Saturday, May 12, 2007
Book Review: God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - Christopher Hitchens - Books - Review - New York Times: "And God should be flattered: unlike most of those clamoring for his attention, Hitchens treats him like an adult."
Kinsley wrote the above line to close out a chummy review of Hitchy's latest release. Hitchy does, however, deserve a great review. The book is fantastic. I have joked every since he announced it a couple of years ago that it would only be a small matter of time before he would get death threats from the Churchies for writing a book advocating atheism. He says in the book, in effect, that he has gotten used to death threats over the years from various kinds of zealots.
I was wondering as I read the book what kind of impact it might have on me. It doesn't take a reader long on this blog to see that I hold this man in far too high esteem. I know that and wanted to make sure as I read it that I was processing it. I wanted to read with the same kind of wrinkled brow that I read others' works. I never want to become the person that just repeats someone else's argument as my own because I am too lazy to think through it for myself. I know I have done that, but I don't want to do it in the future.
Prior to reading the book, I was somewhat resigned to the fact that, even though I am not religious and certainly see religious texts as literature, that I tend to religiosity at difficult times, ie 9/11. Another thing readers of this blog will no doubt know for sure is that I have never and will never get over the Catholic Church and Popey Dict's handling of the Child Rape Scandal, and really his handling of the issue before there was a scandal. Having read the book and having about a week to process it, I think that the book gave people like me a feeling of solid ground from which to believe the things we were already believing. Here's what I mean. My Dad and I talk about a guy he went to college with who posited, "Would it be so bad if we just died?" The answer to that question right after a loss is yes, because we don't want to lose loved ones. At a time when emotions are not so high, when we can be more practical, just dying is actually okay (and certainly better than risking eternal hell).
This book is practical and brings up a ton more reasons and evidence to further his opinions than I ever could have. Just another good Hitchens read. Go figure.
Kinsley wrote the above line to close out a chummy review of Hitchy's latest release. Hitchy does, however, deserve a great review. The book is fantastic. I have joked every since he announced it a couple of years ago that it would only be a small matter of time before he would get death threats from the Churchies for writing a book advocating atheism. He says in the book, in effect, that he has gotten used to death threats over the years from various kinds of zealots.
I was wondering as I read the book what kind of impact it might have on me. It doesn't take a reader long on this blog to see that I hold this man in far too high esteem. I know that and wanted to make sure as I read it that I was processing it. I wanted to read with the same kind of wrinkled brow that I read others' works. I never want to become the person that just repeats someone else's argument as my own because I am too lazy to think through it for myself. I know I have done that, but I don't want to do it in the future.
Prior to reading the book, I was somewhat resigned to the fact that, even though I am not religious and certainly see religious texts as literature, that I tend to religiosity at difficult times, ie 9/11. Another thing readers of this blog will no doubt know for sure is that I have never and will never get over the Catholic Church and Popey Dict's handling of the Child Rape Scandal, and really his handling of the issue before there was a scandal. Having read the book and having about a week to process it, I think that the book gave people like me a feeling of solid ground from which to believe the things we were already believing. Here's what I mean. My Dad and I talk about a guy he went to college with who posited, "Would it be so bad if we just died?" The answer to that question right after a loss is yes, because we don't want to lose loved ones. At a time when emotions are not so high, when we can be more practical, just dying is actually okay (and certainly better than risking eternal hell).
This book is practical and brings up a ton more reasons and evidence to further his opinions than I ever could have. Just another good Hitchens read. Go figure.
