God Is Not Great
Cover of the first edition
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| Author | Christopher Hitchens |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Criticism of religion |
| Publisher | Twelve Books |
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Publication date
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May 1, 2007 |
| Media type | Hardcover, paperback, audiobook |
| Pages | 307 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 70630426 |
| 200 22 | |
| LC Class | BL2775.3 .H58 2007 |
God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything is a 2007 book by Anglo-American author and journalist Christopher Hitchens, in which he makes a case against organized religion. It was published by Atlantic Books in the United Kingdom as God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion.
Hitchens posited that organised religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children" and sectarian, and that accordingly it "ought to have a great deal on its conscience." He supports his position with a mixture of personal stories, documented historical anecdotes and critical analysis of religious texts. His commentary focuses mainly on the Abrahamic religions, although it also touches on other religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The book received mixed reviews, but sold well.
Hitchens writes that, at the age of nine, he began to question the teachings of his Bible instructor, and began to see critical flaws in apologetic arguments, most notably the argument from design. He discusses people who become atheists, describing some as people who have never believed, others are those who have separately discarded religious traditions. He asserts that atheists who disagree with each other will eventually side together on whatever the evidence most strongly supports. He discusses why human beings have a tendency towards being "faithful" and argues that religion will remain entrenched in the human consciousness as long as human beings cannot overcome their primitive fears, particularly that of their own mortality. He concludes by saying that he would not want to eradicate religion if the faithful would "leave him alone," but ultimately they are incapable of this.
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