God Is Not Great – Reflections on Hitchens’ Argument

God Is Not Great – Reflections on Hitchens’ Argument

Question

Summary of Mr. Hitchens’ points

Christopher Hitchens makes a number of provocative arguments against religion in his book God Is Not Great. Far from being a force for good as advertised, he argues, religion is a source of irrationality, injustice, sexual oppression, and often horrific violence. Religions Are “Petrified Philosophies” (94), And “to Profer Dogma and Faith To Doubt and Experment Is to Tho The Old Wine and Right Reach Greedily For the Kool-Aid. ” Y, An Illusion of An Illusion Going Back to the Invention of Some Non-Events. “(94)

A short essay (8 pages) examines Hitchens’ argument. Section 1 of the essay (pages 3-4) precisely summarizes Hitchens’ main points in the book. Section 2 (pages 3-4) discusses his claims with reference to his one of the monotheistic traditions. What about “plagiarism”, “hearsay” and “delusion”? Why does “religion kill people”? Why is it “harmful to health”? Do you think Hitchens has a legitimate argument for the traditions you are discussing, and do you think his arguments are persuasive? Or do you argue that the positive attributes of religion reduce the harm it causes? Given that religion is a “nonevent invention”, do you argue that religion has value in relation to the traditions you are talking about? Why or why not?