Debates about the existence of God and the role of religion in society have always been a topic of particular interest to me… and there are few people more interesting to listen to than Christopher Hitchens. With the exception of Dinesh D-Szouza, I would say there are very few who could ‘win’ a debate with Hitchens on the topic of religion and God. [click here to watch a great debate between D-Szouza and Hitchens].
When I saw the headline “Blair debates Hitchens on Religion”… I was preparing myself to be a bid disappointed in Blair’s performance; but after reading through a number of his arguments, I am pleasantly surprised… Blair communicated his positions quite well:
“It is undoubtedly true that people commit horrific acts of evil in the name of religion… It is also undoubtedly true that people do acts of extraordinary common good inspired by religion.”
He pointed to the good done by faith based organisations, including the millions of lives saved in Africa and care for the mentally ill, disabled and destitute.
He added: “The proposition that religion is unadulterated poison is unsustainable… It can be destructive, it can also create a deep well of compassion, and frequently does.”
Mr Blair said the common thread running through all faiths was to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” and continued: “(Faith) answers a profound spiritual yearning, something we feel and sense instinctively.
“This is a spiritual presence, bigger, more important, more meaningful than just us alone, that has its own power separate from our power, and that even as the world’s marvels multiply, makes us kneel in humility not swagger in pride.
“If faith is seen in this way, science and religion are not incompatible, destined to fight each other, until eventually the cool reason of science extinguishes the fanatical flames of religion… Rather science educates us as to how the physical world is and how it functions, and faiths educates us as to the purpose to which such knowledge is put, the values that should guide its use, and the limits of what science and technology can do not to make our lives materially richer but rather richer in spirit.”
Blair made the important point that while ‘religion’ is itself subject to corruption… faith itself is beneficial… and provides us answers science cannot. Religion is a human institution… and just because religion is manipulated by people does not mean that God doesn’t exist… or that personal faith in God is the cause of that corruption.



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I don’t often follow the publishing industry with any interest, but the one development I have been looking forward to is the release of