On Mon, 22 Jun 2009 12:25:06 -0500, Omelet wrote:

> In article >,
> blake murphy > wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 12:37:07 -0500, Omelet wrote:
>>
>>> In article >,
>>> blake murphy > wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Sat, 20 Jun 2009 11:10:41 -0500, Kathleen wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Personally, I would get naked for Mark Twain or Terry Pratchett
>>>>> (assuming the one wasn't dead and the other afflicted with rapid onset
>>>>> Alzheimer's).
>>>>
>>>> i credit mark twain for me becoming an atheist.
>>>>
>>>> your pal,
>>>> blake
>>>
>>> Letters from the Earth? :-)
>>
>> yep, that was one. perhaps the nail in the coffin. 'huckleberry finn'
>> certainly had some clues, though.
>>
>> your pal,
>> blake
>
> I totally understand.
>
> You may enjoy "The Golden Bough" for a bit of historical reading.
> It had a similar effect on me that "Letters" did for you, but probably
> for different reasons. I'm not an Atheist tho'. More of a Pantheist.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough
>
> It's a bit dry, but very enlightening.

i have 'the golden bough,' but i haven't looked at it in many years.

for some reason that makes me think of 'Extraordinary Popular Delusions and
the Madness of Crowds,' by charles mackay, another classic text from 1852
that is much referred to:

<http://www.amazon.com/Extraordinary-Popular-Delusions-Madness-Crowds/dp/1897597320>

your pal,
blake