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Following THE BOOK OF OBSERVATIONS are the three companion books, SEVEN WORDS THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD; RELIGION, AN OBSTACLE TO HUMAN PROGRESS; and THE SKEPTIC'S BOOK OF RELIGIOUS QUOTES & ANECDOTES. These three companion books urge us, unequivocally, to abandon antiquated and fictitious beliefs and adopt a completely new way of thinking about reality. The rationale for these three books follows: ~ ~ ~ ~ For many years, I have watched humanity evolve and devolve. I have written numerous books and spoken to many audiences publicly about the state of our world. We advance technologically with ease. Socially, politically, and intellectually, we don't progress much. We continue to war with each other and our environment. Why is that? ~ ~ ~ ~ We don't drive around in vehicles that are thousands of years old. We don't see chariots running down our streets. Yet, many of us cling to dysfunctional and problematic religious belief systems that are thousands of years old literally. These religions are mainstream, active, and destructive. Even though the stories that formed them are antiquated, inconsistent and discredited, these religions continue to control countless minds and complicate, often cause, many of the world’s wars, terrorist strikes, senseless killings, and social injustices. ~ ~ ~ ~ The great majority of religious thought originated thousands of years ago in the infancy of our intelligence. These untested collections of dogmatic principles, antiquated and dysfunctional, were formed before the age of science. Traditional religions were built upon foundations of falsehood, fabrication, and superstition with the purpose of gaining power over the weak and to curry favor among the strong. ~ ~ ~ ~ The mythical gods and fantasy worlds associated with these religions have countless people out of touch with the real world in which we exist. As a consequence, complicated political, economic and environmental problems gravitate toward horrific outcomes. Humanity faces grave challenges. These religions are a significant part of the problem. ~ ~ ~ ~ On balance, despite whatever contributions religions may have made within the environments and time frames in which they were spawned, these old belief systems now are unequivocally an obstacle to human progress. We cannot sustain humanity and build a civilization on a base of fictitious stories. It is tantamount to attempting to construct a house on a disastrous foundation. ~ ~ ~ ~ The effect of these flawed creeds has not been to bring us together but to separate us permanently. The violence in our world is due to too much religion rather than too little. We praise distant mythological gods as we exploit our neighbors. We dream of the “hereafter” as we destroy the “here.” The inconsistencies and incredibilities of traditional religions, derived typically from supernatural sources and that which is referred to as “divine revelation,” are nothing more than a fantasy and delusion left over from the ignorant and superstitious childhood of the human race. ~ ~ ~ ~ Religious adherents allege problematically that their truths, derived from their particular deity, are inerrant and infallible. This results in incendiary claims to the exclusive possession of ‘truth’, fans the flames of tribalism, and has fomented bloody discord. Religion, with fallacious authority, often provides noble-sounding excuses for warfare. History shows there is no end to what people ginned up on their particular form of self-righteousness have done and will do. ~ ~ ~ ~ Many who are so eager to invest themselves in the “hereafter” don’t have a clue about what we are doing to the “here.” Our planet is in dire straits. When we examine almost every measurable criteria by which we evaluate the health of the planet and our communities, things have gotten worse. Our world, driven by the relentless needs of a global population growing out of control, is in ecological overshoot. Humanity is now consuming twenty percent more resources than the planet can regenerate, causing ecological destruction and social tension. ~ ~ ~ ~ You, me, and our beloved families and friends are passengers on a sinking ship. We are too many and our weapons too deadly for such a tiny planet with an extremely fragile ecological system. The dysfunctional belief systems that got us into this fix are out of step with reality. We must let go of the nonsensical religious thinking on which many of us were nurtured and cope with the demands of life as it is, not as we fantasize it to be. ~ ~ ~ ~ Far too many of our ‘leaders’ view the world through distorted religious lenses. Narrow corporate and political worldviews in association with fundamentalist faiths result in an interpretation of reality based dangerously on dogma, not on fact. Many of our seemingly intractable political, economic and environmental problems can be traced to outdated religious belief systems that distance us from the real-life behavioral demands of the reality in which we exist. ~ ~ ~ ~ America’s corporate and political elites – often in concert with ancient religious thought – have privatized democracy. Their only vision is to use elections as a path to more power for themselves and friends. Most benefits and rewards flow upwards. Our direction is toward a return to the three historic forms of tyranny: kings, theocrats, and noble feudal lords. ~ ~ ~ ~ One would have to have his head deep in the sand and his mind intoxicated with dogma not to see the endless problems associated with these old religions. Religion, with all its elaborate rituals, costumes and falsehoods, is likely the world’s longest, most magnificent, and pernicious charade. It’s time for humanity to travel on a new track: reality. Humanity must be weaned off of this dogmatic, delusional and divisive, war-causing form of intoxication. ~ ~ ~ ~ To arrest and reverse our destructive and unsustainable momentum, end our needless suffering, prosper together, find peace, sustain humanity, and advance our civilization, we must enter into a completely new way of thinking about reality. Our window of opportunity to accomplish the necessary and monumental shift in thinking is small compared to the large obstacles within our belief systems that must be dissolved. Yet, we must do this if we and all the life forms that share this jewel of a planet are to survive. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Joseph R. Simonetta’s academic background includes a Master of Divinity from Harvard University, a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado, and an undergraduate degree in business from Penn State University. His life experiences encompass many fields. He has been a military officer, professional athlete, entrepreneur, businessman, architectural designer, environmental activist, twice a nominee for the U.S. Congress, and author of numerous books. Son of an immigrant blue-collar steelworker and his wife, born in a World War II housing project in Bethlehem, PA, he was raised in the shadow of the blast furnaces of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation. He has since lived for significant amounts of time in California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Florida, Greece, New Zealand, and Ecuador.