god is not Great: Intro

I just purchased the book and I'm going to post the table of contents here for everyone who's interested. Before I do say, I have to say that it is an interesting collection of titles. If the book is even half as interesting as said titles it will have been totally worth it. 

Chapter 1: Putting it mildly

Chapter 2: Religion kills

Chapter 3: A Short Digression on the Pig; 

or, Why Heaven Hates Ham

Chapter 4: A Note on Health,

to Which Religion Can Be Hazardous

Chapter 5: The Metaphysical Claims of Religion Are False

Chapter 6: Arguments From Design

Chapter 7: Revelation:

The Nightmare of the "Old" Testament

Chapter 8: The "New" Testament Exceeds the Evil 

of the "Old" One

Chapter 9: The Koran Is Borrowed From Both Jewish 

and Christian Myths

Chapter 10: The Tawdriness of the Miraculous

 and the Decline of Hell

Chapter 11: "The Lowly Stamp of Their Origin":

   Religion's Corrupt Beginnings

Chapter 12:  A Coda: How Religions End

Chapter 13: Does Religion Make People Behave Better?

Chapter 14: There Is No "Eastern" Solution

Chapter 15: Religion as an Original Sin

Chapter 16: Is Religion Child Abuse?

Chapter 17: An Objection Anticipated

   The Last-Ditch "Case" Against Secularism

Chapter 18: A Finer Tradition:

   The Resistance of the Rational

Chapter 19: In Conclusion:

   The Need For a New Enlightenment

So. There you have it, the body of work in Hitchens' god is not Great. It is eminently clear that this book may offend some people, and does not care where you are from, or which religion you belong to. I appreciate this, and look forward to reading it. Though I look forward to starting in on the book itself, I intend to make my next post on GING to be about the author himself. As this is largely his opinions and conclusions I feel it appropriate to delve into our polemecist before looking at his work.