This is the part where I tell you that I’m neither an atheist nor an agnostic. I was raised Protestant, dipped a toe in Catholicism, and came out with my own system of beliefs. They are just that: my own beliefs.

Nope. It’s my job to review Christopher Hitchens’s book, “God is NOT Good: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Of the “Big Three” recent atheist writers–the now deceased Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and Sam Harris–Hitchens’s works stand out for me. They’re like riding at 110 mph through the Blue Ridge Parkway, while the guy driving the car is talking to you and somebody on Bluetooth at the same time.

Not to say that he’s disorganized or lacks focus. Indeed, he lays out his arguments in clear bites–it’s just fun to have him driving the Porsche 949 up and down the hills, and through the hairpin turns.

Another thing  I admire about Christopher Hitchens is that he does his homework. He’s been in mosques, temples, synagogues, cathedrals–you name it. He debated dozens, maybe hundreds, and there’s an exuberance in his prose that is hard to beat.

His thesis? I can agree with part of it–there have been numerous times when religion has caused wars, mistreatment, and–God forbid–now multiple religions have atomic bombs. Great.

Where I disagree with Hitchens is his complete disavowal of a God, gods, etc. I don’t know how we got to be here. I’m sure it was a long process of evolution, not *finger snap* EARTH!

To me, it’s a simple matter of faith. The Big Bang happened. Was a Deity behind it or not? Is there an afterlife after this, or does our energy get dumped back into the cosmic slop bucket?

When asked about religion–which seems to happen more than  it should, since I’m not a theologian–I simply say, there are billions and billions of people on this earth with theories and predictions…and every one is wrong.

With “God is NOT Good,” Chris Hitchens has left us–if not answers–some very interesting ideas to ponder