I love to read. I don't get to do as much of it as I'd like, but I do love it. Though I have a disdain for fundamentalists of any stripe (folks who can't change their minds and won't change the subject), I love my faith (such as it is), and my Church (such as it is). I also like exploring different points of view, to the extent I am able. That mishmash of competing instincts led me to Christopher Hitchens' anti-religion diatribe "God is Not Great".
He trots out a variety of arguments for the proposition that "religion poisons everything" from Islamic and Christian Holy Wars to ad hominem attacks on defenders of religion (calling C.S. Lewis "dreary and absurd". I love Lewis. Read "The Screwtape Letters", if you get the chance). Some of his arguments- for example: that the rituals and particulars of religions, and the writings of those religions are composed by fallible people and not by any deity- have traction; some of them- for example: that Christians' failure to stand up to German fascism was somehow the same thing as killing millions of Jews- do not. He trashes the teachings of Jesus as derivative and the Ten Commandments as more conducive to creating "sin" than effectively helping people. He says that we need a new Enlightenment emphasizing, as many have done for at least hundreds of years, that the proper study for humans is humanity.
While he quotes liberally from both the Pentateuch and the New Testament, Hitchens seems to miss the point: Religions, at least the ones I understand best, are all about relationships between people. You wanna love God? Love his people and treat them the way you want to be treated. The Golden Rule is in both Leviticus (not my favorite chapter, but I liked this verse, anyway) and Matthew (Matthew's account here is very active and specific). Hitchens is a clever fellow, and an atheist since his childhood, but by adopting an "anti" philosophy he's painted himself in a corner. He admits that the pervasiveness of religion strikes at some basic need humans have (citing Freud's "Future of an Illusion"), and his own struggle to find truth included embracing- then rejecting- Marxism. He takes glee in his attempt to knock down religious faith, but he offers no answers other than the "Care-Bear" weight argument lifted from Animal House's Faber College that "Knowledge is Good". Come to think of it, Hitchens isn't that different from his early hero: Karl Marx did a pretty good job trashing capitalism, but in the end, he offered no plausible alternative to it. History judged Marx wrong; I can't imagine Hitchens will do much better.
I was born in Montana, raised in Tampa, and reside in a small town in the lowcountry of South Carolina with the Lovely Lady Di, and son Tyler. Walterboro (the 'Boro) has about 5,100 residents. It's a moderately interesting place. I work in the public defender's office representing poor people charged with crimes. Some of them did it. Some of them didn't do it. Some are not very nice, a lot of them are just regular Joes with a huge plate of bad luck.
I'm a moderately interesting fellow, who has the good fortune to know or be related to some very interesting people. Is there anyone out there?
I love to read. I don't get to do as much of it as I'd like, but I do love it. Though I have a disdain for fundamentalists of any stripe (folks who can't change their minds and won't change the subject), I love my faith (such as it is), and my Church (such as it is). I also like exploring different points of view, to the extent I am able. That mishmash of competing instincts led me to Christopher Hitchens' anti-religion diatribe "God is Not Great". 
He trots out a variety of arguments for the proposition that "religion poisons everything" from Islamic and Christian Holy Wars to ad hominem attacks on defenders of religion (calling C.S. Lewis "dreary and absurd". I love Lewis. Read "The Screwtape Letters", if you get the chance). Some of his arguments- for example: that the rituals and particulars of religions, and the writings of those religions are composed by fallible people and not by any deity- have traction; some of them- for example: that Christians' failure to stand up to German fascism was somehow the same thing as killing millions of Jews- do not. He trashes the teachings of Jesus as derivative and the Ten Commandments as more conducive to creating "sin" than effectively helping people. He says that we need a new Enlightenment emphasizing, as many have done for at least hundreds of years, that the proper study for humans is humanity. 
While he quotes liberally from both the Pentateuch and the New Testament, Hitchens seems to miss the point: Religions, at least the ones I understand best, are all about relationships between people. You wanna love God? Love his people and treat them the way you want to be treated. The Golden Rule is in both Leviticus (not my favorite chapter, but I liked this verse, anyway) and Matthew (Matthew's account here is very active and specific). Hitchens is a clever fellow, and an atheist since his childhood, but by adopting an "anti" philosophy he's painted himself in a corner. He admits that the pervasiveness of 
religion strikes at some basic need humans have (citing Freud's "Future of an Illusion"), and his own struggle to find truth included embracing- then rejecting- Marxism. He takes glee in his attempt to knock down religious faith, but he offers no answers other than the "Care-Bear" weight argument lifted from Animal House's Faber College that "Knowledge is Good". Come to think of it, Hitchens isn't that different from his early hero: Karl Marx did a pretty good job trashing capitalism, but in the end, he offered no plausible alternative to it. History judged Marx wrong; I can't imagine Hitchens will do much better.
4 comments:
indeed, christopher hitchens is anti everything. that worldview gets exhausting for sure. but it is amusing to visit every once in a while.
He is definitely witty and very sharp. I enjoyed reading the book, even though I didn't agree with most of it.
Relgion is a good thing in moderation :)
Well said, well spoken, well put.
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