It is a verbal take-down that obliterates an opponent’s argument in a few succinct statements with a grace that disarms his opponent while simultaneously eviscerating him. His voice will be greatly missed.
The way Hitchens faced his mortality also reveals the honesty and dignity of atheism, which Dawkins describes as:
the worth and dignity of the human being when not debased by the infantile babblings of religion. Every day of his declining life he demonstrated the falsehood of that most squalid of Christian lies: that there are no atheists in foxholes. Hitch was in a foxhole, and he dealt with it with a courage, an honesty and a dignity that any of us would be, and should be, proud to be able to muster.
Enjoy some of these fine examples:
tildeb
Questionable Motives 
Amazing, witty, scathing and dignified until the very end. I shall miss him. To aid me in my mourning, I shall go to a bookshop on Monday and buy another one of his books.
Comment by Cedric Katesby — December 17, 2011 @ 10:34 am |
And isn’t that a legacy worthy of answering questions of ‘purpose’ and ‘meaning’ to his life? Believers would have us dismissing any such notions as unimportant out of some inherent nihilism they assume to be associated with atheism. Truly weird. Truly wrong.
From Why Evolution is True comes this highlighted tweet worth sharing:
After a 30-minute discussion with Christopher Hitchens in my office, I’m now convinced that I don’t exist.—
(@almightygod) December 16, 2011
There are also several funny comments, like:
Rumours of Christopher Hitchens’ deathbed conversion have begun circulating. Sources report that he called for a priest – and converted him to atheism.
Comment by tildeb — December 17, 2011 @ 2:08 pm |
A first class mind by any measure; intelligent, brutally honest, brave and compassionate.
My favourite work was his book on Mother Teresa – which is agonisingly funny and horrific at the same time.
Comment by misunderstoodranter — December 17, 2011 @ 2:29 pm |