RIP Christopher Hitchens
16/12/11 07:57![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
badlydrawnjeff.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
talkpoliticsWe lost one of the greats today.
I remember my first exposure to Hitch. It was sometime in late 2002 or early 2003, he was on the radio promoting Why Orwell Matters, his book about George Orwell's relevance in the world. I was immediately impressed by him - to that point, I hadn't heard the type of clarity or the type of opinions he was providing, and I was struck by it.
From there on, I've been a fan and admirer - from his takedown of Mother Teresa (he later served as the "devil's advocate" (although they don't call it that anymore) at the discussions for Mother Teresa's beatification) to his dissection of Henry Kissinger. His book God is Not Great came at a time when I was grappling with my own theistic beliefs.
Most importantly for me, he was someone that I did not - and probably rarely - agreed with on matters political and otherwise. Yet he showed me the possibility of making the argument to the other side in ways no one before or since has, likely because few - especially myself - can even attempt to reach the type of intellectual prowess and way with words that Hitch had.
Our world is worse off without him, and the irony of sorts that one wishes that he believed there was an afterlife so we could continue to enjoy him long after we've passed is not lost on me. RIP.
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Date: 16/12/11 14:28 (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 16/12/11 19:06 (UTC)I believe in many cases he was admired for pretty misdirected and surface oriented reasons.
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Date: 16/12/11 19:47 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 19:42 (UTC)I ask only because you're not the only person who's expressed this POV that I wouldn't have anticipated. Yes, he definitely had some strong opinions I felt were wrong - that doesn't really mean, at least, that it makes him less of a great thinker or writer or person, really - if anything, his ability to articulate his beliefs and present them in the way he did is what puts him heads and tails above the rest.
(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 14:34 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 15:04 (UTC)Hitch doesn't RIP
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Date: 16/12/11 18:39 (UTC)For the left to use Hitchens as a weapon against conservatism, is like nuking any site relevant to future development from orbit, and for conservatives or libertarians to admire him, is to simply wish to develop the same kinds of nukes to use against their opponents in thought.
(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 19:15 (UTC)That man's not an enemy to thought.
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Date: 16/12/11 19:29 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 20:03 (UTC)(I am so out of this discussion.)
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Date: 16/12/11 19:42 (UTC)I absolutely agree with the standpoint of that article and everyone against waterboarding, but I also think Hitchens did things primarily for Hitchens. If I've ever seen a man hooked on his own myth and genius that would be him.
I'm sorry to even be discussing this with you, since you obviously admire the bloke. I should probably have not commented in any of the adorning posts about that man, because I feel soiled and more like Hitchens himself by just stooping to even vent my disgust with him.
I'll shut up now.
(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 19:54 (UTC)Well, shit, what've you got left to say when Dawkins dies? Will you burn him in effigy or just write hate mail to the survivors?
I don't see why. Damage is done.
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Date: 17/12/11 01:51 (UTC)And why would I automatically view Hitchens and Dawkins the same.
Your comment doesn't make any kind of sense, except that you don't like or share my views on Hitchens. (who btw treated the recently deceased much poorer than I do, and publicly at that)
You are perfectly welcome to like, admire and adore the man, just as I am to not.
(no subject)
Date: 16/12/11 19:42 (UTC)Or, to put it another way, the world is already full of assholes, so why not all be assholes like Hitch?
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Date: 16/12/11 22:57 (UTC)Here, here!
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Date: 17/12/11 00:53 (UTC)Moral Nihilists Unite
Date: 17/12/11 23:46 (UTC)Re: Moral Nihilists Unite
Date: 19/12/11 00:28 (UTC)Re: Moral Nihilists Unite
Date: 19/12/11 16:34 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 17/12/11 23:46 (UTC)Still, he did wonders for atheism and challenging religious dogma. That alone makes him a great man.