The immorality of Atheists

I've often heard religious people say that Atheists can't be moral beings because they don't believe in God. To me, this has never made sense. This seems to imply that in order to be moral, one has to be afraid that God is watching, afraid of eternal damnation, or striving for eternal salvation. Shouldn't morality come from within instead of from without?

I would argue that an Atheist who chooses to be moral with no imperative from any kind of higher being is making a more moral stand that a religious person that is only choosing to be moral because of a fear of God. This is not saying that all religious people are only moral because God tells them to be. There are a great number of moral religious people that act as they do because it's the right thing to do as a human being. I do believe, however, that there are numerous religious people out there that only choose to be moral because they're afraid of what could happen to their eternal soul. Without that exterior imperative, these individuals would actually choose to be immoral.

This has always been something that I've believed in, and recently I started re-reading Towing Jehovah by James Morrow. In this book, which is obviously satirical, God has died and his two-mile long body must be towed to the Arctic by a super tanker to preserve it. During the voyage, many of the crew decide to start doing things that are immoral because God is no longer watching, and I honestly believe that this is something that would happen. Many, but not all, people would choose to do what's in their best interest if they didn't think there was a God. This isn't true of the Atheist. An Atheist chooses to be moral or immoral because it's what they want to do, not what they feel they're being forced to do. And I'm not trying to make the argument that Atheists are moral by nature...there are plenty of bad Atheists out there. I'm just saying that those that choose morality do so because of their own nature.

If you don't think that some people would choose to be immoral if given the chance, take a look at how quickly our society is deteriorating. People have so much less respect for one another today than they used to...and if they believed there was no God overseeing their actions, just how low would they sink...

If you're interested in checking out Towing Jehovah, I would highly recommend it if you like good satirical fiction...and you're not easily offended...

Check it out at https://amzn.to/48Lc3Zs

The Martian Wave Boxed Set

From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:

For six years, Nomadic Delirium Press published The Martian Wave. This was a magazine that focused on short stories and poems about the exploration and colonization of space, with a special focus on stories about our solar system. Now, all six issues have been gathered into one boxed set for a very low price.

Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CKKDNNDJ

Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1461770

Choices

Ereven is on the run. Having abandoned the dictatorial governor of Ganymede, he now finds himself pushed and pulled in directions he doesn’t want to go as he tries to flee the brutal hands of the governor. Where will he go? The inner solar system seems to be the only choice, but does he have any chance of getting there? He’s never had choices, and now that he does, every one of them seems to lead to death, imprisonment, or both…

Order from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3ZKPv75

Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1461598

Order from DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/455589/

 

September Bestseller

 

My bestseller for September was a re-release of an older collection, Marionettes on the Moon.

Do Humans control their destiny, or are they merely victims of the circumstances that surround them?
A collection of short stories from prize winning SF author J Alan Erwine examines whether we have freedom of choice, or are merely puppets on strings subject to the whims of the universe.
This newly reworked version of Marionettes on the Moon features the original 13 short stories, plus two recent releases.

Order from Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Q3MzPT

Order from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1430178

Order from DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/447457/

Birthday sale at DriveThruFiction

 I have a birthday in October, and no, we aren't going to talk about how ancient I've become, but I figure if there's a birthday, there should be presents, right? So, for the month of October, all of you get the presents in the form of 50% off of any of my fiction titles at DriveThruFiction. Head over to https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/16618/J-Alan-Erwine and start downloading today!

Have you checked out Smashwords lately?

 If you're looking for a great place to download books, then Smashwords is the place to be. Major authors, indie authors, they have them all...and yeah, of course they sell my stuff as well. Check it out at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine

Don't forget my Amazon Page

If you'd like to keep up with all of my future releases, and there should be a couple of new short stories very soon, then please make sure you're visiting my Amazon page often at https://amzn.to/3t5N3fi...or better yet, just follow me on Amazon that way you'll get the updates automatically.

Thanks to everyone who supports my work!

