(A line from the song “God” by This is something my mother would write if she were a blogger, so I’ll attempt to do her justice in this regard (trying to communicate her thoughts on this subject).
As this linked article notes (10 days old, I’ll grant you), Christopher Hitchens is promoting his book in which he has disparaging things to say about organized religion in general.
You know how I feel about Hitchens, but I must confess that I feel a bit of pity for him. I’m sorry that he can apparently find nothing good in the sense of communion and common belief that comes from sharing one’s faith or sense of spirituality with others.
Yes, I have expressed more than a bit of frustration with the hierarchy of the Catholic church, with its secretive functioning as an apparatus of what appears to be suspicious old men more concerned with holding onto their power and sway over the flock than ministering to people who I know and work with on an everyday basis, including myself. And I have a loathing for anyone or anything that professes to represent religion while calling for death and destruction to be carried out against anyone or anything that doesn’t share a preferred system of beliefs. And we all can cite examples of civilization being poisoned in the name of religion on a grand scale.
But that isn’t an excuse for inaction, contempt, or ill words cast towards those we don’t agree with (including gestures of profanity).
If you choose to read Hitchens’ book, that’s up to you of course (there are details in the linked article that I won’t replicate here). Despite how I feel about Hitchens, I know he is a formidable writer, though if you choose to partake in this work, I have a feeling that you may end up confirming his firmly one-sided view, possibly turning against your own in favor of his.
However, I would ask that you also consider reading this book afterwards or even instead of Hitchens’ book; I haven’t read it yet, but I plan to. It is a collection of stories related to 9/11, including those of hope, and the proceeds go to the families and friends of the victims and communities affected by the attacks.
This may sound hypocritical coming from someone who blasts his preferred targets with frequency and gusto as I do, but when it comes to core beliefs, positive reinforcement yields better results than the negative type, and all I ask is that you consider that.
And speaking of people trying to discover God, this guy hit a milestone (#66) today.
(One more thing - when it comes to book recommendations, let's not forget about this one.)
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