• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Merged Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)


The subject of this thread is Christopher Hitchens, not whether there is an afterlife, a God, many Gods, or two and a half Gods with a side order of bacon. We have an entire forum for that stuff.

Please keep it on-topic.
Replying to this modbox in thread will be off topic  Posted By: Cleon
 
Maybe I should post this in forum management, but since Hitchens was a prominent militant atheist, I think it comes with the territory to discuss these things.
 
tim said:
I am deeply saddened by the loss of an intellectual giant. Mr Hitchens was not one to suffer fools gladly and many a person has felt the lashing of his tongue. That said, his lifestyle was not one that exactly promoted longevity.
Let it be said that he was never, ever, boring!
Click to expand...

Well said, Tim. Hitchens was a regular presenter at the first several TAMs I attended and was quite accessible in the bar of the Casino post-presentation for those who wanted spirited dialogue. But I always found it interesting that the critique sheets we filled out at the end of each TAM pretty evenly divided between, "This guy is a jerk and a boor. Don't ever have him back" and, "He's one of the best presenters ever at TAM. Make sure he returns next year." Not many fence sitters when it came to Mr. Hitchens.
 
Hamradioguy said:
Well said, Tim. Hitchens was a regular presenter at the first several TAMs I attended and was quite accessible in the bar of the Casino post-presentation for those who wanted spirited dialogue. But I always found it interesting that the critique sheets we filled out at the end of each TAM pretty evenly divided between, "This guy is a jerk and a boor. Don't ever have him back" and, "He's one of the best presenters ever at TAM. Make sure he returns next year." Not many fence sitters when it came to Mr. Hitchens.
Click to expand...

He may have been a (occasionally) boor, but never a bore.
 
I admit I did cry last night before I slept. I had this idea that he would get better- didn't know he was on his death bed so it was a bit of shock. The last video I saw of him his hair, beard had grown a bit and he had so much energy.

I was sad (besides usually getting depressed at nighttime) but also he had so much to say, such intellect and deep thinking. He loved life, you can tell he lived it to his fullest. Meanwhile there are people who can't wait for Armageddon, for Jesus to come take their hand and take them to their "celestial North Korea" as Hitchens would say. They live till their 90's. I know life doesn't have to be fair but it still bothers me.
 
Hitch-22 has been sitting by bedside for months, ever since it became obvious that time was running out. I planned a tiny little wake, just reading late into the night while everything was quiet. Couldn't do it. True wordsmiths are so very few and far between. One brilliant turn of phrase and the grief would have been overwhelming.
 
Edited by Tricky: 
Edited for response to modded post.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
bookitty said:
Hitch-22 has been sitting by bedside for months, ever since it became obvious that time was running out. I planned a tiny little wake, just reading late into the night while everything was quiet. Couldn't do it. True wordsmiths are so very few and far between. One brilliant turn of phrase and the grief would have been overwhelming.
Click to expand...

I understand. I was watching his videos (the ones I usually observed the past year that automatically cheer me up) but now its difficult to get through esp. the ones that are over a year ago when he thought he was healthy. The good times before he found out he had cancer. :(
 
I'm not sure if I liked him from the beginning... like back in the early 90's. But I really liked the last decade.

Did he change his views over the years? I don't know his work as well as others.
 
Tony said:
Is [Cockburn] usually an apologist for religion? It is just an odd comment and makes him come across as out of touch. The rest of the piece reads like someone with a case of butt hurt.
Click to expand...

Cockburn is an atheist. How does he come off as an apologist for religion? I suppose many of Hitchens fans, especially from this forum, vaguely knew about him as a spokesperson for the "New Atheists." I recall in LETTERS TO A YOUNG CONTRARIAN, he said something about how he had always wanted to write a book against religion, but that there was nothing new to say. He'd always thought it rather clever to reframe "Pascal's Wager" as "Pascal's Bribe," but a little more reading, and he discovered someone had said it before.

I caught a snippet of a debate where he criticized an opponent for attacking a military that provided a blanket of security so we could have free speech, and in that moment I thought, "great, he's the Jack Nicholson character from A FEW GOOD MEN: gets off some of the best lines, and is absolutely unhinged. Just as Jessup protected us from the mighty post-Soviet Cuba Hitchens will talk about smashing the enemies of darkness."

The guy was obscenely self-righteous, and maybe that was the appeal to all the so-called "critical thinkers" who populate this forum, seduced by verbal fireworks rather than persuaded by careful reasoning. But please, post another "Hitchslapped" video. :rolleyes:
 
I've been an admirer ever since I saw him and Stephen Fry wipe the floor with a Catholic Bishop and the appalling Ann Widecombe in a TV debate about religion. He'll be sadly missed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom