New Book: God is Not Great

[McBif]

God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everthing

 

Anybody read Christopher Hitchens' latest effort? I was lucky: number 300 in the waiting list at the local library but I miraculously got hold of it last week.

 

If you appreciate solid English polemical prose, Hitchens won't disappoint you. If you like to share a scornful laugh or two at various groups of vacuous idiots, he's your man.

 

My only (and serious) objection to the book's thesis is that Hitchens assumes everyone is or can be an intellectual. I'm an atheist myself - at least as radical as Hitchens is - but I still agree with the ancient Greek philosophers who argued that the People must have some sort of faith; that they are and always will be incapable of transcending day-to-day experience through art, reflection or science, and that they therefore must have religion: preferably organized religion.

 

If they don't get that faith, then their (our) hardwired religious impulse will be satisfied in some other way. Thus today the mob will worship celebrities at best, and who knows what at worst.

 

Anyway, Hitchens doesn't even consider this objection. So nothing has changed since Bertrand Russell began writing his brilliant anti-religious agit-prop 80-odd years ago.

 

I read the book twice in four or five sittings. Recommended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[chuckwoww]

Not read it yet McBif but I did come across this the other day on the Daily Mail website of all places.

 

I get the impression Mr. Hitchens is as passionate in his unbelief as others are in belief.

[carew66]

The Hitchens Brothers: The Liam and Noel of the chattering classes. Love 'em both.

[Flashermac]

Atheism is a religious belief. Too many seem to think it is not.

 

 

[carew66]

Atheism is a religious belief. Too many seem to think it is not.

 

 

Indeed, sir.

 

[chuckwoww]

Atheism is a religious belief. Too many seem to think it is not.

 

 

That depends on your definition of religion.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

[Faustian]

It's not a religious belief....really, a lot of religious types use that as an argument, it's just silly! Atheism is the absence of belief....people try to make it into something it's not all the time.

 

Hardwired religious response McBif?? Nope...i think there's a desire to conform in built, a need to congregate with a collective understanding, so we feel 'part' of something, research proves this....also there's evidence to suggest increased levels of Dopamine are found in those of a 'spiritual' leaning...but not all of us are wired the same. I've explored most religions, looked at the doctrines...nothing even remotely interests me. It's all so obviously garbage, that i'm embarassed for our species that so many of us are so pathetic and easily duped.

[Flashermac]

I didn't say that atheism is a religion, which it obviously is not. It is the belief that all religions are wrong and there is nothing to believe in. And that is clearly a religious belief or at least a belief about religion.

 

 

[chuckwoww]

Maybe it would be more accurate to call atheism a non-religious belief.

[Flashermac]

It's a matter of semantics. I've read that King Mongkut (Rama IV) said to one of his brothers about Buddhism, "Ours is a rather agnostic religion."