Response to "Godless"

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 11:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

The only response to this book is:
http://www.alternet.org/story/37162/

Can't you use your time in a better way to improve our lives?

 

unfortunately, trying to address science in a positive manner is generally a failing tactic among the american public.

they only seem to fall for the "science is evil, science is scary, science is immoral and should be severely limited" argument... :angry:

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 08:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

I voted yes but I don't think a month's time is enough and I don't want you to put off Med School.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(gbrehm @ Jun 11 2006, 08:17 AM) [snapback]269514[/snapback]</div>

Good Grief man he wants to write a book addressing some fairly serious topic's and then go to Med school what else do you want him to do! :blink:

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 11 2006, 08:25 AM) [snapback]269518[/snapback]</div>

Good grief first Godiva and now you. What an uninformed and discourteous statement to the public. Is this some kind of thing in the Hot Chicks with Black Prii Club? <_< I wish the rest of the America Public on this board would stand up and inform this young lady how ill-informed she is.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Jun 11 2006, 11:35 AM) [snapback]269524[/snapback]</div>

uninformed?

uninformed???

apparently you forget what i do for a living... and if you only knew how many times i've been accused of thinking i'm a god or told i'm going to hell... or any of a variety of anti-science comments i've heard...

and how many times i've tried to explain to an individual what benefits society reaps from the scientific community and how all the things we take for granted today in medical science and technology come from scientific research... only to be told i'm full of myself and only interested in promoting my "godless pursuit"...

then you might not be so quick to call me uninformed.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 10:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

I suggest you first write a 2-page synopsis of your proposed book, and a specimen chapter, and then send them to at least one established publisher, but the more the better. If you get complimentary and encouraging replies, OK, but if you get none, or negatives, you will have saved yourself a lot of time, effort and heartbreak.

It's easy to start writing a book when you have enthusiasm for an idea but it becomes hard towards the middle and can be extremely difficult to get the energy and material to finish it.

 

As a freelance writer, the last thing I would want to do is discourage anyone's writing effort. If you really feel compelled to do this, go for it. However, I would say that there are already many good books that refute Coulter's stand on individual issues, such as evolution (e.g. Ken Miller) or "liberals are Godless" ("The Left Hand of God", etc.). If someone wants to be informed, there are a lot of good sources out there, but people who read Ann Coulter don't want to be informed. And I'm sure, if there aren't any yet, someone will capitalize on the trend by writing an "Ann Coulter is a Stupid (insert your own expletive)", but all that would do is give her more publicity.
Whatever you decide to do- best of luck in med school!

 

I'd say no. First, addressing it gives credence and would even add to sales.

Second, as said above you have better things to do with your time.

I'm ignoring it, which is as much attention as it deserves.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wildkow @ Jun 11 2006, 11:35 AM) [snapback]269524[/snapback]</div>

Well now, Galaxee and Godiva seem pretty well informed to me, even if they are "Hot Chicks with Black Prii Club" members rather than members of "Hot Mammas in Red Prii."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tanteb & rgrpick @ Jun 11 2006, 01:16 PM) [snapback]269572[/snapback]</div>

It has nothing to do with being well informed...or not.

We don't AGREE with Wildkow. That makes us, by definition, "stupid". Ergo, we have no right to share our (wrong) opinions.

We must keep our mouths shut. (And possibly take off our shoes and become pregnant.) And should we have the temerity to actually practice our constitutional right of free speech....we must be personally attacked.

And no one must read what we've written.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tanteb & rgrpick @ Jun 11 2006, 02:16 PM) [snapback]269572[/snapback]</div>

On this forum, "uniformed" means "haven't drunk the Kool-Aid."

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 08:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

I think it would be a good thing to do, but I doubt you could get it done in a month. Perhaps you can, but the process of writing a book, getting a publisher, and then going through all the edits the publisher (editor) will require usually takes a few months. And by then, Coulter's impact will be gone. Without a "name", it might be hard to get a book published ... do you know Al Franken?

