Doubtlessly, he is supplying readers with the facts as he sees them and allowing the public to make up its own mind without loading the question or clouding the issue with propaganda.

I have read his book on God and consider this excerpt to characterize his treatment of a complex issue throughout the text. One can see, for instance, how he carefully considered the history of the Christians thrown to the lions during Roman times, the teaching of the Buddha, the pacifism of Quakers, Mennonites, and Jehovah Witnesses’ , as well the efforts of Gandhi and Martin Luther King in the last century and Pax Christi today in concluding that religion is “violent.” This is the “Hitchens’ Method” he uses throughout this and other writings on religion. Whether he is examining the good works of Mother Theresa, whom he characterized as a "thieving Albanian dwarf," or shutting his eyes to the contributions to human history from the religious art of Michelangelo, da Vinci, Rafael, Rembrandt, and Rubens, etc., Chris exhibits the same standards of judgment.

Consider also his profound grasp of historical change in concluding that religion is “contemptuous of women.” Scholars might be impeded from such easy categorization if they pay attention to the protections to women’s status installed by religions at the time of their founding. However, Chris is not bound by academic rules of evidence or scholarship, allowing him to enrich public discourse with the unvarnished brilliance of his book-selling sloganeering.

Perhaps the directors of this website thought it would contribute to serious reflection on religion to give Chris a special column at “On Faith.” It certainly is true that he dumps his most descriptive adjectives “on faith.” No such invective is present, of course, in his deference to Washington war-makers, whose decision to start a war he vigorously supports. Certainly, one can appreciate that Chris has made known the fitting targets of his moral indignation: Mother Theresa but not Vice President Cheney. Perhaps for Chris, the former is the threat to the world; the latter, only to duck hunters.

As a scholar of religion, I have written quite a bit examining hypocrisy, deception and corruption in religion; subjects which so exercise the good Mr. Hitchens. As a human being who expects the best from people of faith, I have documented the mistakes of religion in some of the same matters highlighted by Chris in his own all-too-imitable way. As a scholar, however, I am bound by rules of evidence. If any reader -- or even the prolific Mr. Hitchens -- wants to evaluate my academic work, I invite you to read the books and articles first: then we can dialog. As far as whether Chris is right or wrong, I would not begrudge him the right to his own opinion. The right to his own facts, however, is a different matter.