God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
by Christopher Hitchens
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Book Summary Information
Author: Christopher HitchensEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-04-06
ISBN: 0446697966
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Twelve
Book Reviews of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
Book Review: A therapeutic romp
Summary: 5 Stars
What can I write that hasn't already been said about the character that is Christopher Hitchens. Yes he is a contrarian, his humor can be dark, incisive, and cutting to those who agree with him and mean-spirited and strident to those who don't. But this book isn't written to gain new converts, it is mostly candy for atheists. Mr Hitchens says in the book that he doesn't think religious belief will ever end and he isn't in the business of telling people what to think. He is looking for the rational crowd to be more outspoken to ensure that this voice is heard. A book like this shouldn't have to be written. To most rational people, a book on this subject is directly equivalent to a dense treatise on whether Santa Claus can plausibly deliver all those presents in one night. But this book does provide a place for us all to vent our frustration at the dominant role that ludicrous beliefs have had in the public square. But while I don't think he will gain many converts, the New Atheists have definitely initiated a call-to-arms to be more vocal about our ridicule of religion. This may be the lasting impact of books such as this. The fact that Christopher Hitchens won't gain new converts isn't a discredit to his arguments, it is merely a statement on the inertia of changing peoples minds on a topic they hold near and dear. Most people are taught from their impressionable years onwards that religious claims are true. Religion provides false but comforting answers to questions of death, suffering, meaning and justice. The atheist can't exactly go door to door to say, 'surprise there is no god', 'when you die, you are gone for eternity', or other not-made-for-Hallmark statements. But like the author, I prefer the reality we find ourselves in. We only have one chance in this world. Each kiss to your wife, kind word to a friend, good deed done, every sunset on the beach, could be your last. As William Burroughs once said, 'Life is a vacation from two eternities, who wants to waste those precious years worrying about what happens when you get back to forever". I find the description of reality and the creation myths of the world's religions to be boring and uninspired. I side with the Reverend Carl Sagan in a spirit of wonder and awe at the true nature of our universe and our evolution. If only religions had tapped in to the true magnificence of our universe, instead of the narrow path they had chosen. But our hopes about the reality of the universe have no bearing on their truth. I believe that there are two options, either god is evil or he doesn't exist. Thankfully the latter is true and we are spared an oppressive god who disproportionately starves poor African children, sends tsunamis after poor villages and decides who wins football games. I can hear the grumbles already, that god gives suffering to test our faith, to break us down so we can come to believe in him. Aren't there more subtle ways for an all-powerful deity to teach us lessons, isn't this method of inflicting suffering on the world to get a point across a bit barbaric and why does god disproportionately teach lessons to those who are poor and dark-skinned. Either way, I could go on and on but this topic kind of bores me. There are no good arguments for a belief in god. But this is a very entertaining book about a great writers favorite topic, you can't go wrong. You should be thoroughly entertained by this therapeutic romp at the expense of the absurdities that have dominated the social sphere underneath the domain of religion. But most rationalists won't get anything new from it.
Summary of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetryof the double helix.
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