The Big Domino in the Sky: And Other Atheistic Tales

248 Pages·1996·12.719 MB·English

by  Michael Martin

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Michael Martin
author of the acclaimed Case Against Christianity
@Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, NewYork 14228-2197
Published 1996 by Prometheus Books
The Big Domino in the Sky and Other Atheistic Tales. Copy
right © 1996 by Michael Martin. All rights reserved. No
part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without prior written permission of the pub
lisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews. Inquiries should be ad
dressed to Prometheus Books, 59 John· Glenn Drive,
Amherst, New York 14228-2197, 716-691-0133. FAX:
716-691-0137.
00 99 98 5 4 3 2
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Martin, Michael, 1932-
The big domino in the sky / by Michael Martin.
p. cm.
ISBN 1-57392-111-4 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Fantastic fiction American. 2. Historical fiction,
American. 3. Atheists-Fiction. 4. Atheism-Fiction.
I. Title.
PS3563.A72635B54 1996
813'54--dc20 96-34925
CIP
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Contents
Preface 7
Prologue 11
Part I: Beginnings
Definitions 21
The Preacher with No Name 25
Letters from Lois 29
Are You an Atheist and Don't Know It? 45
Part II: God-Fall
Definitions 55
An Interview with Gustav Miller 57
Did I Cause Smerdyakov's Suicide? 64
Miller's Inferno 71
5
6 THE BIG DOMINO IN THE SKY
m:
Part God-Doubt
Howard's Prologue 93
Which God, Oh Lord? 97
The Sermon on the Hill 100
The Big Domino in the Sky 106
Mary and the Creators 113
So You Wanna See God? 121
The Miracle Sleuth 130
Frenchy's Con 146
Dear Mom 151
Part IV: God-Rejection
The Sermon by the Sea 169
Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary 179
The Death of Beneficent Ben 188
God for a Day! 191
The Free Will Improvement Project 201
The Satanic Curses 223
Sergeant Allen and Professor Hick 230
Epilogue: God-Free at Last! 241
Preface
In 1990 my book Atheism: A Philosophical Justifica
tion was published by Temple University Press. In
tended for professional philosophers and bristling
with sophisticated arguments that were couched in
the symbolism of modal logic and probability theory,
it was long-over five hundred pages-and technical.
Even some professional philosophers complained
that it was hard to read. My wife, herself a profes
sional philosopher, realizing the problem, suggested
that I write a popular book on atheism. Her sugges
tion appealed to me, but I had previously written only
for professional philosophers. Could I do it? Then I
recalled that I had told bedtime stories to my sons
when they were young. Could I reclaim my story
telling ability for a different purpose? Could I create
stories that would illustrate the basic tenets of athe
ism? I thought I should try to translate atheistic
7