questions that demand a response from "religion"

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first book I've read by any of the famed "Four Horsemen of New Atheism". I would like to read at least one selection by each, but this is my first. I heard Hitchens interviewed a while back on NPR, prior to his death, and found (not surprisingly) that I was in agreement with most of his criticisms of religion. I read this book hoping to get an accurate picture of his views. I was initially disappointed as I started into it, because while the author points out valid issues, he does so in a ranting way. But as I finish (perhaps gaining the ability to "filter out" the ranting), I find in the book an excellent summary of the case against religion, as well as a good (certainly not complete) collection of the questions that should be asked of religion. And a response should be demanded by thinking people of reason. Aside from the ranting style of this book, i see it as a good starting place for people who are genuinely seeking Truth, rather than staying satisfied with dogma and delusion. In ending, a nested quote from the book:

"The true value of a man is not determined by his possession, supposed or real, of Truth, but rather by his sincere exertion to get to the Truth. It is not possession of the Truth, but rather the pursuit of Truth by which he extends his powers and in which his ever-growing perfectibility is to be found. Possession makes one passive, indolent, and proud. If God were to hold all Truth concealed in his right hand, and in his left only the steady and diligent drive for Truth, albeit with the proviso that I would always and forever err in the process, and to offer me the choice, I would with all humility take the left hand." - Gotthold Lessing, Anti-Goeze (1778)

View all my reviews