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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Average rating: 4/5

Based on 279 ratings

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God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

by HITCHENS CHRISTOPHER

November 20, 2009 | Hardcover

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as "one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time" takes on his biggest subject yet-the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world.

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.
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Reviews

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 5/5

    Hitchen's Eloquence Makes Reading This Book A Engaging Cerebral Experience

    Kenneth Ryan Andres

    2 months ago

    I like that Hitchens' careful research leaves no stone unturned. I have watched a lot of Hitchens' debates on YouTube, and many of what is written in the book were already said in these debates. On addition to Hitchens discourse, he also provides his readers dozens of books and articles which he had used for his book research. All in all, if English is not your strong point, (Hitchens use a lot of unfamiliar words -- the book's vocabulary is way too rich for me) I suggest that you have a dictionary at hand (thankfully, I am using Kobo Touch which has an awesome dictionary).

    I hold a high respect for Christopher Hitchens. Many people may or may not agree with everything that he says, but he does have many persuasive argument when it comes to religion. I highly recommend this book.

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 5/5

    Worth reading - for anyone

    Nancy Newnham

    12 months ago

    Having watched a Christopher Hitchens' lecture on YouTube, I immediately bought this book. He has a way with words, some that to be honest, I had to look up, but he invariably gets his points across with which the reader has full understanding.
    This book is for anyone and everyone - believer and non-believer alike. I admire his respect for people's choices with regard to religion as he states his case.
    My book is dog-earred and I have looked up so many references that he uses to better understand his position.
    This book makes one think, which is what I believe is one of his goals in writing it.
    A serious, controversial subject however for those searching, I highly recommend it.

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 5/5

    Fascinating book!

    David Cavaco

    18 months ago

    Entertaining and witty book by the celebrated Christopher Hitchens on the shortcomings of religion. The book is funny and will have you reading all night. The devout should not be afraid to read this book as it might enlightened.

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    Rating: 1/5

    Terrible

    Trista

    4 years ago

    This book was really disappointing. I think that the idea of the book is intriguing but the author makes it very complicated for people to actually understand what he is trying to say. I think Christopher Hitchens is pompous and I had to stop reading the book after two chapters because it was just that bad.

    Comments on this review:
    Colin Olson

    "...the author makes it very complicated for people to actually understand what he is trying to say" - This says more about you than Hitchens "I think Christopher Hitchens is pompous" - I would say confident rather than pompous but since you admit his writing style was "complicated" you probably misinterpreted the intent of the information being given or you have a really thin definitional difference between confidence and pompous. "I had to stop reading the book after two chapters" - That tends to happen when you find books complicated, they "seem" uninteresting.

    Colin Olson

    "...the author makes it very complicated for people to actually understand what he is trying to say" - This says more about you than Hitchens "I think Christopher Hitchens is pompous" - I would say confident rather than pompous but since you admit his writing style was "complicated" you probably misinterpreted the intent of the information being given or you have a really thin definitional difference between confidence and pompous. "I had to stop reading the book after two chapters" - That tends to happen when you find books complicated, they "seem" uninteresting.

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Details

From the Publisher

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as "one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time" takes on his biggest subject yet-the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world.

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

From the Jacket

Christopher Hitchens, described in the London Observer as "one of the most prolific, as well as brilliant, journalists of our time" takes on his biggest subject yet-the increasingly dangerous role of religion in the world.

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End Of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry of the double helix.

About the Author

Christopher Hitchens is the author of Letters to a Young Contrarian, and the bestseller No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family. A regular contributor to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic Monthly and Slate, Hitchens also writes for The Weekly Standard, The National Review, and The Independent, and has appeared on The Daily Show, Charlie Rose, The Chris Matthew's Show, Real Time with Bill Maher, and C-Span's Washington Journal. He was named one of the world's "Top 100 Public Intellectuals" by Foreign Policy and Britain's Prospect. Christopher Hitchens lives in Washington, D.C.

Hardcover

320 Pages, 6.17 x 9.18 x 1.08 in

November 20, 2009

English


077104142X
9780771041426

From Community

From the Critics

"If God intended reasonable men and women to worship Him without embarrassment, why did He create Christopher Hitchens? It was a fatal miscalculation. In God Is Not Great, Hitchens not only demonstrates that religion is man-made - and made badly - he laughs the whole monstrosity to rubble. This is a profoundly clever book, addressing the most pressing social issue of our time, by one of the finest writers in the land."
-Sam Harris, Author of the New York Times bestsellers The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation

"Noted, often acerbic journalist Hitchens enters the fray. As his subtitle indicates, his premise is simple. Not only does religion poison everything, which he argues by explaining several ways in which religion is immoral, but the world would be better off without religion. … With such chapter titles as "Religion Kills" and "Is Religion Child Abuse?" Hitchens intends to provoke, but he is not mean-spirited and humorless. Indeed, he is effortlessly witty and entertaining as well as utterly rational."
- Booklist ** starred review**

"Do yourself a favor and skip the Dawkins and Harris; they''re smug, turgid, and boring, with all the human feeling of a tax return. Read Hitchens instead. Test your faith severely or find a champion for your feelings, but read Hitchens. It''s a tendentious delight, a caustic and even brilliant book. And with the title alone, he takes his life in his hands, which right there has got to be some proof of his thesis. And so, thank God for Christopher Hitchens."
-Esquire

"Hitchens, one of our great political pugilists, delivers the best of the recent rash of atheist manifestos. The same contrarian spirit that makes him delightful reading as a political commentator, even (or especially) when he''s completely wrong, makes him an entertaining huckster prosecutor once he has God placed in the dock. Hitchens''s one-liners bear the marks of considerable sparring practice with believers.… this is salutary reading as a means of culling believers'' weaker arguments."
-Publishers Weekly

Praise for Christopher Hitchens:

"America's foremost literary pugilist."
-The Village Voice

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