What do you think?
Rate this book
Oh, Your God!: The Evil Idea That Is Religion
This book is not just for atheists but for antitheists—for people who celebrated the writing of Christopher Hitchens and miss his voice
Making the provocative assertion that the entire enterprise of organized religion is a thing for which the world and our species would have been better without, Oh, Your God! follows in the footsteps of the material observations of Lucretius, Epicurus, and Democritus and the more recent antitheistic arguments of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Drawing from timeless philosophers, modern debates, historical events, and current social climes, Joshua Kelly illustrates the shameful and debilitating damage religion has caused—and continues to cause—whether to our psyches, our bodies, our societies, or our world. Citing the murders of Nigeria's “witch children,” the subversion of sexual emancipation, the tethers of slavery, the attacks of September 11, the pseudomorality of monotheistic mythology, the subjugation of women, and much more, he provides an abundance of damning evidence to back up his claims. Only by acknowledging and grappling with the real and potential dangers of religion, he argues, will we be able to thrive and develop as a species.
Making the provocative assertion that the entire enterprise of organized religion is a thing for which the world and our species would have been better without, Oh, Your God! follows in the footsteps of the material observations of Lucretius, Epicurus, and Democritus and the more recent antitheistic arguments of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins. Drawing from timeless philosophers, modern debates, historical events, and current social climes, Joshua Kelly illustrates the shameful and debilitating damage religion has caused—and continues to cause—whether to our psyches, our bodies, our societies, or our world. Citing the murders of Nigeria's “witch children,” the subversion of sexual emancipation, the tethers of slavery, the attacks of September 11, the pseudomorality of monotheistic mythology, the subjugation of women, and much more, he provides an abundance of damning evidence to back up his claims. Only by acknowledging and grappling with the real and potential dangers of religion, he argues, will we be able to thrive and develop as a species.
248 pages, Paperback
First published July 4, 2013
10 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 3, 2016
This is the book that I would have liked to have written. Kelly holds nothing back here and presents example after example [after example] of passages, beliefs, doctrine, dogma and religious diatribes that make religion and even the idea of religion evil. Kelly is a student with no real academic or literary credentials to fog his writing, which is openly non-philosophical and literally clean and to the point. The book is a tirade against religion, but in reality it is a unabashed lashing out at the stupidity and irresponsibility that is religion.
He begins by writing "Inconsistencies, banal mandates, and racial bias aside-the Bible being touted as an infallible work is an insult to the intelligences of anyone with the freedom to pick it up and actually read the damned thing" and ends with an anonymous quote "You are the product of over four billing years of…evolution-now fucking act like it."
Profanity aside, the book is extremely well written drawing directly from religious texts and quotes from the leaders in religious thought. His literary sword does not stop at evangelicals, fundamentalists, and other religious right viewpoints but includes, and rightly so in my view, the so-called religious liberals and modern religionists: his real battle being fideism.
While I am aware of my personal bias towards Kelly's viewpoints (I agree with him wholeheartedly), I think that the book is a refreshing change from the rational, philosophical and scientific reads that abound on the subject. Kelly himself realizes that no amount of evidence warrant, reasoning, critical analysis, rational thought, social progress or cultural needs is enough to change the minds of those who choose to rely upon religion as a basis for their morality, world views, desires, happiness and thought. Rather, Kelly presents the religious writings and their obvious conclusions and consequences reminding all of us that to back down from hypocrisy and ignorance is never really an option.
He begins by writing "Inconsistencies, banal mandates, and racial bias aside-the Bible being touted as an infallible work is an insult to the intelligences of anyone with the freedom to pick it up and actually read the damned thing" and ends with an anonymous quote "You are the product of over four billing years of…evolution-now fucking act like it."
Profanity aside, the book is extremely well written drawing directly from religious texts and quotes from the leaders in religious thought. His literary sword does not stop at evangelicals, fundamentalists, and other religious right viewpoints but includes, and rightly so in my view, the so-called religious liberals and modern religionists: his real battle being fideism.
While I am aware of my personal bias towards Kelly's viewpoints (I agree with him wholeheartedly), I think that the book is a refreshing change from the rational, philosophical and scientific reads that abound on the subject. Kelly himself realizes that no amount of evidence warrant, reasoning, critical analysis, rational thought, social progress or cultural needs is enough to change the minds of those who choose to rely upon religion as a basis for their morality, world views, desires, happiness and thought. Rather, Kelly presents the religious writings and their obvious conclusions and consequences reminding all of us that to back down from hypocrisy and ignorance is never really an option.
