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Of course, he did not address any of the wonderful things people do in the name of religion, and I do wonder about that. Is the thought that people would do wonderful things anyway, even if they did not have a religious orientation motivating them to do those things? Is the thought that the wonderful things done in the name of religion are dwarfed by the awful things done in the name of religion? Honestly, I do not know the answer to that one. I believe that one's choice of religion is not really as much of a choice as people suppose; it has largely to do with where and when a person was born. However, how one interprets religion may be largely impacted by choice. For example, looking at a single issue that has challenged the modern Christian community, homosexuality, one sees Christians running the gamut from openly embracing gay members and sanctifying their unions to the Westboro Baptist Church's hateful and violent rhetoric against gays, and Christians all along that spectrum frequently claim that their religion...
It certainly seems to me that this approach is similar in any controversial area; regardless of one's stated religious preference, the individual is going to twist religious mandates to meet their personal beliefs.
In many ways, Hitchens' reinforced my existing views that organized religion can be very damaging and dangerous. However, I am not certain that I am willing to go so far as to agree that all religion is inherently dangerous. I do not think that there are only two alternatives: organized religion and atheism. I also have to question whether it is actually religious differences that have contributed to so many global conflicts. All of the disputes that Hitchens' mentioned not only involved religion, they also involved access to resources. If the people involved had not been of different religious backgrounds, would they have found a different "ethnic" excuse to kill one another? Unfortunately, I think the answer to that question is yes.
Examples where religion has become intersected with politics are present throughout the entire history, and in more recent years, include the debates on same sex marriages or on abortion. A more specific look at the relationship between politics and religion has revealed at least three points of intersection -- the role of churches, the evolution of human rights and the emergence and impacts of religious conflicts. In terms of the
At the extreme side, the September 11 attacks and various Islamist violence perpetrated against civilians in the last two decades is an example of how violence and conflict can be justified in religious terms. Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders often quote from the Qur'an and refer to the West as "Crusaders," emphasizing the religious significance of the struggle they conduct (Lincoln; Juergensmeyer). Historical circumstances may also dictate
Catholic Voices Data Analysis Catholic Voices The present study involves the identification of a measure for determining the effectiveness of a group that was organized and is presently coordinated to work as a type of public relations firm for the Catholic Church in a role that effectively disseminates and negotiates information that passes to and from the Church to the political, social, economic, ethical, and religious workings on a global scale therefore
Babylonian Mythology Paragons of Polytheism The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast Roman and Greek mythology with Babylonian mythology. In his book The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-Believer, Christopher Hitchens makes the following observation, "By all means let us agree that we are pattern-seeking mammals and that, ow-ing to our restless intelligence and inquisitiveness, we will still prefer a conspir-acy theory to no explanation at all. Religion was
Whatever happened you vanished, and neither you nor your actions were ever heard of again" (Orwell, 1949, p.168). Capitalism Principles of mass production are very clear in the novels. Huxley for instance, applied the idea of mass production in human reproduction, since the people has abandoned the natural method of reproduction. Mass production as the conventional feature of capitalism and Huxley's novel reinforces such. He talked about the requirement of the