I was raised LDS and up until my parents passed away, it was inevitable that during phone calls or visits, one of them would inquire about my church attendance, even though they both knew full well that I was an atheist. It's as though they some how conveniently forgot their son was an apostate. Perhaps it was just denial.

Beyond the parental scolding, I've seldom, if ever, had anyone scold me for not attending church, and you'd think I would since I live in SC. However, I have been scolded on numerous occasions for not bowing my head, or holding hands during a prayer, which happens at just about every event outside of a bar here. I've been told, that even though I don't believe, I should participate out of respect and that I'm simply being arrogant and pigheaded. My usual response is to say, "I'm sorry you feel that way and I mean no disrespect, I just don't believe as you do."

And as a side note, why is it here in the South people have to hold hands and form a circle to pray? Mormons never did that, at least not that I ever saw.

This could've have been the same review for the Barnes & Noble Nook, except replace keyboard with touch screen. I bought a nice leather cover for mine at the same time I purchased the eReader and never really noticed if the Nook felt cheap or flimsy. I've only charged it twice since I bought it near the end of July so battery life isn't much different. It also has the the ability to flip pages from either side of the device.

The only reason, I really chose the Nook over the Kindle was my dislike for devices that support only proprietary file formats. The Nook will handle the EPUB open document format without conversion and since Project Gutenberg (http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page) supports this format, that tipped me toward the Nook.

Glad to hear you're enjoying your Kindle. I think an ebook reader was the best hardware purchase I've made this year.

I ended up buying the Nook eReader from Barnes and Noble. The decision to buy an eReader was prompted by my wife who was tired of all the stacks of books around the house. (Yeah, I read a lot.) The decision to buy a Nook instead of the Kindle was decided by the fact that the Nook directly supports the epub format. The Kindle does not. You'll have to find a conversion program to read them on a Kindle. An extra step I didn't want.

epub is the IDPF (International Digital Publishing Forum) sepcification. They're kinda like W3C for the web. Currently Project Gutenburg and Google offer their catalog of books in epub format. And there are many sources for free books in epub format. Also, if you're fairly comfortable with HTML, CSS and XML, it is easy to create your own books in this format. If you're not a programmer, then there is a free tool called 'SIgil' that allows you to create books with a WYSIWYG interface.

I've had the Nook for almost two months now and have only had to fully charge it twice after the initial charge. In that time I've read 2 sci-fi novels by Peter Watts and 'The God Virus' by Darrel Ray. My only real complaint about the Nook is with the clumsy browser integration and slightly sluggish response of the touch screen, but I think those things will not be problems once E-Ink screens can be made to work like current touch screens.

Best part about the E-Ink screens is reading them in direct sunlight. Something you really can't really do with a laptop or iPad. And I love having multiple books at my fingertips, the ability to set multiple bookmarks and never losing my place. I have no regrets on the purchase. And I will still probably by an Android tablet once they've had a chance to mature.

Let's not forget James Randi, who is offering a reward for anyone who can scientifically prove they have paranormal powers.His book "Flim-Flam! Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions" would be another good choice.

In addition to promoting knowledge and tolerance, I think atheism forces us to be more proactive about our lives. Rather than wait for some god to randomly answer our prayers, we actively seek solutions to the problems that confront us. With no promise of an after-life, it is up to us to make this life the best it can be for ourselves and our loved ones.

Religion, on the other hand is the lazy individual's way out. Why do anything now when god will take care of it? All you have to do is believe and wait for heaven. Personally I think this kind of attitude has been a great detriment to society.