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December 16th, 2011
08:25 AM ET
'A great voice falls silent': Christopher Hitchens tributes pour in on TwitterBy Nick Thompson, CNN (CNN) - "My chief consolation in this year of living dyingly has been the presence of friends," wrote Christopher Hitchens in June before his death Friday from complications of esophageal cancer at the age of 62. Now, friends and peers of the British-American author have eulogized Hitchens on Twitter. Hitchens, an outspoken atheist and critic of religion, defended Rushdie when the Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on his life in 1989 following the publication of "The Satanic Verses." Richard Dawkins, a fellow atheist and author of "The God Delusion," tweeted: "Christopher Hitchens, finest orator of our time, fellow horseman, valiant fighter against all tyrants including God." Read the full story here. |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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It'd be nice if all the Christians on here would actually comment on atheism as it exists, as opposed to the angry, bitter straw man atheist many of them seem to have constructed for themselves.
That's because the only atheists we see on here are angry, bitter, and hateful.
@george
I know you are, but what am I! Nyah nyah.
:-P~
Angry, bitter and hateful? That's everyday tripe for you, pendejo
The problem is, you can't really comment on atheism because atheism isn't a religion. It's a lack of religion. Therefore it has no common thought processes. It's an unorganized group of people who don't believe in God. It's a bunch of people, no doubt with many differing viewpoints on the universe, who can believe in a wide variety of things as long as God is not one of them.
It it really a shame that religious people never get to realize that they wasted their life on delusion. When they die and death turnes out to be exactly what it looks like – they just stop, simple as that – they don't get a moment or two to find out that they totally wasted their lives on an illusion when they could have been doing better things with their time. They never get that moment of enlightenment that the total lack of evidence for the existence of any deities did in fact mean there were none.
Jesus, Thor, Athena, YHWH, Quetzlcoatl, Ra . . . superstitions, nothing more. And every religious person can easily see how absurd all the other religions are . . . but of course theirs is different.
RIP mate. You rocked.
Sanity has lost a great spokesperson.
I drink my morning sake to this great man, may your body the soil and all though you do not believe may your soul to return to the cycle of life. Thank you for preaching the true evil written in the Abrahamic scriptures.
All dressed up and no where to go.
... just like everyone else.
Morning has broken
Like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the word
Sweet the rains new fall
Sunlit from heaven
Like the first dew fall
On the first grass
Praise for the sweetness
Of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness
Where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight
Mine is the morning
Born of the one light
Eden so play
Praise with elation
Praise every morning
God' s recreation
Of the new day
Morning has broken
Like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken
Like the first bird
Praise for the singing
Praise for the morning
Praise for them springing
Fresh from the world
(Farjeon Arr. Cat Stevens)
It is a pity that Stevens converted to Islam. However, the great, wise, biblical Solomon turned apostate finally.
So Rainer, you couldn't think of anything to say, so you cut-and-pasted the insipid lyrics of a Muslim dingbat?
Maybe you can post some Abba lyrics the next time you don't have anything in your head. Like right now.
@Electric Larry
Muslims at least don't dare to deny any divine creator.
Regretably, they don't regocnize that The Creator and God is Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Thus, atheists are worse than Muslims regarding their world view.
One of my favorite songs. Thanks.
The Bible proves that the Bible is wrong and that Christianity is a lie.
I find that rather humorous.
You keep convincing yourself that atheists are somehow worse than Muslims who stone women to death for being r@ped, behead those who disagree with their ideologies and suicide bomb innocent civilians for the "glory" of Allah.
BTW – Allah is not a name, it is simply the Arabic word for God. You, the Muslims and the Jews all worship the same sociopathic genocidal r@pist.
Cheers!
War,
Please explain "The Bible proves that the Bible is wrong and that Christianity is a lie." I am very interested.
Mike –
I responded to you in another thread. If you'd like to go over it again here I'm more than willing to. Let me know.
Please, or post a link to which reply I know we have 4 of them going on
I have not seen the "Bible is a lie" part, just the "I, in my opinion think it is absurd" not the same.
Ok well all my responses have been on this thread and the other one on Hitchens which are currently on the front page of the belief opinion page. I won't go super in depth as I know with a bit of browsing you will find them, but I will give at least one example right now.
Genesis – according to the Word of God as written in the Bible, God made man (Adam) from dust and woman (Eve) from man's rib. He created the Heavens and the Earth in six days – just as they are now. Human beings, oak trees, German shepherds, kangaroos, the AIDS virus, gorillas, marijuana, red pandas and malaria. All living organisms were created just as they are today, and they've been here, unaltered, for all of Earth's history. According to the Bible.
