GOD is NOT GR E AT GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd i 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM also by Christopher Hitchens BOOKS Hostage to History: Cyprus from the Ottomans to Kissinger Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies Imperial Spoils: The Curious Case of the Elgin Marbles Why Orwell Matters No One Left to Lie To: The Triangulations of William Jefferson Clinton Letters to a Young Contrarian The Trial of Henry Kissinger Thomas Jefferson: Author of America Thomas Paine’s “Rights of Man”: A Biography PA M P H L E T S Karl Marx and the Paris Commune The Monarchy: A Critique of Britain’s Favorite Fetish The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq C O L L E C T E D E S S AY S Prepared for the Worst: Essays and Minority Reports For the Sake of Argument Unacknowledged Legislation: Writers in the Public Sphere Love, Poverty and War: Journeys and Essays C O L L A B O R AT I O N S James Callaghan: The Road to Number Ten (with Peter Kellner) Blaming the Victims (edited with Edward Said) When the Borders Bleed: The Struggle of the Kurds (photographs by Ed Kashi) International Territory: The United Nations (photographs by Adam Bartos) GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd ii 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM GOD is NOT GR E AT How Religion Poisons Everything Christopher Hitchens GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd iii 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM First published in Australia and New Zealand by Allen & Unwin in 2007 This edition published by arrangement with Warner Books, Inc., New York, New York, USA. All rights reserved. Copyright © Christopher Hitchens 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. Allen & Unwin 83 Alexander Street Crows Nest NSW 2065 Australia Phone: (61 2) 8425 0100 Fax: (61 2) 9906 2218 Email:
[email protected] Web: www.allenandunwin.com National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry: Hitchens, Christopher. God is not great : how religion poisons everything. Includes index. ISBN 978 1 74175 222 9. 1. Irreligion and sociology. 2. Religion and civilization. 3. Religion and culture. I. Title. 201.5 Printed and bound in Australia by Griffin Press 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd iv 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM For Ian McEwan In serene recollection of La Refulgencia GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd v 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM This page intentionally left blank GodisnotGreat_HCtextF1.indd vi 12/7/07 8:01:40 AM Contents One Putting It Mildly Two Religion Kills 15 Three A Short Digression on the Pig; or, Why Heaven Hates Ham 37 A Note on Health, to Which Religion Can Be Hazardous 43 Five The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False 63 Six Arguments from Design 73 Seven Revelation: The Nightmare of the “Old” Testament 97 Four Eight Nine Ten GodisnotG