Books
Humanism from the Heart: Building Bridges Beyond Belief by Steve Ghikadis
Humanism from the Heart by Steve Ghikadis is a heartfelt exploration of what it means to build bridges of understanding in a world divided by conflicting beliefs. Through personal stories and candid reflections, Steve shares his transformative journey—from struggling with religious apathy and growing resentment to embracing secular humanism, a philosophy rooted in empathy, reason, and meaningful connection.
With a foreword by Anthony Magnabosco, a leading advocate of Street Epistemology, this book tackles the complexities of navigating interfaith relationships, rebuilding trust, and fostering mutual understanding. Inviting readers to reflect on our shared humanity, celebrate the diversity of beliefs, and seek common ground through open and respectful dialogue.
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https://www.amazon.com/Humanism-Heart-Building-Bridges-Beyond-ebook/dp/B0D1DVR9ZN/
BECAUSE ... Essays on Belief by E. Q. Manson
“Masterful and sobering. Presented with a needed dose of dark humor, just enough to help the medicine go down. What fun and highly recommended!” – Lon Ostrander, President, The Clergy Project
IF YOU WANT RELIGION APPROACHED WITH REVERENCE, particularly Christianity, especially Catholicism, go elsewhere.
BECAUSE … collects 40 essays about belief from six years of E. Q. Manson’s blog The Fifth Column. What you know is true. What you know is false. What God says you can’t do. Why salvation costs so much money. How it is the pious are supposedly always the Good Guys. Injustices. Con games. Rules without reason. Cruelties without excuse. Drawing on his upbringing in Catholic schools during the sixties and seventies, his experience as church musician, he reveals what religious authority and influence really are and why they do not deserve the niche they occupy in American society.
What sorts of people are made saints? Here their dirty laundry airs. Manson gives the view from within the sanctuaries and speaks the unspoken thoughts of skeptics, skewering false confessions, magical thinking, the illogic of scripture, the conundrums of canon, the merchandising of faith, Vatican pronouncements, all the scandals, and the sinister back stories the church never teaches to children. He dismantles discrimination, attacks on bodily autonomy, hypocrisy, vaccine denial, hate groups masquerading behind Love, and Christian nationalism. And in a few pieces where the gloves come completely off, he depicts in detail the snide, sarcastic, seditious scenarios a rebel against the clergy never dares put into comedic words while Sister Kevin is watching.
Throughout, BECAUSE … addresses how we think, how we are tricked into believing things that are not so, and how it is possible to break away.
“Always evokes a feeling of familiarity. Observations on contemporary religious and social issues are on point. I will definitely share this book to clients in need of a laugh and closure.” – Steve Ghikadis, Ambassador Program Director at Recovering from Religion
Click here to purchase. https://www.amazon.com/Because-Essays-Belief-Fifth-Column/dp/B0D4K6FFXW/
PAN SAY - Thoughts on the Bad Old Days by E. Q. Manson
Having spent decades developing counter arguments to the conservative religious values he was brought up with, in PAN SAY E. Q. Manson he opens fire on superstition, blind obedience, original sin, faux morality, patriarchy, privilege deniers, scapegoating the “Deep State”, the Pro-life movement , and people who think pre-1990s television realistically depicts an America we can make great again. He shows how media censorship has backfired, technological progress has made it harder to maintain healthy habits, and how perceptions of privilege have been inadvertently perverted by well-meaning actors. With candid personal revelations he shows how women's MeToo stories can be more compassionately felt by men. Manson maintains anyone can believe in anything they want (resurrections, virgin births, talking donkeys, a 6000-year-old universe, or for that matter astrology, reincarnation, the Force, the One Ring of Power, Bigfoot, “aliens built the pyramids”, a flat earth, or the inefficacy of vaccinations) the minute anyone starts trying to convert others to unsupported-by-evidence worldviews, they cross over from belief to behavior, in so doing bringing about issues of morality and politics.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09TDW977M?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
AND LEAD US NOT by E. Q. Manson
A religious urban fantasy. A middle aged Christian woman from Ohio dies, expects to see heaven but instead is in Brooklyn. She has been granted the powers of an guardian angel but finds herself tasked with tempting people away from their faith. Her boss? A master tempter from the time of Shakespeare. Her partner? A juvenile delinquent who keeps getting himself and her into trouble. The story of her struggle with her situation plays against the background of a teenage boy and girl she has been assigned to “procure”, and their wisecracking friends.
SEE BELOW SECTION FOR SAMPLE CHAPTER
CLICK TO PURCHASE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1720096872?ref_=pe_870760_150889320
EV’RY LITTLE THING
Quill Magnuson is a freshman at a Virginia university with a trombone he can't play and a succession of roommates he can't control, drinking beer faster than he can brew it. What he really needs is a daily dose of Lithium to treat his manic-depression, which will not be diagnosed for many years. In the meantime he makes do, trying his best to be cool. Cool on the marching fields…cool with the abundant unreachable campus "chicks"…but hot at the piano as he strives to produce the perfect band composition.
In this short autobiographical novel, E. Q. Manson provides material from his own early struggles with sanity and creativity, providing a story filled with memorable characters and funny, thought-provoking episodes.
SEE BELOW SECTION FOR SAMPLE CHAPTER
Click to purchase: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1095891375?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860
LAW AND SAUSAGE
A passage in Acts of the Apostles harkens back to Greek philosophy of the afterlife. This historical fiction speculates on what actually transpired, was recorded, transmitted, and distorted over centuries. Featuring memorable characters and situations, it reflects realities of ancient, medieval, and 19th century Mediterranean life: how people lived, worked, and loved each other. It showcases the timeless struggles between the literate and the powerful, leading up to a Gulf War encounter in Germany where truth is revealed.
SEE BELOW SECTION FOR SAMPLE CHAPTER
CLICK TO PURCHASE: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1717885632?ref_=pe_870760_150889320
THE FAIRY CHILD by Sharon Hogan
The Fairy Child – what happens to a family when a child has a mysterious disability (as told by a sibling)
The author is a school psychologist who grew up with an older autistic sister. Intrigued by her, wondering about human behavior, the author at times slipped into her sister’s world of flowers and fantasy - the legendary land where the fairy children go. This memoir will interest parents and siblings of Autistic child-ren, as well as Baby Boomers who were influ-enced by the turmoil of the 1960s and 70s. The sexual revolution, feminism, and civil rights movements influenced the author as she studied the history of Autism and made her way in the world while her sister remained like a mysterious fairy child.
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/1719828784?ref_=pe_870760_150889320
