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A review by mattycakesbooks
The Portable Atheist by Christopher Hitchens
4.0
Ugh. I wrote an entire review and then it got deleted before I could save it.
Okay, quick points then:
First: This volume and a lot of the other work of the "new" atheists are extremely useful to those who are halfway between belief and unbelief. This books has the dissections of scripture - the contradictions, the immoralities, the absurdities - which, for someone who hasn't been convinced to leave religion behind, would be eye-opening. But for confirmed atheists, the fight should not be specifically against religion. As plenty of people have noted, it's hard to build a life around a lack of belief.
This isn't to say atheists don't have belief systems: it's just that they're varied and lack elements of the supernatural. Atheism is a very wide field, and you can have anti-theists like Hitchens, libertarians like Penn Jillette, or socialist humanists like Vonnegut all in the same category. What atheists should be doing, alongside deconstructing the absurdities of religion, is developing a rational belief system for people to come to. Otherwise, atheists are just tearing homes and then requesting a thanks for making the residents homeless.
The new home has to be built. Atheists can no longer focus all their attacks on destroying faith. They have to be constructive as well. There are a few prominent unbelievers who have done this pretty well: Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kurt Vonnegut. But these guys don't get as much attention as they probably should. Instead, it's on the firebrands like Hitchens, Dawkins, and Harris.
And yes, I realize the irony of an atheist complaining that the loudest, most extreme voices are the ones getting the most attention.
Second, we need to start recognizing that a fight against religion is a fight against a symptom, not a disease. Economic, racial, and social injustices in the form of lack of access to education, or adequate social support are often at the core of religious belief. It's no coincidence that countries with higher social safety nets and higher levels of education have larger proportions of unbelievers. To fix these social issues is to do half the job.
I had more, but I lost it because I clicked outside of this damn box. I might add more later.
Okay, quick points then:
First: This volume and a lot of the other work of the "new" atheists are extremely useful to those who are halfway between belief and unbelief. This books has the dissections of scripture - the contradictions, the immoralities, the absurdities - which, for someone who hasn't been convinced to leave religion behind, would be eye-opening. But for confirmed atheists, the fight should not be specifically against religion. As plenty of people have noted, it's hard to build a life around a lack of belief.
This isn't to say atheists don't have belief systems: it's just that they're varied and lack elements of the supernatural. Atheism is a very wide field, and you can have anti-theists like Hitchens, libertarians like Penn Jillette, or socialist humanists like Vonnegut all in the same category. What atheists should be doing, alongside deconstructing the absurdities of religion, is developing a rational belief system for people to come to. Otherwise, atheists are just tearing homes and then requesting a thanks for making the residents homeless.
The new home has to be built. Atheists can no longer focus all their attacks on destroying faith. They have to be constructive as well. There are a few prominent unbelievers who have done this pretty well: Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Kurt Vonnegut. But these guys don't get as much attention as they probably should. Instead, it's on the firebrands like Hitchens, Dawkins, and Harris.
And yes, I realize the irony of an atheist complaining that the loudest, most extreme voices are the ones getting the most attention.
Second, we need to start recognizing that a fight against religion is a fight against a symptom, not a disease. Economic, racial, and social injustices in the form of lack of access to education, or adequate social support are often at the core of religious belief. It's no coincidence that countries with higher social safety nets and higher levels of education have larger proportions of unbelievers. To fix these social issues is to do half the job.
I had more, but I lost it because I clicked outside of this damn box. I might add more later.