January 31, 2020
Similar in content to The God Delusion although tends to focus more on religion rather than the non-existence of god. Should be a compulsory read for anyone who comes out with crap about religion being necessary for moral behaviour or any such trite nonsense. It's packed full of evidence of the evils and pointlessness of religion. It's a good read but it certainly isn't the best-written book in the world and doesn't engage in the same way that TGD does.
July 20, 2015
Some things just need to be said...
Joshua Kelly put a disclaimer in the beginning of the book to the effect that he isn't a scholar or an expert on any particular subject, but just a human being with some things he needs to get off his chest. I respect that, and I think he did a pretty good job of demolishing theism. But I think he came a little too close in engaging in ad hominem attacks and using an appeal to outrage in trying to prove his points, and may have crossed those lines a few times along the way. Of course it's difficult not to get fired up when confronting the outrage that is being perpetrated by organized religion.
The book concentrates its attack on religions based on the God of Abraham, for two reasons. First, because of the sheer number of adherents around the world at the present time, and second, because the extreme amount of toxicity that those particular brands of religion spread. It's problematic to make generalizations, however, because there are certain Christian sects that are fairly benign, such as the Quakers, as well as certain non-Abrahamic religions, such as Hinduism, whose members have sometimes practiced some pretty barbaric customs like arranged child marriages and have condoned, if not encouraged, gang rape and honor killings.
Kelly does an effective job of destroying the ultra-right-wing fantasy that the United States was established as a theocracy. He cites numerous references, with footnotes, to writings by several of the "founding fathers" whom right- wing religious zealots like Rick Santorum often misquote and misrepresent.
Kelly addresses the sticky issue of religious freedom, as defined by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This issue has become even more contentious since the book's release, leading up to the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. What is commonly overlooked is that the rights defined in the Constitution are not absolute. One person's rights and freedoms end when they start to infringe on another person's rights and freedoms. Another often overlooked fact is that marriage in the United States is a legal contract between two people that gives those people certain legal rights and benefits. For that reason, marriage licenses are issued by the state and not by the church. The state grants the clergy the authority to perform the marriage ceremony, but a couple cannot be legally married by the clergy without a marriage license, nor do couples have to be married by clergy for their marriages to be legally binding. I think Kelly could write an addendum to this book in light of recent events concerning our changing marriage laws and the reactions to these changes from hardcore theists.
Kelly explodes the myth that all morality must by necessity be based Judeo-Chrtistian religion. To imagine that everyone, or even most people.
would engage in murder, rape, and mayhem without the existence of a handbook full of contradictions (the bible) is ludicrous. However, it is also wrong to blame the bible for the existence of slavery, genocide, and other odious human behaviors that are condoned or encouraged in those texts, although I think Kelly tries to make that assertion in his book. Slavery, genocide and all the rest existed long before there was a bible that sanctioned these things. Furthermore, the bible is a book so chock full of contradictions, I would hesitate to quote any of its verses in order to prove any point. It's not that the bible is good or evil any more than Grimm's fairy tails are good or evil. A workable secular code of morality can exist without any bible with its 613 contradictory rules or any other God-inspired handbooks. Morality boils down to one simple test that encompasses virtually everything: Before taking any action, ask yourself the following question. Would I want to live in a world where everyone did what I'm about to do?
Kelly devotes a lot of space to the subject of homosexuality and the role of religion in marginalizing and persecuting people whose sexual identities and/or preferences are not aligned with their genetic code. Although religion does play a large role in promoting this intolerance, I believe these same taboos would exist without religion. Even when people have intellectual tolerance for sexual proclivities that fall outside the norm, they still associate a certain ickiness factor with them that's hard to ignore. I think religion just gives people a justification to have negative feelings towards other people that they would have anyway if there were no religion. Moreover, I think Kelly may have devoted too much space and outrage to this particular topic.
I was going to give the book three stars, but in the end I gave it three because the author provides a good list of references and sources to back up his claims. It didn't really teach much I didn't know already, nor would theists find it convincing, so it was mainly a matter of preaching to the choir.
