I just went on Amazon to place an order, and the nonfiction bestseller list caught my eye. This book is the Amazon #2 bestseller right now in nonfiction. I was intrigued, so I read the synopsis. It sounds like it is exactly as the title would lead you to believe, a 300-page book about the evil religion brings into the world.

As my friend Brandon's most recent post brings to light, there are so many people out there struggling with the idea of faith, whether there is a god or not. Many have chosen to believe that there is not, or else why would the world be in the shape it is. I hear the argument often that religion is the cause of almost all war, so how can it be a good thing.

Listen to the reviewers' thoughts:

I think Christopher Hitchens is a national - no, make that Global - treasure, and his newest book here only underscores this. To carry on with my baseball metaphor, when Hitchens stepped up to the plate with this book on religion the bases were already loaded: Vonnegut on third, Sam Harris [Letter to a Christian Nation] on second, and Richard Dawkins [The God Delusion] on first. Hitchens knocks 'em all in with one swing of the bat. He cuts through the BS of religion and "faith" better than anybody. His excellent writing style enlivens and enriches the soul at the same time. What more could a reader want?

I would add that perhaps what motivated Hitchens to write this book and so to "come out" more publicly with his critiques of religion and faith is what has also motivated me: the increasingly publicly-accepted insanity of religion in this, the 21st century. This insanity threatens to bring down all of civilization and, in the case of American fundamentalists in our government with their quivering fingers poised atop the launch buttons of our nuclear weapons, the end of Everything, which religious nut-jobs anticipate with unrestrained glee, so certain they are that they, at least, will be OK in the aftermath. This is just absolutely nuts, and Christopher Hitchens does us all a great service in pointing this out.
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Back in the 1990s, religion in America seemed to be on its last legs. I genuinely believed that the turning of the millennial clock would drive the final stake through its heart. How could anyone continue to believe after yet another postponement of the Second Coming?

Well, here we are almost ten years later, and religion is going stronger than it has in decades despite the advances of science which keep forcing god to hide in ever smaller gaps in our knowledge. Its revival reminds me of the Wizard of Oz story. After Dorothy & friends discover that the Wizard of Oz is really just an old man behind a curtain, they still expect him to work his magic. And so he does. The illusion persists. Which leads me to conclude that most people just want the illusion of an old man in the sky who will make everything right at some indeterminable point in the future.

I am halfway through Hitchens book and enjoying it immensely. One only need consider the past 7 years in the USA to see that Hitchens is right about religion poisoning everything. It's unfortunate that the people who need to read this book the most will flee from it. At least the Net has opened up a lively debate over the value of religion.
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Well, let's see, you either follow a bronze age myth made up over 2,000 years ago or you follow science and progress. The war against religion will continue as long as there are people with knowledge and science. Hitchens book takes us on a literary ride you will always cherish and enjoy makes the case against religion stronger and compliments Dawkins and Harris.

What's intriguing about the first review is the idea that it is becoming more and more acceptable to "come out" against the insanity of religion. I'd say that's an accurate statement. While at the same time, more and more people are turning to God for answers in a world full of fear and seemingly hopeless situations.

But I happen to think that everyone has a religion of one sort or the other. Mine is a belief in Almighty God, the Creator of the world, the Alpha and Omega, the one who has always been and always will be. I believe in a God who created us to be in fellowship with Him, but who doesn't force that fellowship. A God who loved His creation so much, that when they rebelled against Him and made eternity together an impossibility, was willing to sacrifice His most priceless possession, His son Jesus Christ, in order to bring reconciliation to a people who were otherwise doomed.

Everyone believes in something. Christopher Hitchens' religion may be self-worship. It may be the worship of money. Perhaps he has found faith in the ever-increasing religion of global warming. But he believes in something.

Again, this book is #2 on the Amazon bestseller list. There are SO many people out there who are missing it. We are to be the light to them. We are to live in truth, so they will recognize it when they see it. Live authentically. Love fully. Be ready.