Bog nije veliki
God is not Great

Author(s): Christopher Hitchens
Subject(s): Christian Theology and Religion, Religion and science , Philosophy of Religion, Politics and religion, Sociology of Religion, History of Religion
Published by: Peščanik NVO
Keywords: religion; fear of mortality; religious prohibitions; religious interference; circumcision; female genital mutilation
Summary/Abstract: Hitchens begins by describing his early scepticism toward religion and argues that faith persists due to human fear of mortality (ch. 1). He claims religion imposes itself on others and frequently incites violence, citing his experiences in cities like Belfast and Beirut and the reaction to Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses (ch. 2). He discusses religious prohibitions against pork. He critiques religious interference in public health, referring to the Catholic Church's stance on condoms in Africa, resistance to vaccines in some Islamic groups, religious circumcision and religious female genital mutilation (ch. 4). He argues that religious metaphysics are false and that advances in science make leaps of faith increasingly redundant (ch. 5). He challenges the argument from design, claiming religion promotes both human inferiority and self-importance while failing to explain natural flaws (ch. 6). He describes the Old Testament as violent and inconsistent, with laws that contradict its own commandments (ch. 7), and presents the New Testament as derivative and historically unreliable, marked by contradictions and retrofitted narratives (ch. 8). He argues that Islam borrows myths from Judaism and Christianity and is shaped by political motives and linguistic control. He criticises Islam's resistance to reform, suppression of dissent, and claims of divine authority as signs of insecurity rather than truth (ch. 9). Hitchens contends that all reported miracles are unverified and that belief in them relies on fabricated or unreliable testimony (ch. 10). He argues that many religions originated in fraud or delusion, citing Mormonism and cargo cults as examples (ch. 11), and asserts that religions do die out over time despite claims of permanence (ch. 12). He disputes the notion that religion improves morality, pointing to the abolitionist movement as an example of secular virtue (ch. 13), and critiques Eastern religions for encouraging mental submission and failing to offer consistent spiritual insight (ch. 14). He argues that religion promotes doctrines such as eternal punishment, blood sacrifice, and sexual repression, which he views as ""positively immoral" (ch. 15), and says it harms children through fear and physical abuse (ch. 16). Responding to claims that atheists like Stalin committed worse crimes than the religious, he contends that totalitarianism is political rather than a result of atheism (ch. 17). He concludes that humanity is likely to outgrow religion, comparing its end to other abandoned practices (ch. 18), and suggests that meaning and community can be found through secular, non-coercive means (ch. 19).

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