In His Image

Hitchens talks about God -- Picture courtesy Wikipedia

by blogSpotter
I just read one atheist book, The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. I found some points of common ground, but on the most important of points (belief in God), I had to differ. I like the way some of these atheist writers get me to thinking. I'm now listening to Christopher Hitchens' God is Not Great. Hitchens is a staff writer for Slate on-line magazine; in this world of strange bedfellows, Hitchens is politically conservative, pro-W Bush and in favor of the Iraq War. In fact, part of the motive for this book was his distaste for Islamo-fascists and the whole concept of religious jihad.

Hitchens makes some interesting points about how we color in the outline of God. We were made in his image, so it's said, but Hitchens believes we have it backwards. With our avid imaginations, we've created God in our own image. And what kind of God have we created? Apparently a very insecure God -- he wants us to bow, scrape and pray to him on a regular basis. He wants us to beseech him for favors, beg forgiveness and make monetary if not human and animal sacrifices. He's the God of tasteless practical jokes -- how else to explain his commanding Abraham to sacrifice his son and then calling it off at the last moment? The God described in the Bible is punishing and vengeful -- even in the New Testament he displays more of a wrathful than reasoned approach.

So what have we devised here? A person like this God would be: vain, insecure, intolerant, short-tempered, inappropriate, cruel, nasty and vindictive. A person with these traits would be on the "do not invite" list. And yet we have no qualms ascribing these exact traits to our Higher Power. I myself depart from organized religion on these points -- the God of my own understanding is not a blustering egomaniacal rage-a-holic.

Imagine if you will, the traits that make for an excellent human. These might include: humility, self-assurance, understanding, forgiveness, deep insight, kindness and love. Depending on how human you want to make him he might also have a sense of style, adventure or humor. My God would never ask me to kill my son, not even as a test. And he's not so insecure about my fealty or belief in him that I must ritualistically recite chants or face a certain direction. He made me and knows every nook and cranny of my mind.

I'm only a couple of chapters into the book, so more may be revealed. Hitchens speaks of a road checkpoint in Belfast where the armed soldier asks him his religion. "Well, I'm an atheist," he replies. The soldier is not satisfied in the least. "Are you a protestant atheist or a Catholic atheist?" The nonsensical nature of this exchange will be obvious to a secular believer such as me -- and it will make perfect since to an Islamo-fascist. I'm sure Hitchens, like Dawkins will part ways with me in some fundamental topics further on, but so far he makes some good points.

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