God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

In this chapter, Hitchens counters the common claim that religion, despite the many evils connected to it, is important because it gives people a moral framework by which they can live better lives. Hitchens sees this as nonsense, pointing out that secular people are just as likely as religious people to, for example, believe that murder is wrong. He suggests the followers of strict religions may often be people who are inherently immoral, needing the framework of religion to prevent them from committing crimes that most people would never do anyway. As an example of this claim he writes, “When priests go bad, they go very bad indeed, and commit crimes that would make the average sinner pale” (186).

Hitchens begins the chapter by examining two major figures, Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi. Both men were religious leaders and are famous for their good works that helped improve the lives of many people. Hitchens argues that King would have been an important civil rights leader with or without his religious training, and that Gandhi’s work was actually tainted by his religious beliefs.

While King’s ability to engage the public was no doubt enhanced by his prowess as a preacher, Hitchens argues that his version of Christianity is very different from that found in the Bible.