"Yes, Dr. McGrath, you're right, there is something about us as a species that is problematic, it isn't just explained by religion. Something about us that tempts us to do wrong. It's pretty easily explained, I think. We are primates, high primates, but primates. We're half a chromosome away from chimpanzees and it shows. It especially shows in the number of religions we invent to console ourselves or to give us things to quarrel with other primates about. If anything demonstrates that God is man-made, not man God-made, surely it is the religions erected by this quasi-chimpanzee species and the harm that they're willing to inflict on that basis."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from EnglandAcademics from the United StatesPhilosophers from the United StatesPhilosophers from EnglandImmigrants to the United States
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Christopher Hitchens vs. Alister McGrath, 11/10/2007
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was an-English-American journalist and writer. He contributed to the New Statesman, The Nation, The Atlantic, London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement, Slate, and Vanity Fair. Hitchens was the author, co-author, editor or co-editor of over 30 books, incl
302 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Christopher Hitchens →
Related Quotes
"If I was told to sacrifice something to prove my devotion to God, if I was told to do what all monotheists are told t…"
"On our integrity, our basic integrity, knowing right from wrong and being able to choose a right action over a wrong …"
"If Hitchens didn't exist, we wouldn't be able to invent him."
"The idea that God speaks to some illiterate merchant warlord in Arabia, and he’s able to write this down perfectly an…"
"All this could be part of a plan. But it’s some plan, isn’t it?; With mass destruction, pitiless extermination and an…"
"My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywh…"
"If someone tells me that I've hurt their feelings I'm still waiting to hear what your point is."
"It is said that Louis Farrakhan’s racist crackpot Nation of Islam and its sectarian gang gets young men off drugs. Fo…"
"My challenge is really to say, 'Can you name me a moral action or a statement that has been made by a believer that c…"
"There is no reason at all why there aren't enough people to guard New Orleans and to help stabilise Baghdad."