Joshua Kelly put a disclaimer in the beginning of the book to the effect that he isn't a scholar or an expert on any particular subject, but just a human being with some things he needs to get off his chest. I respect that, and I think he did a pretty good job of demolishing theism. But I think he came a little too close in engaging in ad hominem attacks and using an appeal to outrage in trying to prove his points, and may have crossed those lines a few times along the way. Of course it's difficult not to get fired up when confronting the outrage that is being perpetrated by organized religion.
The book concentrates its attack on religions based on the God of Abraham, for two reasons. First, because of the sheer number of adherents around the world at the present time, and second, because the extreme amount of toxicity that those particular brands of religion spread. It's problematic to make generalizations, however, because there are certain Christian sects that are fairly benign, such as the Quakers, as well as certain non-Abrahamic religions, such as Hinduism, whose members have sometimes practiced some pretty barbaric customs like arranged child marriages and have condoned, if not encouraged, gang rape and honor killings.
Kelly does an effective job of destroying the ultra-right-wing fantasy that the United States was established as a theocracy. He cites numerous references, with footnotes, to writings by several of the "founding fathers" whom right- wing religious zealots like Rick Santorum often misquote and misrepresent.
Kelly addresses the sticky issue of religious freedom, as defined by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This issue has become even more contentious since the book's release, leading up to the recent Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage. What is commonly overlooked is that the rights defined in the Constitution are not absolute. One person's rights and freedoms end when they start to infringe on another person's rights and freedoms. Another often overlooked fact is that marriage in the United States is a legal contract between two people that gives those people certain legal rights and benefits. For that reason, marriage licenses are issued by the state and not by the church. The state grants the clergy the authority to perform the marriage ceremony, but a couple cannot be legally married by the clergy without a marriage license, nor do couples have to be married by clergy for their marriages to be legally binding. I think Kelly could write an addendum to this book in light of recent events concerning our changing marriage laws and the reactions to these changes from hardcore theists.
Kelly explodes the myth that all morality must by necessity be based Judeo-Chrtistian religion. To imagine that everyone, or even most people.
would engage in murder, rape, and mayhem without the existence of a handbook full of contradictions (the bible) is ludicrous. However, it is also wrong to blame the bible for the existence of slavery, genocide, and other odious human behaviors that are condoned or encouraged in those texts, although I think Kelly tries to make that assertion in his book. Slavery, genocide and all the rest existed long before there was a bible that sanctioned these things. Furthermore, the bible is a book so chock full of contradictions, I would hesitate to quote any of its verses in order to prove any point. It's not that the bible is good or evil any more than Grimm's fairy tails are good or evil. A workable secular code of morality can exist without any bible with its 613 contradictory rules or any other God-inspired handbooks. Morality boils down to one simple test that encompasses virtually everything: Before taking any action, ask yourself the following question. Would I want to live in a world where everyone did what I'm about to do?
Kelly devotes a lot of space to the subject of homosexuality and the role of religion in marginalizing and persecuting people whose sexual identities and/or preferences are not aligned with their genetic code. Although religion does play a large role in promoting this intolerance, I believe these same taboos would exist without religion. Even when people have intellectual tolerance for sexual proclivities that fall outside the norm, they still associate a certain ickiness factor with them that's hard to ignore. I think religion just gives people a justification to have negative feelings towards other people that they would have anyway if there were no religion. Moreover, I think Kelly may have devoted too much space and outrage to this particular topic.
I was going to give the book three stars, but in the end I gave it three because the author provides a good list of references and sources to back up his claims. It didn't really teach much I didn't know already, nor would theists find it convincing, so it was mainly a matter of preaching to the choir.
June 9, 2014
I have read a lot of this type of literature, but I think that this is one of the best. Despite taking on a very strong tone in parts, he doesn't become as ranting as some of the others I have read. I also like the fact that it is methodical and well-referenced. It is a good summary of much of the so-called "New Atheist" writing with good personal touches as well. It won't deter the blindly faithful, but nothing will and it wasn't written for them anyway. However, the more arguments documenting the evils of religion that we can get into the mainstream the better as the increasing influence of fundamentalist religion in all its forms has me terrified for my children's future. An excellent addition to this genre and one I would be happy to recommend to others.
April 21, 2014
I absolutely loved this book! A point by point repudiation of religion! Just because a billion people believe something doesn't make it right! Great piece of work, Mr Kelly
August 19, 2016
A must-read glimpse on the inconsistencies surrounding religiosity and its institutions.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews