Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Peter Hitchens, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me To Faith. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010. 224 pp. Hbk. Atheism in the twenty-first-century is a facile form of its counterpart from a previous generation. The abandonment of atheism by Antony Flew before his death in some respects marks the closing of an age of disbelief … Read More “The Rage Against God” »
I am finally finished Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great. Hitchens concludes his book with a couple of chapters in defence of atheism. He anticipates religious responses such as the evil of secular or atheist regimes such as Hitler’s Germany or Stalin’s Soviet Union. One thing I will say in Hitchens’ credit is that at … Read More “The Case for Atheism” »
“As a materialist, I think it has been demonstrated that an embryo is a separate body and entity, and not merely (as some really did used to argue) a growth on or in the female body. There used to be feminists who would say that it was more like an appendix or even-this was seriously … Read More “Christopher Hitchens on Abortion” »
While western religions are normally the target of the harshest criticism, Christopher Hitchens shows he is an equal opportunity critic with his chapter “There is No ‘Eastern” Solution.” As stated before, I am in no position to provide a detailed response as this is not my area. But I have few thoughts. I do appreciate … Read More “Child Abuse and Other Errors” »
Christopher Hitchens asks the question: “Does Religion Make People Behave Better?” I would agree with Hitchens with regard to a negative answer. In fact I would say that religion does not make people do anything. The subtitle of the book “How Religion Poisons Everything” would suggest that Hitchens believes in general religion makes people behave … Read More “Does Religion Make People Behave Better?” »
The chapters in Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great are not getting ver substantive and so I will deal with a number at the same time. These four chapters, “The Koran is Borrowed,” “Tawdriness of the Miraculous,” “Religion’s Corrupt Beginnings,” and “How Religions End” all have something in common: religious examples that should be embarrassing. I … Read More “Sometimes That’s the Way It Is” »
In the next two chapters, Christopher Hitchens takes aim at the Old and New Testaments. I was a little surprised at his chapter “Revelation: The Nightmare of the ‘Old’ Testament” as he did not focus on the difficult passages that I thought he would. In fact Hitchens spent more time on rather silly things such … Read More “Something Old, Something New” »
In his chapter “Arguments From Design” Christopher Hitchens attacks the concept of intelligent design. This was a frustrating chapter in a number of ways. One reason is that Hitchens got off topic quite often. He would be talking about evolution or intelligent design and then would be reminded about something else that ticked him off … Read More “A Poorly Designed Chapter” »
In Hitchens’ chapter “The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False,” he does not really try to prove anything. It is just another chapter of Hitchens taking cheap shots at anything religious. It is all based on sweeping assumptions and not any actual evidence. Hitchens looks at some of the people such as Aquinas or Augustine … Read More “Metaphysical Claims of Religion” »
In Hitchens’ chapter “A Note on Health, to Which Religion Can Be Hazardous,” he continues his tirade against religion. This chapter is really just more of the same. Hitchens’ goal is not to offer a direct link between religious teachings and evil/suffering but rather to just show some of the worst moments in humanity and … Read More “Health, Sex and the End of the World” »
In Hitchens’ chapter “A Short Digression on the Pig,” he attempts to discuss why heaven hates ham. What was the point of this chapter? Simply to poke fun at religion. Since Judaism and Islam share the ban on pork, he gets jabs at two religions. I think Hitchens was just looking for a way to … Read More “Hamming It Up” »
I have just finished reading the chapter “Religion Kills.” It was a very frustrating chapter to read. Hitchens’ argument is that religion seems to lead to greater violence. His evidence is that numerous groups that aligned themselves with religious traditions have been involved in violence. I cannot speak for other religions, such as Islam, regarding … Read More “People Kill” »
I have started reading Christopher Hitchen’s God is Not Great. Since I am reading it any way, I thought I would post short reflections on each of the chapters. Today I am going to respond to his chapter “Putting It Mildly.” As Hitchens begins, he sets the stage with portrayals of religious people as pitiful … Read More “Putting It Strangely” »
I recently finished David Berlinski’s The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions. This is not your typical evangelical Christian response to the new atheism. David Berlinski is a secular Jew who writes as a scientist. His purpose is not to prove evangelical Christianity or even Judaism as the correct religion. His purpose is to … Read More “The Devil’s Delusion” »
As a former atheist, I have been very interested in the direction that the new atheism has gone. Atheism has become much more evangelistic and, in my opinion, has become a religion. Apparently, some atheists are not happy about the new direction and there is disagreement in the camp. You can read about it in … Read More “A Split in the Atheist Camp” »
