god is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens

If the intended reader of this book should want to go beyond disagreement with its author and try to identify the sins and deformities that animated him to write it (and I have certainly noticed that those who publicly affirm charity and compassion and forgiveness are often inclined to take this course), then he or she will not just be quarreling with the unknowable and ineffable creator who-presumably- opted to make this way. They will be defiling the memory of a good, sincere, simple woman, of stable and decent faith, named Mrs. Jean Watts.


Christopher Hitchens, a noted atheist, details all the ways in which religion kills in this book. I've watched him humiliating that idiot Sean Hannity on Fox News (you can find the video here), so I really wanted to read his books. I think he is a bit harsh on religion (it's not all bad), but he certainly piles up a huge list of horrible things that have happened because of religion. He tells of all the bad things that Moses encouraged (stoning your children to death for disobedience), the hypocrisies of Christianity, and how Islam is basically plagiarism of old Jewish and Christian myths. He also details why he believes that the Eastern religions are just as bad. Though Hitchen's view is very one-sided, it was a refreshing book to read, because religion definitely has really bad aspects to it. There are a few funny moments, and Hitchens makes a lot of references to film and literature.

Hitchens recently died of lung cancer. He had Stage 4, and as he put it, "There is no stage 5." He really brought it on himself by smoking so much. But to his credit, he did not renounce his position on his deathbed. Hitchens is complicated. He supported the war in Iraq; that's why Fox News invited him on, because they wanted an "intellectual" who supported the war. Anyway, god is Not Great was an interesting book.

Read god is Not Great:

• if you're an atheist
• if you want to read some of the atheist arguments
• if you like Christopher Hitchens

283 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!