Christopher Hitchens has died.

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Atreus21

Atreus21

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Aug 21, 2007
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http://www.voanews.com/english/news...hristopher-Hitchens-Dead-at-62-135727303.html

Provocative British-Born Author Christopher Hitchens Dead at 62

Essayist Christopher Hitchens speaks during a debate on Iraq and the foreign policies of the United States and Britain, in this September 14, 2005 file photo taken in New York.

Provocative British-born American writer and intellectual Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62 following a long battle with cancer.

Vanity Fair magazine, where Hitchens worked as a columnist, said the sharp-witted commentator died late Thursday of pneumonia, a complication of the esophageal cancer he was diagnosed with in 2010.

Though Hitchens developed a high-profile in 2007 with his controversial international bestseller, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, he spent the majority of his career as a war-time journalist, literary critic and prominent political commentator.

Hitchens did not fit into any easily definable political mold. After spending years as a correspondent for the left-leaning magazine The Nation, he went on to become a strong supporter of former Republican President George W. Bush and the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

Hitchens was born to a nominally Christian family, but discovered later in life that his mother had deliberately hidden her Jewish heritage.

His combative disdain for organized religion and love for debates made him one of the world's most well-respected and most reviled religious skeptics.

A heavy smoker with a love for Scotch whisky, Hitchens was forced to postpone a national book tour after being diagnosed with cancer of the esophagus in June 2010.

Upon his death, Vanity Fair described him as an "incomparable critic masterful rhetorician, fiery wit, and fearless bon vivant."
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Rest in peace to a worthy adversary.

To some extent I envy him. Not because I wish for death, but for the answers that come with it. Every question he's ever had in his life has been answered, or at least the biggest of them.
 
Atreus21

Atreus21

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Aug 21, 2007
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DesiPower said:
I don't think I get it... what question are you talking of? Am I a douche?
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Well, I would assume he now knows beyond any capacity for doubt the truth regarding the origin of life. That's valuable information.
 
T

tydas

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Atreus21 said:
To some extent I envy him. Not because I wish for death, but for the answers that come with it. Every question he's ever had in his life has been answered, or at least the biggest of them.
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You already know the answer...oblivion...
 
F

fskimospy

Elite Member
Mar 10, 2006
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I've always been a great admirer of Christopher Hitchens, even when he said things I hated. We're definitely poorer for having lost him.
 
Atreus21

Atreus21

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Aug 21, 2007
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eskimospy said:
Basically that getting rid of Saddam was our responsibility, one we had shirked for years. After we invaded he argued that to withdraw would be handing a victory to islamists, etc.
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You don't come across too many committed atheists among national security hawks. Interesting. To some extent I agree with his first point. The first gulf war should never have left Saddam in power.

Shrug.
 
zsdersw

zsdersw

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Oct 29, 2003
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It's not surprising that he died, to be sure. Going to miss him, though. I could listen to him talk for hours... about any topic. The way he forms his sentences and communicates his thoughts, coupled with a British accent (which I always like to hear), makes him very easy and enjoyable to listen to... whether I agree with what he's saying or not.
 
N

nageov3t

Lifer
Feb 18, 2004
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I'd like to think that he's in heaven.



because that's the most horrible eternal fate I can imagine for him.
 
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woolfe9999

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Mar 28, 2005
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I admired him for being intellectually independent, not beholden to any ideology or other paradigmatic way of thinking. That, and his (sometime) eloquence. He was always interesting, even when he was wrong.
 
A

Anarchist420

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Atreus21 said:
You don't come across too many committed atheists among national security hawks. Interesting. To some extent I agree with his first point. The first gulf war should never have left Saddam in power.

Shrug.
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Neocons are not for common security and they have Wilsonian (progressive) roots. Their goal is global tyranny where democratic plutocracy rules the world.

They may say they're for national security, but they're too smart to believe that their policies would result in common security.

Dick Cheney uses national security as an excuse to make himself richer.

They know they either did it directly or that it was because of their foreign policy.
 
