Posted on 03/25/2010 5:43:23 AM PDT by rhema
I have read Christopher Hitchens’s book God Is Not Great twice, in preparation for a book I have co-written with Biola University philosopher Dr. John Mark Reynolds. Due to come out this spring, our book is titled Against All Gods: What’s Right and Wrong About the “New Atheism.” Because not all readers may know at once who the new atheists are, I will say that they are a group of very fervent opponents of “religion,” of whom the best known are zoologist and science popularizer Richard Dawkins, Tufts University philosopher Daniel Dennett, and Hitchens.
What is new about these atheists is not their arguments, which will be familiar to anyone who has read the classics of religious skepticism. The new element that has made these writers famous or notorious is their insistence that it is time not just to stop believing in religion, but to stop treating religion with any respect whatsoever.
Hitchens’s book is one of the most readable of the new atheist polemics. Nearly everything he writes is lively and engaging because he is a highly skilled writer and a clever advocate who often brings up points that are worth pondering seriously, along with others that are downright frivolous.
On the frivolous side, Hitchens likes to deflate supposedly great men by calling them “mammals,” but this derisory term brings in the problem of self-reference. While Hitchens never refers to the authorities on his side as “mammals,” reserving that category for those whom he wishes to belittle, it will not escape the reader that if “great men” are only mammals, then so are scientists, including the esteemed Charles Darwin and the not-quite-so-esteemed Richard Dawkins, and so, of course, is Hitchens himself. Which raises the question: Why should we take seriously any speculation by a mere mammal, or even
(Excerpt) Read more at touchstonemag.com ...
If there were no God, there would be no atheist.
‘..but to stop treating religion with any respect whatsoever’
I wonder if Christopher Hitchens has the cajones to tell our black brothers and sisters that their Sunday services do not deserve any respect along with telling the Islamic community that Allah is a pipe dream??
No accounting for universal, invariant, abstract concepts.
No basis for ethical absolutes.
No basis for any absolutes.
That's Atheism. The opiate of the pseudo-intellectual.
ping
The only argument I see is that all religions are equally valid. Or else, equally invalid. You, of course, get to choose what is true. In other words...opinion. And all opinions are absolutely correct.
However, God really loves them too, as hard as their immature view is to take at times.
As much as they anger me too, He loves them as much as he loves you.
In the end, God is so great, that they will beleive in him someday as well, maybe not here, but infinity is a long time and unlike God we change continually.
That was good about no God, no Atheist. That would be a great slogan back at them!! How funny! No but seriously Freeps.
Atheist credo:
1) There is no God
2) I hate Him.
Holy Atheists. That’s exactly what they are.
The fact that they are unable to take an objective look at history and compare the murders-per-year under communism (any communism, anywhere) and the murders-per-year under Christianity and see clearly that one is a distinct evil where the other isn’t... that fact shows they are blinded by their faith.
Leftism is about envy and bringing people down to the mediocre. Among many other things, leftists envy those with religion, especially members of affuent churches. They envy the religious for their extra level of confidence and motivation and their social standing. And they know religious people have a strong competitive advantage in war, both politically in fighting off envious hostility, and on the battlefield with real bullets. To win against their cultural betters, they must ridicule and corrupt their prey’s competitive advantages.
I never understood the point of leaping from atheism to communism in these discussions. What does communism have to do with it?
Communists always impose atheism. Socialists would do this too but lack sufficient authority so they mainly nip at religion from the sides. While atheism itself is not leftist, atheistic advocacy usually is. People actively trying to bring down others and their culture in envy are leftists.
It’s something like; If we are not created, then we evolved. And not only do lifeforms evolve, social structures evolve’ and communism is at the top of the social structure food chain.
I doubt that anyone would listen to Hitchens if he didn’t have the english accent to lend an air of respectability to his bigoted polemic.
Guys like Hitchens and Dawkins are merely vicious little twerps who have found an outlet where they can get away with being vicious little twerps. In any other settings they would get their teeth knocked out.
I have the same reaction to Hitchens. I do think he's both intelligent and entertaining. He's completely wrong about God, but so is most of the world. It's hard to blame a blind man for stumbling. We can pray for him.
Are you saying logic doesn’t apply to religion?
I’ve got one question...does God hate the wicked?
He punishes the wicked, because he hates their wickedness.
Psalm 11:5, "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and the one who loves violence His soul hates."
Lev. 20:23, "Moreover, you shall not follow the customs of the nation which I shall drive out before you, for they did all these things, and therefore I have abhorred them."
Prov. 6:16-19, "There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers."
Hosea 9:15, "All their evil is at Gilgal; indeed, I came to hate them there! Because of the wickedness of their deeds I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; All their princes are rebels."
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