GOD
is NOT
GR E AT
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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)
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GOD
is NOT
GR E AT How Religion Poisons Everything
Christopher Hitchens
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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
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For Ian McEwan In serene recollection of La Refulgencia
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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