"God Is Not Great" - Book Review: Peter Hitchens vs Christopher Hitchens

Daily Mail - UK ^ | 2nd June 2007 | PETER HITCHENS

[rface]

Some of you may know that I have a brother, Christopher, who disagrees with me about almost everything.

Some of those who read his books and articles also know that I exist, though they often dislike me. But in general we inhabit separate worlds – in more ways than one.

He is of the Left, lives in the United States and recently became an American citizen. I am of the Right and, after some years in Russia and America, live in the heart of England. Occasionally we clash in public.

Family differences: Christopher Hitchens and Peter have disagreed
about politics and about the invasion of Iraq - now they are arguing about God...

But now, in God Is Not Great, he has written about religion itself, attacking it as a stupid delusion.

This case, I feel, needs an answer. Most of the British elite will applaud, since they see religion as an embarrassing and (worse) unfashionable form of mania.

And I am no less qualified to defend God than Christopher is to attack him, neither of us being experts on the subject.

Christopher is an atheist. I am a believer. He once said in public: "The real difference between Peter and myself is the belief in the supernatural.

"I’m a materialist and he attributes his presence here to a divine plan. I can’t stand anyone who believes in God, who invokes the divinity or who is a person of faith."

I don’t feel the same way. I like atheists and enjoy their company, because they agree with me that religion is important.

I liked and enjoyed this book, and recommend it to anybody who is interested in the subject. Like everything Christopher writes, it is often elegant, frequently witty and never stupid or boring.

[rface]

a very interesting column that made me see Chris. in a very different light....a human light, minus the intellectual elite aura that he tries to armor himself with

[Obie Wan]

Yeah Christopher Hitchens is a REAL class act,NOT !!!

[weegee]

“I have no brother...”

[VOA]

It was interesting to see/hear Christopher Hitchens today on BookTV.
And that for an atheist, he falls back on scripture when is trying to
make a point in a public forum

He used a passage from the book of Job when making a cautionary note
about the sometimes adversarial nature of writing book reviews:

To wit:
Job 31:35
35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty
would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book.

[Richard from IL]

ping

[airborne]

Satan's greatest trick was convincing people that he doesn't exist !!

[denydenydeny]

Rather more recently I have realised the great warning against human arrogance that is contained in it, the serpent’s silky promise that if we reject the supposedly foolish, trivial restrictions imposed on us by an interfering, jealous nuisance of a God, then we shall be liberated. As the serpent promises: "Ye shall be as gods." These may be the most important words in the whole Bible. Take the enticing satanic advice, and you arrive, quite quickly, at revolutionary terror, at the invention of the atom bomb, at the torture chamber and the building of concentration camps for those unteachable morons who do not share your vision of a just world.

Love this quote.

[caveat emptor]

Like everything Christopher writes, it is often elegant, frequently witty and never stupid or boring.

Brother is being kind, ironic, or can't have read much of his stuff, which is often like schoolyard taunts, usually very verbal, though not always.

Maybe this is a clue:
Christopher describes how at the age of nine he concluded that his teacher’s claim that the world must be designed was wrong. "I simply knew, almost as if I had privileged access to a higher authority, that my teacher had managed to get everything wrong."

Can't get past his own "brilliance" at age 9 ?

[elhombrelibre]

That was an interesting article. It’s funny how the Socialist atheist brother supports Bush and his brother, a sincere believer in God and a right-winger obviously believes Bush is a dope. People can reach conclusions for a lot of different reasons.

[Sans-Culotte]

From the article: "He (Christopher) even suggests that the atheist Soviet tyranny was itself a form of religion".

Well, there can be little doubt that when Stalin destroyed the churches and exiled or executed the priests, that he portrayed himself and the State as all the religion anyone needed.

Peter concludes with "If you do not worship God, you end up worshiping power, whether it is Kim Jong Il, Leon Trotsky or the military might of George W. Bush. In which case, God help you".

This is basically in agreement with Christopher's statement about Soviet Russia. In any case, Christopher is a leftist, and I am surprised so many freepers find him interesting. The only thing he as ever agreed on with the right is the war and the fact that B.J. Clinton was a loser.

[curiosity]

Peter's book, the Abolition of Britain, is a must read.

[VOA]

“Peter’s book, the Abolition of Britain, is a must read.”

Thanks for the tip.
For the forum, here’s a link to it...and just to be fair to Christopher,
a link to a book he’s written (which sounded interesting in a radio interview):

The Abolition of Britain: From Winston Churchill to Princess Diana
by Peter Hitchens
http://www.amazon.com/Abolition-Britain-Winston-Churchill-Princess/dp/1893554392/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-2930616-0688412?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180845583&sr=8-1

Thomas Jefferson: Author of America (Eminent Lives)
by Christopher Hitchens
http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Jefferson-Author-America-Eminent/dp/0060598964/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2/105-2930616-0688412?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1180845673&sr=8-2

[irv]

Yeah, I have a brother who's a pain in the rear sometimes, too. Sometimes, it seems like that's mostly what little brothers are for.

[VOA]

Peter concludes with "If you do not worship God, you end up worshiping
power, whether it is Kim Jong Il, Leon Trotsky or the military might
of George W. Bush. In which case, God help you".

This is basically in agreement with Christopher's statement about Soviet Russia.

Peter Hitchens is echoing Malcolm Muggeridge on this.
IIRC, Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias said Muggeridge told him
that in the abscence of G-d, modern man would find something to
worship...and it would be figures like A. Hitler or Hugh Hefner.

In other words, we'd just worship raw power and/or eroticism.

[curiosity]

That was an interesting article. It’s funny how the Socialist atheist brother supports Bush and his brother, a sincere believer in God and a right-winger obviously believes Bush is a dope.

The travestly of an immigration bill that Bush is currently pushing, Harriet Miers, "Hell-of-a-Job" Brown, and countless other examples of incompetence has convinced this right winger that Peter is correct. And I'm not alone. Did you read Peggy Noonan's latest article in the WSJ?

Right wingers should not excuse incompetence and stupidity among people who claim to be one of us. Of course, Bush's claim to be a conservative are false, as proved by the above examples along with many others (such as his runaway spending). If only more pubbies in 2000 would have realized that he was an incompetent fraud, maybe we could have nominated someone decent.

And yet, even having known in 2000 that he was a fraud and no conservative, I voted for him twice. Such is our system, in which we are forced to choose the lesser of two evils. My only surprise has been that the degree to which he was a lesser evil than Gore turned out to be much smaller than I anticipated.

[Cacique]

btt

[rockinqsranch]

“Yeah, I have a brother who’s a pain in the rear sometimes, too. Sometimes, it seems like that’s mostly what little brothers are for.”

If you are like my Older Brother, then perhaps you are Arrogant, Obnoxious, Self Centered, and a Boor as well.

You expect less from your “Little Brother”?

[irv]

If you are like my Older Brother, then perhaps you are Arrogant, Obnoxious, Self Centered, and a Boor as well.

Luke? Is that you?

[elhombrelibre]

Conservatives should always be skeptical that the government leads to competence and efficiency, even when the person in charge is the closest of the two candidates to our own thinking.

[Intolerant in NJ]

Bump...