And in this post, Mark explains when and where he reckons the creative spark may have been breathed into God is Not Great.
—By Mark G.
In an interview with The Stranger ("Seattle's Only Newspaper"), Hitchens had this to say about how and why he wrote his anti-religion book:
For those of us who follow your work closely, God is Not Great seems not only to be the book that you were supposed to write for a long time but also the book you've sort of always been writing.
Yes.
Do you feel like you were summarizing yourself?
Yes. A friend of mine, whom I'd given an interview—"given," that sounds grand—but anyway, some years ago, where I was asked would I ever think of writing a book about secularism. And I can't now remember the date, but I said, "No, really, no, because the case has already been made much better, you know? It's already complete; it doesn't need another book." I must have thought that was true at the time I said it, I think. Since September the 11th particularly and the revival of brute religiosity around the place and the failure of faith to having anything useful to say is a strong motivation.
Not that this makes me in any way special but I believe I am the friend that Christopher is referring to here. In late January 2004 we had an interview lunch. He had just been discussing religion in general ("Religion is the cause of immorality," etc.) and the Mel Gibson Christ movie in particular. I began:
Have you ever thought about writing a book about this?
Everything I write is about this.
I know, but what if you wrote 'A Case against Religion' and you stated it directly and explained why it's immoral, how it causes immorality, etc?
Well my letters (Letters to a Young Contrarian) have a bit of that.
Yes, why not extend it? Because I know you know the subject, I know you read the Gospels…
Yes, I read them again for this piece on Mel Gibson. I could do that (write a book) but there may be no reason to. It's been done repeatedly. Everyone who has studied Spinoza and Hume - it doesn't even have to be Voltaire - or who knows that religion is based on a false premise and a false promise. It's been written about for a long time.
What's been written about it recently?
I'm not going to improve on it. I think the only improvement I've ever made is in my little book (Letters). But I've since seen someone else, who I'm sure hasn't read my book, make a similar point in a secular magazine. So these ideas are available to anybody.
So I guess Christopher 'changed his mind', but could this turnabout really have been the result of 9-11 (as he suggests to The Stranger) or of the alleged revival of religion over the past, what, 2.5 years?
And actually, he changed his mind rather quicker than that. The first reports of Hitch's forthcoming book attacking religion came as early as September 2005, here.
I tend to think he simply realized it was somehow a sound (and potentially lucrative?) idea. I like this line from The Stranger interview: "I must have thought that was true at the time I said it, I think."
In The Stranger interview he's bit confused about the timing, trying to make it seem as if 9-11 made him believe that he finally had to take on religion directly in the form of an entire book and that the critique of religion could in fact be improved upon. But obviously, his feelings about 9-11/religion were already well established when he spoke in January '04 and naturally, there was no religious revival between January '04 and September '05. So if it wasn't 9-11, what precisely was it that changed his mind, if not flat out cynicism?
I would personally find it hard to believe Hitchens wrote the thing purely out of vanity and greed, but something tells me his publishers had dollar signs in theirs eyes after getting wind of the idea.
Incidentally, it's nice to read that he still considers me a friend. Christopher, the next time you're in New York and not too busy with the stuffed shirts, give me a shout. We can debate the issues at your watering hole of choice. Whoever blacks out first loses.
“The enemies of intolerance cannot be tolerant." • "If it is an offense to justice to hold people who may have been victims of mistaken identity or of vendettas by other factions, then it is also an offense to justice to release psychopathic killers who believe that they have divine permission to throw acid in the faces of girls who want to attend school." • "Don't be such a lesbian!
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