09.30.07
On the defensive against Hitchens et al
Faithful Often Fail, Never Give Up
It is noble to acknowledge some truth in the Hitchens/Dawkins claims, but there is not excuse for their slovenly treatment of religion.
It is part of the very problem they denounce.
I think Christopher Hitchens is, sadly, too often right. History makes this clear, and many of us who are religious have experienced our share of religious irrationality, intolerance, bigotry, contempt, exclusion, violence (if not physical, then verbal insult), and so on - whether with members of our own religion or members of other religions, or even members of no religion.
Unfortunately, religious people don’t have a monopoly on these behaviors. This fact may be obscured by the fact that most people in history, by a very large majority, have been religious, so the sample of irreligious people is smaller to begin with. That means that the total number of acts of ignorance and bigotry will be most commonly associated with religious people.
That’s why, I think, if we focused in on irreligious people, Hitchens could make the same kind of generalization, substituting “irreligiosity” for “religion.” There are plenty of irreligious people who treat women and children badly, who say and do stupid things, and who are full of prejudice.