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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything | 
| Author: Christopher Hitchens
Publisher: Atlantic Books
Category: Book
List Price: £8.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  21 reviews
Sales Rank: 839
Media: Paperback
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5.1 x 1
ISBN: 1843545748
EAN: 9781843545743
ASIN: 1843545748
Publication Date: March 1, 2008
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| Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Good book, not a great book September 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
You cannot come to this book a neutral. You either have faith in which case you may curious to see what the latest atheist thinking is or you are an atheist looking for a book that helps clarify your views. I am the latter but I even I had issues with it.
Firstly while I am worried about the rise of fundamentalism in all religions and can plainly see that religion has caused much unnecessary suffering in the world, I don't like the fact that this book is so aggressive itself. This book is a rant and while a rant can be fun, over nearly 300 pages it becomes exhausting.
The logic is faultless but the writing is aggressive bordering on arrogant and maybe this style is necessary in a debate with a fundamentalist Christian on a cable channel but in a book like this surely there's an opportunity to take the higher ground and argue the logic with dignity. Too often there are snide comments which don't add anything to the argument and actually make the author sound petty.
I would like to think that atheists could argue the logic without getting nasty but Hitchens falls at the second point. I can now see why so many of the faithful find atheism so distasteful because while both Hitchens and Dawkins have done their homework and know their stuff and have arguments that can't be denied by anyone with half a brain, it's told in a rather sanctimonious and aggressive manner which perhaps stops a few people from listening and changing their views.
True the faithful don't use any charm against unbelievers and they rant longer and harder than Hitchens ever could but I think atheists are better than that, and should argue the case with a smile not a sneer. This book actually dents that belief for me.
 Should this be "Man is not Great?" August 10, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is a "tour de force". Hitchen takes us on a helter skelter ride through the anomalies of revealed religion. Muslims, Christians and Jews are not spared as he cuts a swathe through the Bible and the Koran and their purported inaccuracies.Buddhists and Hindus fare no better. He takes no prisoners and his arguments certainly provide much to ponder in terms of our own belief.
Hitchens has not reinvented the wheel, however, and questions about the mythological construct of, for example, the New Testament, have already been addressed by theologians. Firstly, David Strauss writing in the early 19th century wrote three volumes on the Life of Jesus and painstakingly analysed the so called mythological context of the Canon. Later another German theologian, Rudolf Bultmann, similarly treated the reported life of Jesus in the Bible as being a mythology.
There are many other books which touch on Hitchen's subject and they all seem to possess a certain anger in their reportage. Be that as it may, there is no doubt that Christopher Hitchens' book, incidentally an International best seller, gives the general reader an insight in to the idiosyncracies of religion as practised by human beings.Hence should we say "Man is not Great". What it probably does not do is provide for the non existence of God or answer the question regarding "first cause" as such. His argument is very much against the theory and practise of monotheistic religion and, for those who would have it, provides a very convincing case.
However, whilst Church attendances decline and the Muslim population of Europe increases, how long will it be before explorations into religiosity are permitted with impunity and not subject to the terrifying sanctions as described in Hitchen's book. Although I do not necessarily agree with all the contentions of the author, there is, nevertheless, much that has the "ring of truth" despite the patent cynicism. This is an immensely readable book and a delight for the enquiring mind even if you do not accept all that is written. The book is given the category "politics" rather than religion.That's what it says on the back cover. It is not a theological book by any standard being written for the "man in the street". It has more in common with the study of religious anthropology, that is how certain groups have built up customs and beliefs in the practise of their faith which manifest themselves in certain attributes which may be anathema to others, especially male and female circumcision.One thing is for certain and that is not all religions can be true as such.
The book's title is slightly misleading as there appears to be no attempt to philosophically justify God's non existence.This would demand an altogether different book. It is refreshing that such books are written as they stimulate discussion and thoughts on how we conduct our religious lives if, indeed, we have one at all.
