THE WANDERER, JULY 26, 2007
JOSEPH SOBRAN'S
WASHINGTON WATCH
Thank God for Atheists
The recent spate of atheist best-sellers continues
to invigorate me and, I suspect, many other Christians. I
love to see the best case the enemy can make. So far,
it's been rather pathetic.
Christopher Hitchens, the one I know best, is easily
the wittiest and most entertaining of the lot. So far
I've read his book, GOD IS NOT GREAT, twice. It's
essentially one long sneer at what he calls "the
celestial dictatorship," childishly refusing to
capitalize the name of the Deity (though he does
capitalize those of pagan gods; if "god," why not "zeus"
and "venus"?).
One reviewer, Michael Kinsley in THE NEW YORK TIMES,
has credited Hitchens (or should I say "hitchens"?) with
a brilliant career move, and one can hardly gainsay that!
He has already made a fortune and appeared on countless
TV shows, debating such leading theologians as Al
Sharpton, who, I'm told, had the best of him. (How the
mighty are fallen!) I suppose having Hitchens against us
should be seen as our consolation for having Sharpton on
our side.
It's tempting to apply to Hitchens what Dr. Samuel
Johnson said of Rousseau: "A man who talks nonsense so
well must know he is talking nonsense." But I'm afraid
that would be unfair to Rousseau. Hitchens really seems
to think he is weakening the case for God, just as he
seems to think his obscenities have discredited Mother
Teresa.
A persuasive arguer must at least be able to grasp
the other side's argument. Hitchens, who has tossed and
gored me in political debate, here fails that basic test
ignominiously.
Take that pseudo-witty phrase "the celestial
dictatorship." How much imagination, human sympathy, or
just simple fairness does it take to understand that
Christians see God not as a bullying ruler imposing His
will, but as a loving Father more eager to forgive us
than we are to be forgiven? I guess it's not surprising
that an old Trotskyist should conceive God in such crude
terms of raw power, but not only is Hitchens not going to
win Christians with this nasty stuff, he's going to
estrange reasonable agnostics.
For all I know, that's what he's trying to do. You
can even see his book as a kind of spoof, as if he's
trying to see how much he can get away with -- how many
bald lies, slanders, absurdities, exaggerations, and
flagrant self-contradictions.
I admit that this theory is as hard to sustain as
the assumption that he is sincere, but consider: Hitchens
has lost a lot of his old friends on the left, and much
of his standing as an intellectual of distinction, by
supporting the Iraq war that two of his hated popes have
opposed. (Religion is the chief cause of war, as we all
know. Except when it causes peace.) Could this book be a
twisted attempt to recoup his prestige among the
highbrows?
Then again, he told a NEW YORKER interviewer some
months ago that he expects GOD IS NOT GREAT to be the
book he'll be remembered for, which suggests that he
actually =wants= to be remembered for this tripe. Hard to
figure.
A couple of years ago Hitchens wrote a book in
praise of George Orwell, another atheist, but a much more
honest one and a far better writer of English prose.
Orwell plays fair with the reader, never relying on jeers
and name-dropping where a real argument is required. You
can trust him to treat a serious subject candidly. He
died, remember, when he was more than a decade younger
than Hitchens is now -- a startling fact, if you know
nothing of them but their styles of writing. Only one of
them writes with the voice of maturity.
Lewis and Chesterton
It really annoys me, I must say, when Hitchens
condescends to C.S. Lewis, another master from whom he
could take lessons in writing, thinking, and growing up,
among other things. His startling lack of generosity to
any Christian speaks volumes about his professions of
humanitarianism. Even an ancient pagan could write,
"Nothing human is alien to me." Hitchens sounds much more
like Shakespeare's Malvolio: "You are idle, shallow
things. I am not of your element."
The atheists have got me reading Chesterton again,
and as one thing leads to another, Chesterton has sent me
back to Lewis. Only last week I was marveling at
Chesterton's genius; this week, after dipping into the
anthology A MIND AWAKE, I marvel at Lewis's. I also
marvel at Hitchens's confidence of his superiority to
them both.
Hitchens even goes so far as to suggest that Jesus
never existed at all. But as many have argued, it defies
belief to suppose that four unbookish evangelists could
have made up the most memorable, influential, and of
course lovable character in human history, beside whom
the prophet Mohammed is a mere wraith.
If it's that easy, let Hitchens try his hand at the
fakery he ascribes to Christians. A few deathless
beatitudes and parables would satisfy me.
Maybe I'm just in a bad mood today, but Hitchens's
book strikes me as a puerile insult not only to God, to
faith, and to reason, but also to everything that is good
and honorable even in this world. No doubt this is
because I've read it only twice. Maybe if I read it again
I can do it justice.
There's a sucker born every minute, P.T. Barnum
observed, and the sales of these atheist tracts, of which
GOD IS NOT GREAT is only one, argue that he was guilty of
gross understatement. On the one hand, Hitchens ascribes
religion to "wish-thinking"; on the other, he blames it
for creating a horrible and wholly false vision of Hell.
Well, which is it? I can say only that it seems to me
obvious which side is guilty of wishful thinking,
starting with the pleasant idea that we will never have
to answer for our sins.
And why are they so indignant at God for not
existing? On their own premises it seems unfair -- if not
a little odd -- to blame Him for that!
--- Joseph Sobran
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Read this column on-line at
"http://www.sobran.com/wanderer/w2007/w070726.shtml".
This column copyright (c) 2007 by THE WANDERER, the
National Catholic Weekly founded in 1867,
www.thewandererpress.com. Reprinted with permission.
This column may not be published in print or Internet
publications without express permission of THE WANDERER.
You may forward it to interested individuals if you use
this entire page, including the following disclaimer:
"THE WANDERER is available by subscription. Write
subscription@thewandererpress.com for information.
Subscription price: $50 per year; $30 for six months.
Checks can be sent to The WANDERER, 201 Ohio Street,
Dept. JS, St. Paul, MN 55107.
"SOBRAN'S and Joe Sobran's syndicated columns are
available by e-mail subscription. For details and
samples, see http://www.sobran.com/e-mail.shtml, write
PR@griffnews.com, or call 800-513-5053."
This page copyright (c) 2007 by THE VERE COMPANY.