Saturday, November 27, 2010

Hitchens on Religion

I thought this was Christopher Hitchens' best ever line on religion, from his recent debate with Tony Blair:
Once you assume a creator and a plan, it makes us objects in a cruel experiment whereby we are created sick and commanded to be well.
I find all talk about whether religion leads to more or less good in the world to be a waste of breath. Religion has been so fully intertwined with human behavior for the past few millennia that it is impossible to say what behavior is "religious" and what is not. The question that interests me is the one Hitchens raised, whether positing a "creator and a plan" makes intellectual sense, helps people find a place in the universe, or leads to better ways to think about morality and justice.

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