Terse, But Vehement, Argument Against Religion That Deserves A Wide Readership August 9, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Veteran journalist Christopher Hitchens' latest book, "God is not Great", deserves both the ample praise and popular interest that it has garnered so far. Though some may regard it as a terse polemic that is quite hostile towards religion, it is nonetheless a well-written, well-reasoned one that's often quite persuasive. Hitchens has made a most compelling case alerting us to the danger posed by religious indoctrination through a careful study of the principal religious texts of the three great monotheistic faiths whose origins lie in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. In this regard, it is more valuable as a book highly critical of organized religion than Richard Dawkins' "The God Delusion", since Dawkins has the more enviable, and quite difficult, task of defending the religious rationale for Atheism, while also demonstrating just how modern evolutionary biology remains a fine example of valid, modern science. Hitchens dispenses with Dawkins' favorable advocacy of Atheism completely, using his book instead to show how a blind, strict adherence to religious dogma tends to stifle, not to promote, one's interest in critical reasoning. Without question, Hitchens' assertion is one that will leave many readers quite unsettled in their personal thoughts, even if they've prepared themselves for the worst by duly noting the very title of this book.
Hitchens presents his case on the evil nature of devout religious faith in the opening chapters of "God is not Great". He begins with a persuasive first chapter, noting the relevance of logical, rational thought as one that's substantially far more preferable than blind adherence to one's religious faith, pointing out the high cost in human lives as the tragic consequence of following religious dogma, drawing upon his personal eyewitness accounts of both the earliest phases of the Lebanese civil war to sectarian strife in Ireland, referring often to that pernicious invention of humanity known as GOD. A theme he explores further in the next chapter, the provocatively entitled "Religion Kills", where he recounts his own experiences covering the religiously-motivated civil war in mid 1990s Yugoslavia, and demonstrates how religious dogma has inadvertently led to the deaths of patients who could have been treated of their ailments if they had not opted to remain so devoutly committed to their faith by refusing proper medical treatment. Then he explores the validity of the longstanding religious taboo against pork, by noting the pig's importance as one of humanity's earliest domesticated animals, praising both its keen intelligence and ability to exist on an omnivorous diet. Last, but not least, he takes a long, hard look at religion's metaphysical claims and the classic "Argument from Design", which has reared its long-repudiated "head" once more as the "scientific theory" known as Intelligent Design. His elegant refutation of Intelligent Design is among the most lucid I have come across from an educated lay-person like himself.
The remainder of the book is devoted to his own determined assault upon religion, in which he questions the wisdom of adhering closely to religious dogma; it is an assault that should be regarded as persuasive, given the extensive evidence he provides. The questions he asks are provocative. Just how evil are the two testaments that comprise the Christian bible (Readers will be stunned to read that the New Testament may be far more bloody in its orientation than the earlier Old Testament; itself one not noticed for subtlety in its depiction of heinous crimes and harsh punishments meted out to those who are guilty.)? Is religion absolutely necessary to ensure that people act decently towards others? Is religious indoctrination a form of child abuse? Should we regard religious belief as an "Original Sin"? To what extent is Islam a truly independent monotheistic faith, and not one whose teachings have been borrowed extensively from both Judaism and Christianity? Finally Hitchens concludes on an optimistic note, urging the birth of a new Enlightenment - one that he believes could be the destiny of everyone, not just an intellectual elite - based on "the proposition that the proper study of mankind is man, and woman", and emphasizing the "pursuit of unfettered scientific inquiry". An optimistic note, which, unfortunately, may be lost to some readers who've become hostile to Hitchens' assault upon religion, but an assault which is worthwhile if only to underscore the pernicious nature of religious dogma in stifling both critical reasoning and the pursuit of well-reasoned rational inquiry. Without question, Hitchens' "God is not Great" is one of the most important books not only of 2007, but also of this decade.
Yay! Something my book relates too Deathday by Eugene Bruce July 21, 2008
0 out of 6 found this review helpful
Deathday by Eugene Bruce being an impoverished author i won't apologise for shamelessly promoting my debut novel Deathday by Eugene Bruce And it'll explain everything you wanted to know about the truth about religion! Or is it just a mickey take? The latter! - I'd very much appreciate you checking it out that's DEATHDAY by EUGENE BRUCE
In a word, brilliant June 30, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Unlike the Bible, the Koran, the Mahabharata and other religious texts, this book is based on history, archaeological findings and textual analysis. It also requires the reader to employ common sense and logic. I felt wonderfully uplifted after having read this work and I will recommend it to anyone who would be interested in rational reading.
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