The Gospel According to Hitchens

In the last few years there have been a number of books declaring the lunacy of religion in general and Christianity in particular. There was one called The End of Faith, another called The God Delusion, Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and John Paulos' Irrelgion. Each makes the same point: there is no God (or god with a small "g"), and religion is a hoax.

Nothing new. Nietzche happens to be one of my favorite philosophers, and he couldn't stand Christianity. He despised priests above all other human beings, and argued for their destruction, or at least permanent ridicule.

I never faulted Nietzche for that. It was his take, his murmur, and from the rest of his writings you could see that he hated priests because he thought they were beneath reason. They hindered a human being's will to power, the very core of Nietzche's philosophy.

I'm not sure what I believe, but I don't dwell on it much. I've said before that I'm not the praying type, but that I'm glad many people still are. The pressure to turn our culture completely atheist seems very shortsighted to me, and it doesn't surprise me to see it coming from the media-types and literary wags (by atheist, of course, they mean anti-Christian; it's been a while since I heard an "intellectual" take a turn at bashing the Dalai Lama).

The literary types, like Hitchens, are attempting to be the modern Nietzche, but they fail because of their transparency. Like all socialists, they distrust religion because it gives the natives funny ideas about who's running the show. All socialist dictators that take power immediately outlaw religion, or at least try to bring the religious leaders to heel. Hitler did the latter with the Catholic Church, and did the former with the Jews. Stalin destroyed religion inside the Soviet Union, and made atheism a central tenet of communism.

It's no surprise then, that atheism is the central tenet of the socialists today. They still hold a soft spot in their hearts for Stalin, and at least go along with him in the belief that the peasants can't be left to make up their own minds about what they want they want to believe. The state dictates all, and there can't be any distractions.

Atheism is a funny thing. People that are proud of their total lack of beliefs don't see the irony: that they have created a whole new religion, and zealously believe in it.

After all, what constitutes an organized religion? Take two examples.

One man wears a black coat and a white collar. He stands behind a pulpit. He gazes down at his followers. He tells you to believe in God, and that the words in the Bible are the way to a good life. He can't show you God, but he asks you to take it on faith that God exists. He reads a gospel from his Bible. Later during his sermon, the ushers pass a basket around the room and ask you to toss in a donation. At the end of his sermon, the priest invites you to the front of the church, where he gives you communion. Then he blesses you and says good-bye.

Now take the other man. He wears a dark suit and a necktie. He stands behind a podium (pulpit). He gazes down at his fans (followers). He tells you not to believe in God, because there is no God. He can't prove that God does not exist, but he asks you to believe (take it on faith) that there is no God. He reads a paragraph (gospel) from his book (Bible). During his speech (sermon) his assistants (ushers) pass a microphone around the room to ask for your questions (you've already paid your entry fee (donation) before entering the hall). At the end of his speech (sermon), the man invites you to the front of the hall (church) where you can have a handshake (communion). He will autograph his book (Bible), and he will wish you well (bless you).

Try as I might, I can't see the difference between Christopher Hitchens and a priest. They both want you to read a book and believe its findings. Though neither of them can irrefutably prove their points of view, they demand that you believe it, or else they pity you.

By writing Bibles and giving sermons, Hitchens is not an antidote, but simply another brand of the poison that he claims to despise. At tens of thousands of dollars in appearance fees, I hope he gives a pretty good dose.

Photo: Nigel Perry/New York