Wow, I am soooooooo jet lagged. I get up around 4am and by 4pm I'm about to pass out. Sigh, it'll be over soon. Just three more weeks until graduation, then I'm moving back to LA and beginning the next chapter of my life. I can't wait!
Today I picked up Christopher Hitchen's book God is not Great. The EU subtitle is 'The case against religions' while the US subtitle is 'How religion poisons everything'. I think the former gives a better feel for the book than the latter. This is not a foaming at the mouth rant about the rising tide of religious fundamentalism in the world (not just Muslim, but also Hindu, Jewish, and Christian extremism), but a thoughtful and well reasoned argument that asks religion to justify its existence in an enlightened world. Central points: religions misrepresents the origins of man and the universe, it is not a necessary condition of a moral existence (see also Socrates, existentialsim, and the wisdom of Mark Twain), it is uninspiring given the vast wonders of nature and science (burning bush versus molecular biology), and it is ultimately grounded in the false comfort of wishful thinking. Many good and thoughful people will disagree with Hitchens, but he makes some good points.
Now, since I've just given several family members and friends a heart attack, I have to ask, why is it that it's somehow taboo to ask questions of faith? Is inquiry and honest dialogue antithetical to faith? Saint Thomas Aquinas and Francis of Assisi both delved deep into the philosophical roots of their spirituality and emerged with more refined and robust conceptions of their faith (not to mention reformers such as Martin Luther, whose philosophy was heresy to his church), so why not ask the hard questions and demand answers?
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This is the blog of Richard Conn, Oxford MBA. I'm originally from Vancouver, Washington, but have lived in LA for the past ten years. So far, I've traveled to 26 countries and have a passion for digital marketing.
