Lewis describes his conversion as being 'surprised by joy,' but for Hitchens 'there is something dreary and absurd' in these two authors, as in all believers: a fundamental absence of happiness. Pascal concludes his account of his discovery of the living God with the words: 'Joy, joy, tears of joy.' And C.S. In other words, Mother Teresa is just one of many products of the media age! Mother Teresa of Calcutta? 'An ambitious Albanian nun' made famous by the book 'Something Beautiful for God,' written about her by Malcolm Muggeridge. Francis of Assisi? 'A mammal who was said to have preached to birds!' Using the same principles - I mean, by considering only the dark side of an institution - one could write a 'black book' about any of the great human realities: the family medicine (just think what it was used for at Auschwitz) politics and science, and about the author's own profession, journalism (how many times has it been, and still is, in the service of tyrants and serving the interests of powerful groups!). The saints, the geniuses and benefactors given to humanity by the faith or nourished by it, count for nothing. He claims to follow the Gospel principle of judging the tree by its fruits, but as for the tree of religion, he only considers the rotten fruits, never the good ones. The Second Vatican Council states that the Christian faith can and should benefit even from the criticisms of its attackers, and this is certainly one of those cases.īut Hitchens, in my view, makes a mountain out of every molehill. Many of the author's reproaches against believers of all religions - the book treats Islam no better than Christianity, which shows considerable courage on the part of the author - are well founded, and must be taken seriously so that the same errors of the past are not repeated in the future.

Let me say at once that I'm grateful to my unknown friend.

I'm quite sure his aim was not to provoke me, but to help me out of the deception I find myself in as a believer and as a TV commentator on the Gospel. 26, 2007 (Zenit) - Here is the text of a commentary written by Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the Pontifical Household, in response to an essay on religion and evolution written by Christopher Hitchens.ĬHRISTOPHER HITCHENS AND THE END OF EVOLUTIONĪ few weeks ago an anonymous benefactor saw to it that I received a free Italian edition of an essay by the Anglo-American journalist Christopher Hitchens, titled 'God Is Not Great,' subtitled 'How Religion Poisons Everything' (Giulio Einaudi, Turin/New York 2007). Father Cantalamessa Analyzes Attack on Religion

Author of god is not great