Born in 1949, Christopher Eric Hitchens was a British-American author, debater, and journalist. Hitchens contributed articles & commentaries to a number of esteemed publications, including New Statesman, The Nation, The Atlantic, The London Review of Books, The Times Literary Supplement and Vanity Fair. He was also the author, co-author, editor and co-editor of over thirty books, including five collections of essays, and concentrated on a range of subjects, including politics, literature and religion. Known for his contrarian stance on a number of issues, he courageously (and somewhat ruthlessly) dismantled the embedded hypocrisies, unethics & misdeeds of such public figures as Mother Teresa, Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, Lady Diana, and Pope Benedict XVI.

While he undeniably began his professional life as what many would call a member of “the far left” (due to his full & open denouncement of the Vietnam War, nuclear weapons, racism and the economic fascism of “the unaccountable corporation” — from which, by the way, we are all still suffering mightily today), his numerous well-written (though ideologically flawed) editorials in support of the Iraq War later in his career caused some to label him a neoconservative. In essence, Hitchens was a man who stood completely behind his beliefs — and he had the gumption to do so publicly, as well as eloquently.

Fittingly, immediately following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, Hitchens initiated a series of confrontational correspondences with Noam Chomsky over the nature of radical Islam and the proper response to it. Approximately a year later, Hitchens left his then position at The Nation, claiming that its editors and contributors considered John Ashcroft a bigger threat than Osama bin Laden (which he of course was). After agreeing thereafter to write for Vanity Fair, Hitchens staunchly defended President Bush’s post-September 11th foreign policy, though he did openly criticize the actions of U.S. troops in Abu Ghraib and Haditha. Further to his credit, Hitchens also denounced the U.S. government’s use of water-boarding as an interrogation technique, which he unhesitatingly deemed to be a form of unethical torture after he voluntarily experienced its cruelties firsthand … (That’s right … Hitchens volunteered to be water-boarded to see for himself what it was like!)

During the 2008 elections, the accuracy of Hitchens’ criticisms of the main party candidates were most diverse — with him calling McCain “senile” (a bold overstatement), labeling Sarah Palin “absurd” (a flagrant accuracy), and calling Obama “greatly overrated” (admittedly in retrospect, an astounding understatement).

Hitchens also actively supported drug policy reform and called for the abolition of the “War on Drugs”, which he accurately described as an “authoritarian war” during a debate with William F. Buckley.

Finally, and in my humble opinion most significantly, Hitchens was a public critic of religion and a self-proclaimed anti-theist — noting that, while an atheist could not believe in God and yet might wish it were so, an anti-theist is actually thankful that there is not enough evidence to support such religious dogma. Like Hitchens, other anti-theists — while not condemning spiritual belief per se — are indeed of the opinion that willingly worshiping a personal, judgmental Godhead is tantamount to actively supporting — indeed, actively championing — a patently unjust “celestial dictatorship”.

Not surprisingly, when Hitchens was once asked by readers of The Independent (a periodical based in London) what he considered to be the “axes of evil”, he replied “Christianity, Judaism, Islam – the three leading monotheisms.”

Hitchens’ book entitled “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything” (which has sold over 500,000 worldwide since its initial release) was published in 2007, and almost overnight tuned Hitchens into one of the major champions of the “New Atheism” movement, and he also was made an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society. During subsequent book-signing tours, Hitchens accepted many invitations from religious leaders (among them Frank Turek, Tariq Ramadan, Jay Richards, David Wolpe, Alister McGrath, Tim Rutten, Rabbi Schmuley Boteach, David Berlinski, Douglas Wilson, William Lane Craig, Marvin Olasky, Dennis Prager, John Lennox, Tony Blair, Ann Widdecombe, Archbishop Onaiyekan, Dinesh D’Souza, and Reverend Al Sharpton) who wished to debate him on the subject. After personally watching Hitchens often brilliantly & always eloquently dissect opponent after opponent in almost every one of these highly entertaining affairs, it is quite safe for me to say that almost every one of these “verbal enemies” must have at least partially regretted their initial requests thereafter.

After an intense bout with cancer, Christopher Hitchens died in December of 2011 at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Admirably, he wrote a book-length work (entitled “Mortality”, published in September of 2012) about this final illness, in which he both bravely & humbly documented how he dealt with his intense illness, his chronic pain & his journey towards death.

“I have been called arrogant myself in my time, and hope to earn the title again, but to claim that I am privy to the secrets of the Universe and its Creator – that is beyond even my conceit.” ~ Christopher Hitchens

“Human decency is not derived from religion. It precedes it … [Anti-theists] believe with certainty that an ethical life can be lived without religion. And we know for a fact that the corollary holds true – that religion has caused innumerate people not just to conduct themselves no better than others, but to award themselves permission to behave in ways that would make even a brothel-keeper or an ethnic cleanser raise an eyebrow … Violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children: organized religion ought to have a great deal on its conscience.” ~ Christopher Hitchens

P.S. It might be prudent to point out at this juncture that I do NOT agree with most of Hitchens political beliefs (especially his later, pro-war stances), nor do I condone his sometimes unkind manner in dealing with others. He qualifies as a Hero in my book because he stood up against tyranny — in this case the tyranny that is organized religion (most specifically the religions that are Christianity & Islam), and he did so with vigor and bravery and not a small amount of self-sacrifice.

Frankly, I think that is what we have ALL been Called to do in this brief glimmer of time we have each been given — to be radically Kind, yes, and on this front it seems Mr. Hitchens failed; and yet also to champion the cause of those downtrodden in our midst who are being trampled by tyranny … Whether those downtrodden be victims of an economy (see the homeless & the poor), victims of a state (see the Afghani civilians currently being Drone-bombed by Obama) or victims of tradition (see the billions of animals who are been confined, tortured & murdered every day merely to satisfy the primal lusts of the human palate) makes no difference whatsoever.

Hitchens chose to combat the tyranny of religious dogma — those conservative, man-made beliefs that not only condemn harshly the “non-believers” who do not follow suit, but that also confine their own believers in the shadow worlds of callousness, injustice & arrogance.

P.P.S. While it is important to note that Hitchens does indeed sometimes misrepresent Biblical scripture — especially some of the verses therein related to the teachings of Jesus Christ – it is even more important to admit that he still makes a compelling case against man-made religious dogmas that have themselves co-created a God that is not only petty, but cruel as well … At the very least, listening to Hitchens demands that we at the very least pause and consider where we truly stand on the issues of God and Jesus and salvation and religion and justice and indeed, Love.

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt