Christopher Hitchens is a complicated man. He is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to Vanity Fair. Politically, he has come out as quite conservative - against abortion, critical of Clinton, and in favor of the war in Iraq. I picked up this book, not because I could think of a single thing I might have in common with this man, but because the title is quite controversial. God is Not Great is Hitchens's all-out attack on religion - of all kinds. Hitchens brings out every argument that is already familiar to everyone - believers and non-believers alike. He goes straight to the texts of the Old Testament, The New Testament and the Koran to point out the logical fallacies inherent in each. He argues against intelligent design. His best arguments (though by the time I got to them, I wasn't really primed to buy anything he was selling) lay in the subtitle of his book, and argued about why and how religion poisons everything. Hitchens talks about the hypocrisy of many religious leaders (and followers) and the heinous crimes that are perpetrated in the name of religion -from holy wars to child abuse. These are ideas that I can get behind, but to me they speak more to the people corrupting religion than they do to religion itself. Ockam's Razor plays big in this book - as it did in Richard Russo's fiction novel The Straight Man, which I read several months ago. It's the principal that the most simple solution is usually the right one - and for Hitchens, attaching the religious myth of creation to what we know is actually science, is hardly simple at all. A recent NY Times Book Review of Hitchens's missive points out that Hitchens is a good friend of Salman Rushdie - a man whose treatment by the Muslim world for writing The Satanic Verses is enough to make anyone question how people can follow any religion - Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or otherwise - which preaches hatred of any kind. I didn't think this book was particularly well written. There were hundreds of ideas with all kinds of support, but they didn't always seem to follow from one paragraph to the next. I suppose in the end, I just found the book a bit frustrating - Hitchens is clearly a man who is so tired of his religious friends giving him grief for not believing. But, to come out swinging against them seems so unnecessary. I don't see his words converting anyone to atheism, though maybe in preaching to his own choir, he'll make some of his members feel a bit more superior. I get his sentiments - it is painful to see so much evil in this world committed by those who claim to act for a higher power, but somehow this just didn't seem to be the solution I was looking for. Clearly, however, it did get me thinking.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Hitchens is a complicated man. He is a prolific writer who contributes regularly to Vanity Fair. Politically, he has come out as quite conservative - against abortion, critical of Clinton, and in favor of the war in Iraq. I picked up this book, not because I could think of a single thing I might have in common with this man, but because the title is quite controversial. God is Not Great is Hitchens's all-out attack on religion - of all kinds. Hitchens brings out every argument that is already familiar to everyone - believers and non-believers alike. He goes straight to the texts of the Old Testament, The New Testament and the Koran to point out the logical fallacies inherent in each. He argues against intelligent design. His best arguments (though by the time I got to them, I wasn't really primed to buy anything he was selling) lay in the subtitle of his book, and argued about why and how religion poisons everything. Hitchens talks about the hypocrisy of many religious leaders (and followers) and the heinous crimes that are perpetrated in the name of religion -from holy wars to child abuse. These are ideas that I can get behind, but to me they speak more to the people corrupting religion than they do to religion itself. Ockam's Razor plays big in this book - as it did in Richard Russo's fiction novel The Straight Man, which I read several months ago. It's the principal that the most simple solution is usually the right one - and for Hitchens, attaching the religious myth of creation to what we know is actually science, is hardly simple at all. A recent NY Times Book Review of Hitchens's missive points out that Hitchens is a good friend of Salman Rushdie - a man whose treatment by the Muslim world for writing The Satanic Verses is enough to make anyone question how people can follow any religion - Islam, Judaism, Christianity, or otherwise - which preaches hatred of any kind. I didn't think this book was particularly well written. There were hundreds of ideas with all kinds of support, but they didn't always seem to follow from one paragraph to the next. I suppose in the end, I just found the book a bit frustrating - Hitchens is clearly a man who is so tired of his religious friends giving him grief for not believing. But, to come out swinging against them seems so unnecessary. I don't see his words converting anyone to atheism, though maybe in preaching to his own choir, he'll make some of his members feel a bit more superior. I get his sentiments - it is painful to see so much evil in this world committed by those who claim to act for a higher power, but somehow this just didn't seem to be the solution I was looking for. Clearly, however, it did get me thinking.
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Pretty much the book is his experiences and outlooks on religion. I really enjoyed the book. Its use of real world examples and facts build an unbeatable case against religion. I personally disagree with religion and although i have quite a few good reasons against it Mr. Hitchens's book gives me an arsenal to use against it.
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