Christopher Hitchens RIP

[thesometimesaint]

Lehi:

Having been in Missouri in the summer. I can quite agree.

[supersnail]

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/features/2007/god_is_not_great/mormonism_a_racket_becomes_a_religion.html

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/10/is_mormonism_a_cult_who_cares_it_s_their_weird_and_sinister_beli.html

http://www.fairblog.org/2011/10/18/the-weird-and-sinister-beliefs-of-mormonism/

[Sky]

I personally was not a fan of Christopher Hitchens. Words that come to mind when I think about him are intelligent, outspoken, argumentative, famous, and atheist. He and I probably wouldn’t have been the best of friends. But perhaps now that he is on the other side of the veil, it will give him new opportunities to learn things that he was not open to learning here. But I also know it is not my place to judge him. Like Daniel Peterson, I wish him well.

[supersnail]

The left and atheism are complicated. Not all atheists will miss him, and some progressives will. A significant number of progressives actually supported or aligned themselves with Hitchens even after he "switched sides" for reasons Hitchens himself embodied. And many reputedly religious people will miss Hitchens for related reasons.

I wonder how many people eulogized Sir Oswald Mosley because they were impressed with his rhetoric, which is only to suggest that Hitchens' cleverness and flattery (of people including those he didn't criticize as intently) are not themselves sufficient to view him positively. I wish all people who died yesterday well and see no reason to favor Hitchens to be frank.

[BCSpace]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16212418

Look like he repented of major sins regarding his worldview. I don't know much about his view of God but it doesn't look promising to have been given accolades by atheists.

[Calm]

Mr. Hitchens discussed the possibility of a deathbed conversion, insisting that the odds were slim that he would admit the existence of God.

“The entity making such a remark might be a raving, terrified person whose cancer has spread to the brain,” he told The Atlantic in August 2010. “I can’t guarantee that such an entity wouldn’t make such a ridiculous remark, but no one recognizable as myself would ever make such a remark.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/arts/christopher-hitchens-is-dead-at-62-obituary.html?pagewanted=all

[altersteve]

I was sad to hear about this. He was a very intelligent man and I wish him the best of luck as he learns about the gospel.

[Stargazer]

Having not known it before, I thought it was interesting that he became a US citizen after 9/11, for what he said was an act in solidarity with this country (in which he had been a legal resident for quite some time -- in addition to having a wife and children who were all native-born citizens). He was, unlike a lot of his fellow lefties (and this may have been why he left The Nation), in favor of the invasion of Iraq. I've listened to a couple of his interviews with the talk show host Michael Medved, and I grew to like him and his expression, despite his militant atheism (but then again, I love listening to even more militant atheist Pat Condell on YouTube, so maybe I'm a weird case).

I was let down a bit to hear of his passing. Like many of you, I am certain he is in a better place now -- conscious and re-evaluating some of his positions!

[supersnail]

Hitchens isn't famous just for his eloquence or atheism. If Hitchens hadn't made himself a political topic this thread might not exist.

Others who are "intelligent, outspoken, argumentative, famous, and atheist" include Richard Dawkins. Not all atheists are the same, and not even all New Atheists are the same.

[Sethbag]

It's mildly humorous to me how many of you express satisfaction at finally winning the argument about religion with Christopher Hitchens in the discussions he surely must be having now that he's dead. I don't know why, I just think that's pretty funny.

[thesometimesaint]

Sethbag:

Not so much satisfaction as relief. He is finally getting all the answers to his questions, as I hope I will too.

[Avatar4321]

It's been reported that Christopher Hitchens, who was suffering from esophageal cancer, has died.

He was a very talented polemicist and writer, and will be missed.

I trust that he's already had a very, very big surprise, and I wish him well.

Im sure he is over his surprise by now and already talking with the missionaries on the other side.

[Calm]

It's mildly humorous to me how many of you express satisfaction at finally winning the argument about religion with Christopher Hitchens in the discussions he surely must be having now that he's dead. I don't know why, I just think that's pretty funny.

