Posted on 12/17/2011 2:07:50 PM PST by nuconvert
I have several recollections of Christopher Hitchens, who died yesterday at the age of 62.
The first is when I served in the George W. Bush White House and, in the first term, invited Christopher to speak to the White House staff. He spoke very well, of course, but what I most recall are a couple of things that occurred before the speech. The first is standing with him outside of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He had gone out to smoke, which wasn’t unusual — and he confided to me that he was nervous, which was. The words “Christopher Hitchens” and “nervous” don’t usually belong in the same sentence. He also wore a tie, which he indicated to me he hadn’t done in years — and, he told me, he had gotten his shoes shined before the speech, which he didn’t recall ever having had done.
It wasn’t hard for me to fit the pieces together. Christopher felt it was an honor for him, a British citizen, to speak at the White House. For all his reputation for being a bon vivant, an iconoclast, and a man not known for his devotion to protocol, he was in fact quite moved to be a guest at one of the great symbols of American democracy. It was, I thought, something of a touching moment.
(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...
I have. I believe that the trials put unto the men in those Books, were also Unconditional Love Offered Absolutely. It is my belief, and perhaps one day we can discuss why I so believe.
Thank you for posting. For those who admire Mr. Hitchens, I recommend going to the Guardian newspaper. There’s a wonderful article written by Ian McEwan (I believe), his best friend, about his final days in a Houston hospital.
The man had guts!!!
Hitchens is no more special than you or I, which is to say, he is very special — as are you and I.
....another day, Laz.
I like what Daniel Foster posted at NRO’s The Corner upon news of Hitchens’ death Thursday night:
“I’m sure I join many in hoping he is in for a glorious, glorious surprise.”
Indeed, sweet Guenevere. Love, as always.
Why can't you judge?
The Bible advises me against it.
Ayn Rand was an atheist. I’m an atheist.
Learn to accept other people’s views, even if you don’t agree with them.
Hitchens wasn’t evil. Punishing someone because they don’t believe in you is a human trait, something that you see a lot of on this forum.
Good article. RIP Mr. Hitchens.
Life (and Death) are full of ironies. Mother Teresa is sure praying for the mercy of his soul. But one knows God except by His teachings and this He has commissioned to his Apostles and the Church He founded. To say, religion isn’t important but knowing God is, makes for an irresolvable albeit convenient contradiction as each person reserves the right to interpret according to one’s own preferences. Why not simply follow the practice of the early Apostles, disciples, and Church fathers?
In all fairness to Hitchens, Christian theology has an oft-repeated theme, that just acceptance of Christianity without effort or struggle is seen by heaven as a bare minimum of faith.
Instead heaven truly cherishes those who fight against heaven every inch of the way. “Hell-raisers”, brutes, cowards, scoundrels, fiends, scoffers, prostitutes, even persecutors, oppressive tax gatherers, murderers and downright heathens who find their faith after endless conflict and strife.
We’ve all seen both types: the comfortable, sanctimonious, confident in their ritual, faith and redemption on one hand; and those who look like they were dragged through a knothole backwards, brawling, cussing and partying their way through life until the ran headlong into heaven’s brick wall. Repeatedly.
I can imagine Christopher Hitchens meeting St. Peter at the pearly gates, in which the Saint offers him the open doors of heaven, to which Hitchens replies, “Make me!”
And St. Peter responds, “You’re on! Best of three throws!”
Of course Hitchens will lose, but he will be a happy loser.
His anger at God was at an emotional level. His intellectual capacity is limited, like all mortals. His inability to have faith is not unusual in humans, although societies with no faith in God are brutal and can only live in a Darwinian world or under total tyranny.
All brilliant philosophers understood the need for religion and “values” . Virtue is essential to all free Republics and only promoted by rational religions (Judeo/Christian) plus Nicomachean Ethics.
Aristotle, Cicero, Machiavelli, All the Founding Fathers, Thomas Reid, John Locke, Blackstone, Edmund Burke, Benjamin Rush, Nietzsche.....so many brilliant, knowledgeable men over thousands of years can not be wrong, especially when historical evidence exists. Hitchens was wrong—he ignored historical truths—but he was brutally honest about his thinking, in the Darwinian sense. Faith in God can be more rational than atheism (as history proves), but he never discovered that—or maybe he did in the end. Only God knows.
You may be. But, I bet you are still spiritual.
Yep everyone I know has rejected God and the free gift of life because some nut said something that offended them.
Man is without excuse, but Jesus made it very simple for man to redeem himself, even to those that believe on His name.
“Hitchens wasn’t evil. Punishing someone because they don’t believe in you is a human trait”
That you characterize Christian belief as something that is illogical and indefensible is more a reflection of an erroneous understanding on your part than a valid criticism of the Gospel message.
Why hell exists is entirely logical and moral.
He was the kind of guy you couldn’t possibly agree with 100% of the time so right away at least 20% of this audience will hate him. But for the rest of us he was a free thinker and told it like it was.I think he said what he meant and meant what he said.
That alone makes him a rare speaker in todays world.
RIP Hitch.
A sad goodby to a brilliant, articulate man. He lived a full, too short, life and professed no regrets. His books are his legacy.
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