RIP Christopher Hitchens

[GreatWhiteEbola]

Originally Posted by holden

Serious?

It's the British accent...

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

He was actually a very confusing person at times though. He claimed to be a socialist, but would sometimes convey messages that were more in line with neoconservatism. His final words "Capitalism. Downfall" do suggest that that he was a deep socialist at heart, but capitalism is also the backbone of modern the democracy that allows for secular government and freedom.

I think he was one of those people that realized controversy an being a smart ass sells and took full advantage of that.

He was an independent thinker who was capable of changing his mind. Might have made him 'confusing' to a public accustomed to inflexible ideologues. But I don't doubt his sincerity.

As for his debating tactics, he was old-school British in that respect, combining erudition and eloquence with forceful delivery. In North America, public figures tend to be either eloquent and polite, or forceful bufoons.

I expect if he were still around, Hitchens would excoriate Trump, while reserving his most withering condemnation for the blithe elites whose self-satisfied entitlement enabled Brexit and Trump to win.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by holden

Serious?

Yeah, seriously.

If you listen to his essays, he will go and make a bunch of points and then sneak in little jabs like; "..even the simplest minds must agree", and other quips.

I liked him as a political analyst, but he was arrogant especially later in his career.

[Cheese]

His arrogance and ability to use his acid coated tongue along with an encyclopedic mind was exactly what atheists needed. He was brilliant in many of his debates and mocked the theistic side better than anyone before while making his points clearly and bluntly...we need more just like him.

[Snuffleupagus]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

Yeah, seriously.

If you listen to his essays, he will go and make a bunch of points and then sneak in little jabs like; "..even the simplest minds must agree", and other quips.

I liked him as a political analyst, but he was arrogant especially later in his career.

right or wrong he sure had a way of making a person of faith look very foolish but I have to say I never seen him loose an argument.

[Yoho]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1249667410879295488

[Engine09]

Hands down, Hitchens was my favorite person to walk the face of the earth. To this day I regularly watch his debates and interviews on youtube. We were lucky to have him, absolutely brilliant.

I'm never without at least one of his books, currently traveling with "God is Not Great" to reread.

Meanwhile, the hotel room I am staying in now promptly had the bible removed and deposited in the hallway next to the daily takeout containers, like the garbage is it.

[Matata]

He'd be raging about islam in the UK and grooming gangs and would have been de-platformed a while ago.

[CliffFletcher]

It's hard to imagine an unapolagetic skeptic and contrarian like Hitchens going along with the pieties of today's brahmin class.

“If you want to stay in for the long haul, and lead a life that is free from illusions either propagated by you or embraced by you, then I suggest you learn to recognize and avoid the symptoms of the zealot and the person who knows he is right. For the dissenter, the skeptical mentality is at least as important as any armor of principle.”

“Those who are determined to be ‘offended’ will discover a provocation somewhere. We cannot possibly adjust enough to please the fanatics, and it is degrading to make the attempt.”

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Engine09

Hands down, Hitchens was my favorite person to walk the face of the earth. To this day I regularly watch his debates and interviews on youtube. We were lucky to have him, absolutely brilliant.

I liked Hitchens, but "favourite person on the face of the earth"? That seems a bit much. Hitchens was an excellent writer and a provocateur of the first order. Was he brilliant? In in sense, yes, but then again, so much of what Hitchens blustered about with regards to religion was caricatured nonsense. I appreciate that he drew much needed attention to the dangers and excesses in religion, but he also did so on the basis of a frustratingly naive and occasionally ignorant disregard for the history and of religion and it's sociocultural development.

I'm never without at least one of his books, currently traveling with "God is Not Great" to reread.

This book is a prime example of exactly what I am getting at. It is a diatribe written against the extremities of religious thought and behaviour, and with total disregard for the contribution of religion to both Eastern and Western cultures, and its development in the modern world. Honestly, it's not a very good book.

Meanwhile, the hotel room I am staying in now promptly had the bible removed and deposited in the hallway next to the daily takeout containers, like the garbage is it.

Well, that's weird, and oddly superstitious.

I find that most people who denigrate the Bible as "garbage" also don't have the slightest idea about how to read it, understand its significance, and possess virtually no insight about its history and development as one of the most important literary works in the Western world. Sure, I—like you—am disgusted by how modern Christianity (and especially Evangelicalism) has marshalled the Bible in service of a disturbing agenda, and on the basis of an entirely flawed and ignorant hermeneutic. These sorts of appeals to the Bible serve only to propagate continued misunderstanding of this ancient masterpiece and the world from which it emerged.

You would do yourself an enormous favour by actually learning something about the Bible before summarily dismissing it as "garbage."

Anyhow, RIP Hitch.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

.

I find that most people who denigrate the Bible as "garbage" also don't have the slightest idea about how to read it, understand its significance, and possess virtually no insight about its history and development.

I would say that is also true of most people who revere the Bible as the Word of God.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I would say that is also true of most people who revere the Bible as the Word of God.

You are correct, which is why I maintain that it is a good idea for everyone to learn more about the Bible.