How about a blog or on-line version of the book? You can set one up free at wordpress.com, or I could sponsor one for you if you want your own URL. A blog would allow you to collaborate with others, and get comments from those that agree and disagree with you (but you have to refrain from answering every comment, or you'll get bogged down in debate). A series of articles answering Coulter would get a lot of traffic while the book is hot. It could get picked up by pandasthumb.org or another science blog (or you might visit them to see if they want to feature an article by you).

I'm a conservative, and a Christian, but I disagree very strongly with the anti-science bias of my fellow conservatives and Christians.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Jun 11 2006, 08:25 AM) [snapback]269518[/snapback]</div>

Hmmmmm, I wonder how many people on priuschat would agree with this statement. . . I know!

Wildkow

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 11:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

My thinking is that people like Coulter and Limbaugh get a lot of their attention and popularity by saying outrageous things and getting a reaction.

I think the fewer people ever read or hear the name Coulter, the better.

When she claims the 911 widows were glad to lose their husbands and similar "stuff", it's self-evident she's just spouting hostility.

Also, be aware of

1) She is being prosecuted in Florida for lying on her voter registration

2) The church she claims she's always taking friends to doesn't know her -- she's not listed as a member and the staff doesn't remember seeing her.

Clearly, this is an unscrupulous liar trying to get a reaction. The more she's forgotten, the better. I think you can find better things to do than honor her trash with response.

Also, the damage done to this nation by "the party of small government" is becoming more evident every day. The more they talk, the more they show themselves as liars.

 

Writing a book is easy. Getting it distributed is next to impossible. My mother owns a very small niche publishing company (now on the verge of closing as my mother nears retirement) and I can tell you that finding a publisher for your book will be a gargantuan task (harder than writing the book in the first place) and that getting it distributed if you self-publish will be next to impossible.

The only reason my mom was able to distribute her books was that she had worked as a sales rep for an established publishing company for a decade before starting her own, and she had established business relationships with a huge number of bookstores throughout her region. And it still took 5 years before her company began to break even, and another 5 years before it began to make enough money to live on.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mirza @ Jun 11 2006, 10:09 AM) [snapback]269508[/snapback]</div>

Which Med school? Where did you do your undergrad?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(sharkmeister @ Jun 11 2006, 12:21 PM) [snapback]269600[/snapback]</div>

Don't know about her church, but I did hear that no charges have been filed in Florida. Do you have a reference that states otherwise? To say that she is being "prosecuted" leads one to believe charges have been filed. Or did you mean to say "investigated"?

 

Dude, you got better things to do...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ Jun 11 2006, 06:55 PM) [snapback]269677[/snapback]</div>

Tell your mom not to retire too soon- not until I get my first book done!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(larkinmj @ Jun 11 2006, 06:55 PM) [snapback]269773[/snapback]</div>

Like I said, she is a very small niche publisher. Science is not her niche. In fact, she is now 88 years old and is not publishing any new books. She is not even printing any new copies. She is selling off her existing stock of books and will either shut down the company when these are gone, or will donate remaining stock to some outfit or other if her arthritus makes packing books too bothersome. This is a one-person company (was a two-person company before her last husband died, and had one employee in its heyday) and she packs and ships the books herself. Like I said, a very small company, though very successful. She now has an extremely comfortable retirement. So even in her heyday, she would not have been able to publish your book.)

I'll say more: When my mom first got together with her last husband, even before they were married, she had been a sales rep for a publishing company for a decade, and she realized that her new boyfriend had extensive knowledge in a field in which there were no good books. Existing books were badly written and full of misinformation. They began their company, which published books they wrote together: my mom had the writing skills, her boyfriend had the technical knowledge of the field. The only books they ever published that they did not write together in this way were one, a parody of their own books that my mother wrote by herself, and another, a book written by my sister, which was indirectly related to their field. They never published books from outside sources. That's just not what they did.

You can still find their books in some of the big chain bookstores, but sales have dwindled to almost nothing. She considered selling the company in recent years, but without the two of them as a writing team, there's really nothing there, and there were no takers.

And no, I will not name the company or the book titles. Like I said, it was a niche market that had not been exploited 40 years ago, so my mom was able to make a good living and save up for a comfortable retirement on it, but there is nothing worthwhile there. I personally read the books at the beginning, but found them to be of no particular value, so it's not something to boast about.