tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post6747213106973689342..comments2023-10-21T07:44:20.549-04:00Comments on The Existence Machine: god is not Great, Christopher HitchensRichardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-24937726810023515792010-07-14T15:50:24.730-04:002010-07-14T15:50:24.730-04:00hey there.
read part of this essay excerpted and ...hey there.<br /><br />read part of this essay excerpted and posted somewhere else. I sure like what I've read so far--it seems like the first review of hitchens' anti-religious blatherings that gets it right, so hats off! <br /><br />Honestly, hitch and his pals strike me as among the worst possible standard bearers for atheism. At least Dawkins can actually claim some scientific expertise and make intelligent arguments against intelligent design and similar tomfoolery. Hitchens is just so full of crap on so many levels and i agree with you entirely that the book is primarily about cashing in on a lucrative fad.maxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10239196282417953961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-91111337103014602822008-02-28T21:19:00.000-05:002008-02-28T21:19:00.000-05:00AC, Lloyd - thanks for the comments.There's a good...AC, Lloyd - thanks for the comments.<BR/><BR/>There's a good chance you're right, Lloyd. It's doubtful that too many people actually read the best-sellers that get so much press. The all too plausible alternative, however, bothers me more: that people <I>do</I> read them, and are unable to notice how shitty they are.Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08014014605639738887noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-20545649191786270812008-02-28T17:33:00.000-05:002008-02-28T17:33:00.000-05:00I find it interesting to consider, when faced with...I find it interesting to consider, when faced with a bestselling book like Hitchen's, how many readers it <B>actually</B> has--compared to how many copies purchased and even left visibly displayed in people's houses. After all, you clearly read this book more closely than ANYONE; and you expose just how unreadable it really is. When we wonder who Hitchens could have had in mind as an audience, the answer is obviously: no one, he doesn't bother with that. The book is an extended bad joke. It follows the form and has the style of a chronic alcoholic: largely a denial. Reiterated to death. Of thought, of literary skill, and last of all anything ever known as religion. My contention is that no one really reads it; and people who say it is a significant book <I>especially</I> don't bother to read it. It's cheap wine. Enjoyed your writing on it though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23471801.post-85414947396505001252008-02-28T10:25:00.000-05:002008-02-28T10:25:00.000-05:00Great post.Many years ago I stumbled on a Christia...Great post.<BR/><BR/>Many years ago I stumbled on a Christian fundamentalist website called "Perilous Times." I read it with the same mordant curiosity that you describe in reading Hitchens' book. It reminded me of watching a car wreck. I believe that the site is now defunct, but it is incredibly ironic that it (along with so much of today's religious/political "discourse") employed virtually the same rhetoric and anecdotal reasoning. <BR/><BR/>The scary part is that, from your post (I haven't read the book), Hitchens essentially reaches the same conclusions as many religious politicians today: regime change was good. It's the Iraqis own fault that the region is violent. Iran is bad. And so on.<BR/><BR/>I had no idea that the book was nominated for a National Book Award, but when I read that, my heart just sank.AChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04972889199133565938noreply@blogger.com