Misblog

Originally Published July 13, 2007; Updated and Republished August 12, 2008:

God is not Great, by Christopher Hitchens should be on every American high school library shelve, in multiple copies. The book should be on every high school reading list, at all grade levels. Additionally, American high school English and religion teachers should consider incorporating the book into their curriculum for grade levels above sophomore. Hitchen’s begins with a hard hitting “stream of consciousness” assessment of religion’s impact on humanity after asserting that:

WorldCat

“The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his [presumably her, too] certainty belongs to the infancy of our species.”

Hitchens then goes on to pummel major monotheistic religions and religious doctrinaire and the religious. He pauses to invite the faithful to unchain their minds. Mindlessly (or perhaps mockingly) offering, without logic, his personal guarantee that they'll feel better if they do? During this pause he empathizes with those he has implored to unchain their minds by offering his efforts to unchain his mind from Marxist dogma – he says he's still working on it but feels better. After this short pause the pummeling resumes.

If Hitchens’ goal is to lessen or eliminate humanities dependence on religious dogma and doctrinaire (a worthwhile goal) designating the faithful as infant species and thereafter pummeling them does not seem like an optimal strategy? If the faithful are, as asserted, infant species then offering what all infants need, concrete guidance, seems like a more optimal strategy¹. Human infants will not respond well or become free-thinkers via pummeling.

-----notes-----

1. One can certainly appreciate a free-thinker’s frustration when, for example, you observe a group of top 2008 presidential candidates move, in unison, away from Rudy Giuliani because the auditorium lights audio flicker simultaneous with remarks by Giuliani which others interpreted as possibly offending god! As if their omniscience, omnipotent, omnipresent god might mistakenly hit them while striking at Giuliani for his perceived “god offending remark” - this from our future wannabe leaders! (UPDATED: the youtube clip can be viewed here.)

• UPDATED 08/12/2008 Or fourteen cases involving sexual abuse by 10 different priests and two relate to the Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, who pleaded guilty last year to charges he abused five children.- AP, Settlements reached in Chicago clergy abuse cases
• UPDATED 03/12/2008 Or the Roman Catholic priest Athanase Seromba participating in the Rwandan genocide—Seromba ordered bulldozers to level a church, burying alive the Rwandan's hiding therein and ordered extremist gunmen to shoot any Tutsis who tried to flee the bulldozing. (AFP, UN war crimes court sentences Rwandan priest to life)
• UPDATED 02/02/2008 Or the Roman Catholic nun Sister Norma Giannini jailed for abusing young boys - NYT, Wisconsin: Nun Jailed for Sexual Abuse
• UPDATED 12/04/2007 Or the Roman Catholic Diocese of Davenport, Iowa, that settled for $37 million to compensate 156 victims of sexual abuse by clergy - NYT, Diocese in Iowa Settles With Abuse Victims for $37 Million
• UPDATED 11/19/2007 Or the dozen or so Roman Catholic priests in Alaska, who sexually molested over a hundred Alaska Natives children - AP, $50M Priest Abuse Deal Reached in Alaska
• UPDATED 10/10/2007 Or the Argentine Roman Catholic priest, Christian von Wernich, who participated in seven murders, 31 cases of torture, and 42 kidnappings - NYT, Argentine Priest Receives Life Sentence in ‘Dirty War’ Killings
• UPDATED 08/25/2007 Or that Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego files for bankruptcy to avoid 42 (and counting) priest sex abuse cases. Fortunately, the bankruptcy judge has order the trials to proceed notwithstanding the diocese's bankruptcy filing. (see NYT, Church Abuse Trials Ordered in San Diego)
• UPDATED 07/14/2007 Or that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, on the eve of trial, will settle 500 clergy abuse cases for $600 $660 million dollars (read story here).