An Atheist Manifesto Disappointment

Well we finally got around to having our most prestigious and elite Literary Society last night.  It has been postponed for a couple of weeks because of my crazy homework and Nat King Cole's brush with death.

Let me just say I'm sooooo glad we're done with this book.

God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything by Christopher Hitchens

As a lifelong Christian (and a Southerner) I have not come into close or personal contact with many atheists.  That said, I understand why people don't believe in God.  I think followers of many faiths - Christianity most certainly included - are off-putting or come across as saccharine, shallow, and narrow minded.  At this point in the world's timeline, and in our advanced country, we have remarkable access to scientific discoveries and explanations of all kinds of theories, historical events, and educated futuristic guesses.  It would be easy to believe God is not behind it all.  What better time in the history of the world to seriously ask questions like, where do I come from?  Where am I going?  What happens after I die?  What is the purpose of life?

I wanted to read this book because I had heard that Christopher Hitchens is one of the intellectual atheist voices of our time.  He has written some introductions to other books I have read, and I got the impression that he was a good writer.  So, since I'm not close enough (not by choice!) to any atheists to sit down and talk with them over coffee, this book was the next best thing, right?

Wrong.

My main problem was one of expectations:  which is to say I was expecting Hitchens to be a non-believing version of say, Timothy Keller, or perhaps Philip Yancey.  I was expecting a straight-forward style of writing which included establishing an argument, providing facts and support to back it up, and providing facts and support against faith-based beliefs.  This is not what Hitchens provides.  In fact, he doesn't even set up arguments.  He basically calls faithful people (of any faith) stupid and unthinking.  He blames faith for all of the world's problems but does not say how the lack of faith would be any better.  He uses fallacious and circular reasoning, strawman arguments and mud-slinging instead of clear and precise written debate.  His line of thinking is unsound and his writing is so disorganized and loaded that it is insulting to the intelligence of the average reader - it is a waste of time.

I am extremely disappointed on two levels:  (1) As a Christian who was looking forward to an educational and interesting challenge, and (2) As a reader who was looking forward to a good book.  This is a personal rant against believers of all types from a journalist who apparently forgot how to back up his points.

Don't read it because the title says it all and he doesn't put his money where his mouth is.  That said, any good atheist books to recommend?  Pass them on!