Patreon Stories

 

Now that I'm able to sell titles directly through Patreon, without they buyer being obligated to become a patron, I decided to put together a special collection of ten stories that will only be available on Patreon. Although I have dabbled in horror, dark fantasy, children's fantasy, and even mainstream/literary, I decided to make the collection a collection of just science fiction, since that's my main passion...and I only play around in other fields when I come up with a really good idea. So if you're interested, here's the write-up for the collection:

Available only for download on Patreon, I give you Patreon Stories. This is a collection of 10 of my stories that best represent my various science fiction writing styles. Kind of gives you a taste of what you could expect if you become a patron.
The collection includes: The Galton Principle, Origins, Forgive Men Their Trespasses, The Limit of Tolerance, Lowering One's Self Before Fate, On the Word of Ancients, Reality, Mission Unknown, It's In the Water, and Fight or Flight.

Buy it today at https://www.patreon.com/jalanerwine/shop

Pick up my titles on Patreon

 

I've made some of my titles available on Patreon for download. You don't have to be a supporter of mine in order to download them. You can buy them and read them with absolutely no obligation. And the best part is, for a limited time, I've made the titles available at a discount...so you can read and save a few pennies.

So, what are you waiting for? Head over to https://www.patreon.com/jalanerwine/shop and start downloading today.

The last week of fiction month is almost here

 

From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:

Fiction Month is almost over here at Nomadic Delirium Press, and that means that your chance to save 30% off of our fiction titles is almost over as well. Save on novels, collections, and anthologies at Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/nomadicdelirium and at DriveThruFiction: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/2805/. And to make the last week of the sale even juicier, you can now download all 60 magazines that we published (The Martian Wave, The Fifth Di..., Spaceports & Spidersilk, Mundanities, and Environmental Holocaust) for just $6. Yes, just 10 cents an issue! Download all 60 today at: https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/451677/

 

Download my Tales of Space Exploration and Discovery for 30% off

 

For decades, J Alan Erwine has been writing stories about space exploration and discovery…now all of those stories are gathered into one massive tome. Travel the far reaches of space, or explore the solar system with him. Some of the stories are dark, some are optimistic, but all of them are uniquely his.
This collection also features the first four stories in Erwine's Solar Federation Series, and you can download it for just $2.79 at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1134741

Save 30% off of Manic Musings of a Maniacal Mind

 

For more than two decades, science fiction editors have been publishing the works of J Alan Erwine, exposing you, the reader, to the dark recesses of the author’s mind. Now, all of those stories have been combined together into one massive tome. Get a glimpse into Erwine’s grim view of the future, and explore the universe from his slightly off-kilter point of view. You can download this massive tome for 30% off, but only for a limited time at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/877392

The Smashwords sale continues

 

Remember, I still have a 30% off sale running at Smashwords. You can pick up my short story collections and my novels all at a great savings. And there are a few free short stories there as well. I just ask that if you read those, please review them. If you're looking for science fiction writing that is somewhat off kilter from what you're used to, then you just might like my fiction. Please check it out at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine

Fiction Month is half over

From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:

The month of September is now half over, and that means that Fiction Month is also half over at Nomadic Delirium Press. Have you saved 30% off of our fiction titles yet? You can save on novels, collections and anthologies at DriveThruFiction by going to https://www.drivethrufiction.com/browse/pub/2805/Nomadic-Delirium-Press or at Smashwords by going to https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/nomadicdelirium. We know there are several of our titles that you’ve been wanting to check out, so now’s your chance.

And if magazines are more your style, well, don’t forget that you can download all 60 zines that we have published for just $12 at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/451677/. Whether it’s The Martian Wave, The Fifth Di…, Spaceports & Spidersilk, Environmental Holocaust, or Mundanities….they’re all there.

 

You're running out of time for your third Taste of the Madness

 

Very soon now, A Taste of the Madness Vol. 3 will be disappearing from Amazon, and you will no longer be able to order it, so you need to do it soon…https://amzn.to/3ZnNKwv And remember, for Kindle Unlimited members, the download is FREE!

The third volume is here!
A collection of six previously published short stories, that are available only for a limited time. Travel to distant planets and travel to different mad visions that prize-winning sf author J Alan Erwine has come up with, but beware, you can never be sure where his weird mind might take you.
Again, this collection is only available for a very limited time.

Does the economy have to be growing?

