Harries on Hitchens - 'seriously harmful'

A Guardian review by Bishop Richard Harries of Christopher HItchens' intemperate blast against religion - "God is not Great"  takes its effect seriously.

Comments

[Coel]

Richard Harries ends with "Hitchens has written a book that is seriously harmful, not because of his attack on religion, some of it deserved, but because he will divert people away from the real problem: which is we human beings, both religious and irreligious".

By that argument, religion, with its emphasis on theology, dogma and the supernatural, must also be "seriously harmful".

[Gaz]

Coel - that's a nonsense. You obviously don't appreciate the purpose of "religion" which is to contrast humanity against a perfect moral code (and to try to do something about it) and not to ignore it, as you seem to think.

[Christopher]

I think Gaz's comment begs a couple of questions. First, what makes him think religion is about a perfect moral code? The ancient religions may have introduced moral codes at a later date in their history (during the Axial Age, around 600 BCE, according to Karl Jaspers) but surely they are primarily as much about keeping ritual provisions and the avoidance of taboo, as well as maintaining a rich array of supernatural beliefs as ever they were?

Second, what is the perfect moral code they all subscribe to?