god is not Great

Ok, so yea I'm going to keep working back until I get tired of posting these :perplexed:

god is not Great
How Religion Poisons Everything
Christopher Hitchens
ISBN: 978-0-446-57980-3
Publisher: Twelve - Hatchet Book Group USA

OVERVIEW: Not since the bold atheism of Sartre have I read such a scathing condemning of Religion. Hitchens' focus in this book is on organized religion (mostly christian) but hits just about every group with his axe. It's a unique mix of reality-based "collective sense", research and appeals to the reader that ask, in essense, '... aren't we passed this silliness?". It addresses theistic arguments from design, specifics of the bible, the koran and spends a great deal delineating the damage religion does (not the people in religion, religion itself). Its frank, hard-hitting and pulls no punches. Through wit and sarcasm, Hitchens steps through various aspects of religion with a shotgun and takes no prisoners - very provocative to anyone (regardless of of your theology).

PRO'S:

• Quite entertaining; using deep sarcasm to make some points
  
• Thorough
  
• Direct: The reader is spoken to in clear, well-crafted language
  
• Compelling: Regardless of which side of the theistic coin you stand, you won't be 'un-moved'
  
• Perspectives on known-historical events are shed, for the reader's judgment
  

CONS:

• Depending on how 'thick-skinned' the curious theist may be, this book has the potential to excite to extreme anger
  
• Historically-disputed events are sometimes used to prove a point that most sides (in my experience) already concede.
  
• Much time is also spent on the damage previous religious institutions have done; though a good point for the uninformed, this is old hash.
  

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Man's vanity in crafting the 'design plan' (pp 7)
  
• The Birth of Christ, Virginity and Paganism correlates (pp 23)
  
• Christian Aids Paranoia (pp 45)
  
• 911: Religious Ferhver (pp 32)
  
• Female Sterilization (pp 50)
  
• Subjects of Religious Parenting (pp 51)
  
• The Egocentric, Mysticysm and Idiocy (pp 74)
  
• Bending the mind to Egotistic beliefs (pp 75)
  
• Intelligent Design: The Solar System (pp 80)
  
• The Ten Commandments (pp 100)
  
• The Old Testiment (pp 102)
  
• The New Testiment (pp 112)
  
• Crime and Religiosity Correlation (pp 192)
  
• Blaise Pascal (pp 212)
  
• Abortion (pp 222)
  

My Rating (1-10): 8.1