 I’ve been reading a lot of eco-fiction lately, and I’m even working on a story that somewhat falls into that genre, and it all got me thinking about a conversation I’d had with a friend many years ago. Both of us were quite political, but didn’t always see eye to eye on things. He was a card carrying Democrat, and pretty much bought everything the dems said and did. I, on the other hand, have always been an adamant supporter of the destruction of the two-party system. I see both parties, with the exclusion of other parties, as an evil that the US can’t survive.

Now, on this particular day, we were discussing the economy. He made the observation that the American economy was like a flower. It had to either be growing or dying. I looked at him for what was probably ten seconds, because it just didn’t make any sense to me, and then I finally countered with my point of view.

The American economy is not like a flower, but rather the individuals within that economy are the flowers, growing richer or poorer. The American economy was more like the field of flowers. Some flowers are growing and some are dying, but the overall status of the field is to remain stable. Nature survives best with stability, so it was my point of view that the US economy should remain stable, rather than constantly trying to grow.

To this day, I still say that the American ideal of constantly growing the economy, and the GDP, is one of the biggest problems America faces. We’re so caught up in growth that we’re destroying everything else, and ultimately, our system will fail. And it doesn’t matter what any Democrat or Republican might tell you…their focus is in making the corporations of America richer…and that does not work in favor of “We the People.”

The importance of reviews

 

You will often hear writers asking, yes, maybe even begging for reviews. I can certainly understand this behavior. The most simple reason why we’re always asking for reviews is because the more reviews a book or story has, the more likely it is that the market will show the product to more readers. This is especially true with Amazon. In order to have much hope of being seen on a main page of Amazon, an author will almost always have to have 10 reviews or more.

Another reason for asking for reviews is because not everyone is going to like a piece that you create. It doesn’t matter if you’re JK Rowling, Robert Sawyer, or even little ol’ me, there will be readers that don’t like your work, and if those are the only readers reviewing your work, you have less chance of reaching more readers.

A good example is my short short story (yes, the two shorts are intentional) “Lost in the Dark.” One reader refers to it as “Extremely implausible,” while another reader refers to it as “Good angst, totally identifiable protagonist. Nice (one more time – short) story.”

Who’s right? Well, both of them actually are…at least in their opinions. So, if only the first review was posted, people would be less likely to want to read the story, so reviews are good so that people can see all possible sides of a story.

So, in short, review an author’s work. They’ve put a lot of effort into whatever you’re reading, and they deserve at least a few words of praise. And, oh yeah, definitely make sure you review my work if you’ve liked it! I can genuinely tell you that I will be highly appreciative of your effort on my behalf!

A new Smashwords Sale

 

For the rest of this month, I’ve listed all of my novels and short story collections at 30% off through Smashwords. So, if you like science fiction, especially science fiction that doesn’t give you what you might expect, then I think you should check this sale out. You can find it at https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/jaerwine

In addition to the novels and collections, I’ve also listed some of my individual short stories for free. All I ask in payment is that if you like one of the stories that you read for free, please review it. Reviews are what really makes a writer’s career, so I would greatly appreciate it. I’ve tried to list a variety of stories for free, so you can get a taste for my wide array of writing styles…and bizarre interests…

The Rocks on the Other Side Book of Characters

 

From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:

Whether you’re looking for characters to use in an adventure, or non-player characters to help or challenge your characters, this book gives you 50 characters that you can quickly insert into any Rocks on the Other Side adventure. This book focuses more on lower level characters, as the game is still young, but there are still plenty of higher level characters featured towards the end of the book.

Due to the format of this book, it is only available as a paperback from Amazon or a PDF from DriveThruRPG.

Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CH2B7B6D

Order from DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/451636/

Would you like to download all of our zines?

 

From the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:

As part of NDP Fiction month, we’ve made a very special bundle available through DriveThruFiction. You can download every zine that we’ve ever published for just $12. That’s every copy of The Martian Wave, The Fifth Di…, Spaceports & Spidersilk, Mundanities, and Ecotastrophe that Nomadic Delirium Published. All totaled, that’s 60 individual magazines for 20 cents a piece. Surely you have $12 laying around that will give you enough material to read on these very hot days.

Order today at https://www.drivethrufiction.com/product/451677/