impossible not to wonder what has prompted corporate America to pretend that a lack of belief in god simply doesn’t exist. Maybe it’s the Bible belt in which I live that accounts for their lack of lip service to logical thought (and in fact I’ve heard reports from people in other states that their Borders bookstores at least, are well stocked with logical thought), but you’d think that multiple shelves on worshipping Satan and the best ways to have gay sex would earn these corporations at least as much flack as a book from a guy who simply asks “hey, what’s up with this god myth?”. On the other hand, having Satan and gay people around to hate is a vital component in the ongoing prevalence of religion, while simply discounting god’s existence doesn’t exactly do much to help the god crowd’s flock fleecing agenda. Atheism may soon be on it’s way to becoming the new scarlet A. That’s great news for gay men, who are the ones most likely to get out of religion’s cross-hairs in favor of bashing non-believers, but bad news for anyone who doesn’t want to wear the representation of an ancient Roman torture implement on a chain around their neck.