Author: Christopher Hitchens

Publisher: Twelve

Pub. in: May, 2007

ISBN: 0446579807

Pages: 320

Measurements: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches

Origin of product: USA

Order code: BA00805

Other information: ISBN-13: 978-0446579803

It ranks the #9 in Books out of millions on Amazon.com as of June 1, 2007.

There is a hidden under class of well educated professionals who see the universe with their eyes, who are rational and make decisions based upon evidence. No group has been pushed more underground in America than agnostics and atheists, which has found a voice in the larger mainstream culture. This under class understands that stem cells offer hope, the fossil record proves evolution, and that global warming is real.

Hitchens says his book is a work in progress - he has been writing it all his life and will continue to write it. His chapters are:

1. Religion Kills
2. A Short Digression on the Pig, or, Why Heaven Hates Ham
3. A not on Health, to Which Religion Can Be Hazardous
4. The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False
5. Arguments From Design
6. Revelation: The Nightmare of the "old" Testament
7. The "New" Testament exceeds the Evil of the "Old" One
8. The Tawdriness of the Miraculous and the Decline of Hell
9. "The Lowly Stamp of Their Origin": Religion's Corrupt Beginnings
10. A Coda: How Religions End
11. Does Religion Make People Behave Better
12. There Is No "Eastern" Solution
13. Religion as an Original Sin
14. Is Religion Child Abuse?
15. An Objection Anticipated: The Last-Ditch Case against Secularism
16. A Finer Tradition: The Resistance of the Rational
17. In Conclusion: The Need for a New Enlightenment

Clearly, religions originated in pre-scientific, ignorant times, with the primary motivation being to shield people from a variety of fears: death, darkness, disasters, plagues, and more generally the unknown. In virtually every religion, the fundamental dictates have been revealed in an austere setting such as a desert to a usually illiterate habitant. The author shows that these revelations are no better than religious-making myths, including the story of Moses. In fact, all religions are man-made - not revealed. As the principal interpreters of religious commandments, powerful churches and priesthoods have exercised power to dictate moral standards and to insist upon a rigid belief system with a tortuous death often awaiting those showing insufficient compliance. As the author points out, over most of the last two thousand years, the totalitarian nature of religious regimes, including the vast reach of the Vatican, has rivaled that of any modern state in terms of suppressing and controlling members and residents.

In addition to revelation, a central tenet of religious thinking is that the world is essentially god-designed. Scientific learning over the last two hundred years has completely discredited that view. Fossil records dating back several hundred million years are fully consistent with the evolutionary theory of man evolving from far simpler forms of life. Furthermore, the belief in the perfect design of man is easily refuted in noting the evolutionary imperfections in modern man, such as in the DNA chain or in organs like the eye.

The author counterpoises an approach to life using man's natural ability for "free inquiry, open-mindedness, and the pursuit of ideas." He suggests that art and literature are more relevant in understanding life's difficulties than is scripture. Free-thinking individuals are more than capable of constructing an ethical framework for life with no need for a controlling hierarchy to dictate acceptable behavior. But foremost, most rational thinkers are well aware of their limitations for fully understanding all matters. Healthy skepticism is required when searching for the truth.

The book is not necessarily an easy read as its organization is spotty and the author's erudition often results in overly awkward sentences and obscure references.
- From quoting a reader

Target readers: General readers

Better with The God Delusion :

			2 Buy with : ¥ 516.00
			Quantity:  +112345678910