So many books, so little time

Paulo Bitencourt is a Brazil-born Austrian freethinker and humanist. He was raised Evangelical (Seventh-day Adventist) and studied Theology. Yet, with just some months to becoming a pastor he started having doubts and left the church. After reading “Ethics”, by Bento de Espinosa (Baruch Spinoza), Bitencourt declared himself an atheist.

And that is why I like Paulo Bitencourt's books “Liberated from Religion” and “Wasting Time on God” better than the books by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris. These are good, of course, but when I read them I noticed something: none of these authors have been religious. They grew up in nonreligious households. So, in addition to his many unbeatable logical arguments, Paulo Bitencourt writes from experience. He knows what it feels like to be oppressed by religion, have nightmares about being tortured in Hell. It is evident that Spinoza's book resonated so deeply with Bitencourt because Spinoza too was raised very religious (and also almost became a priest). The only reason why Paulo Bitencourt's books are not as famous as the books by Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris is because Bitencourt was not born in an English-speaking country. Otherwise, I find his books superior for people who struggle with religion and the belief in God. Bitencourt goes further than these famous atheists, because, unlike them, in addition to criticizing religion, he gives some advice on how to heal from religious trauma.