God vs Gods: Religion for the New Millennium and Beyond
by H Joseph
The book is an anti-clerical tome that could have been something special and alas falls very short of the mark. First of all lets get logistics out of the way. The book is in A4 sized format while each page only has about 250 words on it, if that. It is a huge tome of 300 odd pages that is a pain to read. Secondly the editing of the work lacks a certain attention to detail which is a shame but all so common place with self-published work.
Now that is out of the way lets focus on the theme of the book. Now, before I begin this review I have to add that I have some sympathy for the general view of the book that organised religion and clerical class generally do more harm than good. Much like the bureaucracy of the state they seem to merely perpetuate themselves and their well being while forgetting whom they are supposed to help.
This could have been said quite properly in 150 pages or maybe 200. Instead we are presented with a never ending set of biblical quotes and anecdotal examples. There is actually quite a good chapter with a rather good explanation of why much of Old Testament teachings and traditions are in fact not unique to Judaism and existed in other civilisations before theirs and even concurrently.
There are even rather interesting examinations of why even in ancient times the clerical classes weren’t exactly looking after their flock the way they should have been. There are good examples of cases where biblical clerics actively undermined the secular rulers of the day for their own betterment and power.
Most of the ranting, including a superfluous chapter on the Pope during WWII informing us that he and the Church did not act out of self-preservation (well duh), comes across as if a blog post on the subject. The book lacks a certain cohesiveness that is really necessary.
Then there is the other gapping hole in this book. If one is talking about clerical abuse of followers and merely working for their own gains how can one possibly leave out Islam? Considering the pain and suffering Muslim clerics in the world are causing with their rants and speeches how on earth can you leave that religion out of this sort of the book?
Instead of being a book that makes a valid argument against the clerical class of all types it merely comes across as a rant against organised Judaism and Christianity. There is a short aside about Bahaism in the conclusion which should have occured earlier in the book and been expanded on at the expense of some of the more turgid parts of the book.
This could have been, and still could be with a less lengthy pretentious title and some heavy editing, quite a thought provoking and interesting book. Instead it is a ponderous tome that is a task to read, even for one such as me who is interested in such matters.
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Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackSadly it seems that every book of this sort focuses only on the failings of Christain churches and Judaism, and not on the universal failing of all religions with an established “clerical” class. Islam is certainly no exception to that - even though it is technically a religion without clergy. It would seem that reading this book is in the nature of a penance, so perhaps I shall tackle it when I have amassed sufficient penitential need.
comment from Raphael Hasid
Further to the review of my book “God v. Gods” by Mr Andrew Ian Dodge, Blogger News Network, 20th June 2007, I would like to make the following comments:
Mr Dodge is absolutely right about the size of the book. I followed Lulu’s instructions
so that the book could be printed in the normal paperback size. For some obscure technical reason, that I am still not sure of, it came out in its present ungainly format.
The second point that Mr. Dodge is unquestionably right is about the lack of editing of the book. No matter how skilled a writer is, it is always necessary to have an outsider to edit his, or her book. As the same rule applies to solicitors. However brilliant they are, they always need a solicitor to sort them out if they find themselves in difficulties.
Now that I acknowledged the points where Mr. Dodge is definitely right, let us see where I disagree with him. Mr. Dodge complains that “then there is the other gapping hole in this book”. He is referring to the fact that the book does not discuss Islam. One does not need to be a very sharp observer to notice that, as I am stating clearly in the book that it is dealing with Judaism and Christianity only. Anyway it is for instance, like a person reviewing a book about botany and complaining that the book does not deal in zoology too. That is what is called complaining just for the sake of complaining with the sole purpose of showing off oneself as an expert. Mr Dodge and all those who are interested in the shortcomings of Islam can find them in the excellent recently published book “God is not great” by Christopher Hitchens, and various other worthy publications.
Next we come to what Mr. Dodge calls “a superfluous chapter on the Pope during WW11”. This chapter happens to be one of the backbones of the book. The prevailing view, certainly among Jews, is that the Pope did not intervene in the wiping out of Jews because of anti-Semitic reasons. As Jews were the main group at the receiving end, this argument might have helped, but it certainly was not the main reason. This chapter comes to prove that the clergy have not acted against any injustice throughout history if there has been the remotest chance of jeopardising their own welfare. This self-preservation rule has applied and still applies no matter who is the target of any oppression. Mr Dodge in his “infinite wisdom” thinks that such an important section in the book which proves chapter and verse that the clergy, throughout history have not been interested in anything or anybody but themselves, and there own well being, is superfluous. Therefore he finds it appropriate to dismiss it with “well duh”. This is really an intelligent and sophisticated response which shows an in depth understanding of the subject. Such an intellect as Mr Dodge’s is really hard to come across.
Here I would like to remark that writing non fiction is not like writing fiction. When one writes fiction one tells a story from A to B. In non fiction when one examines an issue from different angles a certain amount of repetition is inevitable.
The book “God V. Gods” is based on two main foundations. One is the way the clergydom have been exploiting mankind and what is worse inciting man against man, wiping out entire civilisations, at various times turning parts of the world into blood baths, imprisoning, torturing, burning, murdering and maiming people. The second one is discussing monotheism as opposed to polytheism, and coming up with a new radical approach to religion. The truth is that the idea is not new, but only brought again to the surface by the writer, as the readers of the book will discover.
Considering that the vast majority of the world’s population follow monotheistic religions, which have been in existence for about four-five thousand years, and taking into account the mess they brought the world into, it is high time to take stock of their benefit to mankind.
Regarding this second foundation of the book “God V. Gods”, Mr. Dodge has not found it necessary to inform his readers or express his opinion on the subject one way or another. Consequently by ignoring this most important part of the book, Mr. Dodge as a reviewer, has failed not only himself, as well as the writer, but above all his readers, and this is a pity.
For Mr. Dodge as a person who states that he is interested in the subject to show such an astonishing lack of understanding in his chosen topic is remarkable. Perhaps Mr. Dodge, if he cannot even understand a simple book like this, might be better off taking up an interest in a less taxing field, let us say, in a simple thing like archery. Football or cricket for instance are definitely out as they might prove to be far too complicated for Mr. Dodge.
If one wants to be more charitable to Mr Dodge one can say that the overall impression form his review is that he has not read the book, God V. Gods, but had a cursory glance at it. Consequently he wrote something in order to see his name in print, and appear to be knowledgeable. This too is more than inexcusable and puts him in a very negative light.
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