re: Was Christopher Hitchens Most Enlightened Thinker of Our Time?

Carson, about the quote in the picture on page 2.

That's pretty much exactly how I feel about religion. And I'd never claim to be a genius or anything close. What's so special about this guy?

I've never been exposed to any of his writing and don't read about religion either for or against. His quote is pretty much exactly the opinion I've formed on the subject.

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He was certainly a moron

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I read this site long before I ever joined so I've seen many of your posts. I can't say I've ever seen you provide one of any substance. Typically they are just insults. On the occasion you provide a fact, you don't provide any link or citation to verify.

I can understand the stance that one thinks Hitchens was overrated as a thinker or that he had despicable views. Thinking he is a moron though, is just an absurd view. The fact that you throw such an absurd view--one that even his staunchest academic critics would probably disagree with--then not provide any evidence to back it up, is about as hackish as it can get, especially since you seem to believe that you are quite an intelligent individual yourself.

You know, you could stop being a hack, and maybe show that intellect for a change, by actually engaging in a dialogue and providing some semblance of evidence.

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How can you hate him when he basically allied himself with conservatives in his later years?

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Don't know much about this guy, could you explain or expound on this.

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How can you hate him when he basically allied himself with conservatives in his later years?


Don't know much about this guy, could you explain or expound on this.

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He was a socialist for a long time until his 30s or so and stayed fairly liberal after that. He started seeing holes in the Left's thoughts when his friend Salman Rushdie had a fatwa put on his head by Ayatollah Khomeini, allegedly for insulting Mohammad. Instead of defending free expression, a bunch of his leftist colleagues criticized Rushdie for being provocative. Then 9/11 happened and he saw a bunch of leftist self-blame (ie we brought this on ourselves, blah blah blah) when he recognized it as an assault on society by Islamic fanaticism. It changed his world view considerably and he became an outspoken proponent of the War in Iraq, much to the dismay of a lot of his friends and the intellectual community. He was still a critic of people like Bush and voted for Obama over McCain, but his shift towards the right in foreign policy was a big deal.

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Honestly what sets him apart his is writing style, which is very polemical (and off putting to some) and his persona, which is sort of a most interesting man in the world kind of thing. He was remarkably well read and traveled, he was a big socialite in addition to public intellectual, had voracious appetites for many things..

Look up some remembrances of him after his death, the stories are pretty funny.

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Nice. I have a very religious friend and when we discuss religion, that's pretty much the exact argument I use. He and I can't talk football without wanting to kill each other, but we can discuss religion for 2 hours without either of us so much as raising our voice. Which, I find humorous

Didn't mean to sound like I didn't think Hitchens was smart. Was literally asking...what's special about him.

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I read this site long before I ever joined so I've seen many of your posts. I can't say I've ever seen you provide one of any substance. Typically they are just insults. On the occasion you provide a fact, you don't provide any link or citation to verify.

I can understand the stance that one thinks Hitchens was overrated as a thinker or that he had despicable views. Thinking he is a moron though, is just an absurd view. The fact that you throw such an absurd view--one that even his staunchest academic critics would probably disagree with--then not provide any evidence to back it up, is about as hackish as it can get, especially since you seem to believe that you are quite an intelligent individual yourself.

You know, you could stop being a hack, and maybe show that intellect for a change, by actually engaging in a dialogue and providing some semblance of evidence.

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Nice. I have a very religious friend and when we discuss religion, that's pretty much the exact argument I use. He and I can't talk football without wanting to kill each other, but we can discuss religion for 2 hours without either of us so much as raising our voice. Which, I find humorous

Didn't mean to sound like I didn't think Hitchens was smart. Was literally asking...what's special about him.

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No worries, I got you. While he had an abrasive writing style, he had friends all over the spectrum (despite what clowns like TN Boy might lead you to believe. He was a huge, huge atheist but he spent some of the last weeks of his life on a road trip across America with one of his evangelical friends, a guy named Larry Taunton. Here's a good story about it: LINK

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you don't get the full TN Boy unless you are a regular on the soccer board, fwiw

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Very true.

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It's the idea behind the quote that rings true. That we leave behind garbage like religion and progress past it.

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No offense, but that's a naughty school boy's understanding of "religion". Religion is simply a belief system and a structure to help a person abide by the convictions of that belief system. "Progressing" past a belief system is not a possibility. Transforming, adjusting, or regressing, maybe, but not progressing past.

Now, some may reject the belief system they were taught, and may find themselves in a place with no beliefs, but that's hardly "progressing past" religion.

Atheism is a belief system. An atheist is convinced there is no god, and their purpose in life is either determined by other humistic beliefs or possibly no purpose at all, which is more like regressing along the "belief continuum" if you will.

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He was remarkably well read and traveled, he was a big socialite in addition to public intellectual, had voracious appetites for many things..

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But he didn't know much about Christian theology, yet quick to criticize it to its core.

He is also guilty of being what many fundamentalist Christians are said to be, "textual literalist". That is a trait of many atheists in their arguments against God and the Bible.

However, I liked listening to him. He was a free thinker, but sometimes just not as intellectual as many of his atheist hero worshipers think he always was.

More than anything, Hitchens was a massive Oxford snob who thought way to much of himself and his intellect, and too many bought into it. Just like the OP.