If the belief that Hitchens held is correct, then there is really nothing of significance or satisfaction to discuss, so it is hardly surprising that it is those who believe him wrong doing the "expressing".

[Sethbag]

If the belief that Hitchens held is correct, then there is really nothing of significance or satisfaction to discuss, so it is hardly surprising that it is those who believe him wrong doing the "expressing".

I agree that your observation is correct. I guess it just comes across as funny to me because I watched innumerable debates between Hitchens and various believers, and it was my opinion that he destroyed them all. It looks like people couldn't beat Hitchens in reality, but they sure can beat him in the fantasies playing in their own minds.

[Ron Beron]

All in all, I am sure he would rather be in Philadelphia.

[Stargazer]

I agree that your observation is correct. I guess it just comes across as funny to me because I watched innumerable debates between Hitchens and various believers, and it was my opinion that he destroyed them all. It looks like people couldn't beat Hitchens in reality, but they sure can beat him in the fantasies playing in their own minds.

There is no way a normal person could beat Hitchens in a debate on this subject. The existence of a creative Deity who assiduously cultivates his anonymity is something that cannot truly be debated successfully in the positive.

That being said, it is still the case that lack of evidence is not evidence of absence. I am completely content to endure this ambiguity until the Day comes. If I am wrong, then I will never know it. Unless there is no God, and yet nevertheless the soul continues to exist and retains its consciousness. That would be annoying.

[Stargazer]

All in all, I am sure he would rather be in Philadelphia.

Yes, I am sure that would be the case, but if he were correct, he wouldn't have the capability of having a "druther".

[Pahoran]

And now it seems that Kim Jong-Il will be joining the conversation.

Regards,

Pahoran

[Daniel Peterson]

I agree that your observation is correct. I guess it just comes across as funny to me because I watched innumerable debates between Hitchens and various believers, and it was my opinion that he destroyed them all. It looks like people couldn't beat Hitchens in reality, but they sure can beat him in the fantasies playing in their own minds.

Oh, I don't agree at all. His book god is Not Great was a genuine stinker. Truly awful. Riddled with errors.

[Anijen]

I remember watching Carl Sagan and recently Hitchens. I believe it was a pleasant surprise for him. There will always be someone to take up the atheist limelight, and he/she too will be pleasantly surprised one day (hopefully).

[Kemara]

It looks like people couldn't beat Hitchens in reality, but they sure can beat him in the fantasies playing in their own minds.

Oh the irony of this statement coming from a crystal ball gazer.

[cinepro]

Oh, I don't agree at all. His book god is Not Great was a genuine stinker. Truly awful. Riddled with errors.

When considering the quality of an encyclopedia, my dad would first turn to the entry for "Mormons" and read it. If they got their info about the Church right, he suspected they probably got the other stuff right.

To this day, I'll pick up books in a library or bookstore that might have something about "Mormons" and check the index. If they do, I'll read the entry to see if they got it right. I seem to remember doing this for Hitchens' book and being disappointing at how much he got wrong.

[Grundelwalken]

It's been reported that Christopher Hitchens, who was suffering from esophageal cancer, has died.

He was a very talented polemicist and writer, and will be missed.

I trust that he's already had a very, very big surprise, and I wish him well.

Sadly, the reality is that (as Alma taught) he is probably of the same opinion he was before. We really don't change that much when we 'move on' so I suspect he is still holding to the things he knows are true. MW

But we can always hope!!

[thesometimesaint]

I think it is a bit more than a hope. I believe we al have ideas, and thoughts that may not absolutely agree with the realities of Heaven. A good bit of time before the Resurrection is spent with the God(s) gently teaching us that reality. At least I hope so.

[Daniel Peterson]

Incidentally, when I started this thread, I believe that I titled it "Christopher Hitchens RIP." Somebody evidently changed the title. I didn't.

I would have preferred that the title remain unchanged. Notwithstanding our enormous philosophical differences, and despite the fact that I regard god is Not Great as an extremely bad book, I didn't intend the thread to mock Christopher Hitchens's death. I don't mock deaths. And, in some regards, I have considerable respect for Mr. Hitchens.