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woolfe9999

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Mar 28, 2005
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Atreus21 said:
Well, I would assume he now knows beyond any capacity for doubt the truth regarding the origin of life. That's valuable information.
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The conundrum of the atheist is that he can never have the pleasure of "knowing" he was right. He can only "know" if it turns out he was wrong. I suppose you theists can take some measure of solace in that.
 
xj0hnx

xj0hnx

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Dec 18, 2007
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woolfe9999 said:
The conundrum of the atheist is that he can never have the pleasure of "knowing" he was right. He can only "know" if it turns out he was wrong. I suppose you theists can take some measure of solace in that.
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That they were wrong or not will probably be the last of an atheist worries as their soul burns in eternal hell ;)
 
S

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
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I'm surprised he made it this far. Did anyone see his appearance on the penn & teller episode about holier-than-thou people? He was drinking and smoking the entire time.
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

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xj0hnx said:
That they were wrong or not will probably be the last of an atheist worries as their soul burns in eternal hell ;)
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If there is a God, then he gave Hitchens an enormous amount of ability to think rationally. All religions are different. They disagree on certain points. It is equally probably as any other religion that God would reward logical thinking. Perhaps God rewards skeptics and punishes those who don't use the incredible reasoning ability that he gave humans.

Maybe God hid dinosaur bones not as some cosmic joke, but rather as a way to test the humans made in His image. He's smart. He's logical. Perhaps the conversation at the Pearly Gates goes like this.
"Hmmmm, says here that you believe the Earth is 6000 years old, and that those bones are only 6000 years old."
"Yup."
"But, there's overwhelming evidence that the Earth is older. Why did you ignore that evidence."
"Because I had faith."
"But, I gave you intelligence too. You chose to ignore that intelligence. You are not worthy. Burn in Hell."
"but... but... YAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

5 minutes later,
"Hey! Christ Hitchens! What's up! Welcome to Heaven. Yep, you were wrong. I *do* exist. However, existence was a test just to see which of my creations were smart enough to be worthy of hanging out with me up here. I soooooo hate hanging out with a bunch of morons."


Think about it - most smart people like to hang out with smart people. You don't find PhD's hanging out at the local low-life bar that attracts high school drop-out sorts, do you? If there is a God, he's smart. Why would he want to hang out with dumb people?
 
Atreus21

Atreus21

Lifer
Aug 21, 2007
12,001
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126
DrPizza said:
If there is a God, then he gave Hitchens an enormous amount of ability to think rationally. All religions are different. They disagree on certain points. It is equally probably as any other religion that God would reward logical thinking. Perhaps God rewards skeptics and punishes those who don't use the incredible reasoning ability that he gave humans.

Maybe God hid dinosaur bones not as some cosmic joke, but rather as a way to test the humans made in His image. He's smart. He's logical. Perhaps the conversation at the Pearly Gates goes like this.
"Hmmmm, says here that you believe the Earth is 6000 years old, and that those bones are only 6000 years old."
"Yup."
"But, there's overwhelming evidence that the Earth is older. Why did you ignore that evidence."
"Because I had faith."
"But, I gave you intelligence too. You chose to ignore that intelligence. You are not worthy. Burn in Hell."
"but... but... YAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

5 minutes later,
"Hey! Christ Hitchens! What's up! Welcome to Heaven. Yep, you were wrong. I *do* exist. However, existence was a test just to see which of my creations were smart enough to be worthy of hanging out with me up here. I soooooo hate hanging out with a bunch of morons."


Think about it - most smart people like to hang out with smart people. You don't find PhD's hanging out at the local low-life bar that attracts high school drop-out sorts, do you? If there is a God, he's smart. Why would he want to hang out with dumb people?
Click to expand...

At the end of the day, I think God has only one question for us. "Do you choose me or do you choose yourself?"
 
DrPizza

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
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Atreus21 said:
At the end of the day, I think God has only one question for us. "Do you choose me or do you choose yourself?"
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You've been trained to believe that question. You've been trained to believe that in order to be saved, you have to accept Jesus. What I'm saying is that logically, that is not necessarily true. Wait a second... why am I attempting to argue logic with you? LOLOLOLOL.
 
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