Except, we know that's not the case. We KNOW that life on this planet (and the planet's ecosystem and atmosphere themselves) evolved over literally BILLIONS of years. Human beings as we know ourselves have only been around for, at most, a couple hundred thousand years.
So, the Bible got Genesis wrong. The Bible got Genesis wrong?? A book inspired by "God" couldn't even get the beginning of life on this planet right? If "God's" book is so very obviously and completely WRONG about this one very basic tenet, then how can I trust anything else it says?
Do you see where I'm coming from?
Where does it say "just as they are now". Also AIDS would not have come in until after the fall.
But it is funny how you after 20 years know billions of years of history then go on to confirm the bible about human existence.
Even though I've never heard of this man prior to this day, I am still saddened at his passing.
From Wikipedia:
"Hitchens often spoke out against the Abrahamic religions, or what he called "the three great monotheisms" (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He said: "The real axis of evil is Christianity, Judaism, and Islam". In his book, God Is Not Great, Hitchens expanded his criticism to include all religions, including those rarely criticized by Western secularists such as Hinduism and neo-paganism. His book had mixed reactions, from praise in The New York Times for his "logical flourishes and conundrums"[129] to accusations of "intellectual and moral shabbiness" in the Financial Times.[130] God Is Not Great was nominated for a National Book Award on 10 October 2007.[131][132]"
Unquote.
It is true that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) and the Islam have caused a lot of sorrow for the mankind in history. I suppose Judaism affected the mankind merely a little.
However, it is totally wrong to equate Catholizism and Christianity. Catholizism is merely distorted Christianity. Catholicism has nothing to do with true Christianity.
Hitchen's statement Christianity would belong to the axis of evil is ridiculous. This statement has no objective basis.
Was Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, evil? I guess, no. Christianity is good in itself like Jesus was good. It is i d i o t i c to equate the assessment of falsification of Christianity (for example the RCC) with the assessment of true Christianity.
Christianity is good and was authorized and accredited by emperor Constantine the Great, who was the leader of the civilized world at his time. Thus, Christianity is the royal belief from time immemorial and everybody, who speaks out against Christianity commits a political offence.
Firstly, you accuse this Jesus (the so-called Christ) of being the "founder of Christianity". He supposedly told his followers of some deluded tales and instructed them to spread them as far as possible. His brother, James, grew power-hungry and took the reins of the group and formed a church in Jerusalem, based on his brother's musings. He grew it until he irritates those around him, and they killed him, as well as the other apostles (except "John", who we are expected to believe in those years, lived to over 100 years of age without the benefit of modern medicine).
@AGuest9
Deluded tales?
Any proof?
A political offense? Really? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
@Rainer Braendlein, read the gospels.
Rest in Peace, Christopher Hitchens. You will be missed by all those who fight daily for free thought in our world.
No point in saying that, he's dead and surely isn't aware of anything. Your thoughts are moot.
True, but it is customary to pay tribute to those of the greats no longer with us. His neurons have quit firing and he is no more.
Such a great talent, great writer, great man, and one of the most logical, rational thinkers of our time.
Rest in Peace, Mr. Hitchens. I learned a LOT from you.
He knows there's a God now.
maybe, maybe not...the fact you are working on the assumption of absolutes just shows your arrogance and ignorance.
No, the great man known as Christopher Hitchens simply no longer exists.
And George, you remain a stupid, deluded, ignorant, cowardly fool who believes in a vicious ass-hole of a god that doesn't exist.
How would he "know" that, George? His brain stopped working when the last electro-chemical impulse fired in his brain and the last neuron reached a quiesced state prior to its own death. Stop trying to scare us with your imagined boogeyman of a god.
Old Georgie Boy.....still making statements you cannot prove? I suppose that bible up you rectum inhibits thought
Georgie sees god as a p-r-i-c-k, which suggests that Georgie is, too.
Doubtful
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_6PxnvaySw
TRASH ALERT – don't bother viewing this garbage, click the report abuse link to get rid of this stupid TROLL!
Athiests live all their life angry and mad at God. A God they don't believe exists.
If you have one life to live why do you harbor so much anger against GOD?
No, we don't.
Oh well, gotta point the obvious here.
In the words of Dawkins
"Christopher Hitchens, finest orator of our time, fellow horseman, valiant fighter against all tyrants including God"
Oh dear, I think someone as spent too much time listening to father dullbob instead of actually speaking with an atheist. I don't harbor a single modic.um of anger towards god. I don't like the believers idea of god and I certainly do not support this god character in any of his endeavors but really it's the christian right and the horrible acts carried out in gods name that really annoys me.
OK, well if god actually existed as described, he would indeed be a tyrant.
But, since god in all likelihood doesn't exist, we're angry with and fight against the silliness of the idea, not the fictional character.
But you knew that, cuz yer smart.
Chuckie-That is just an excuse you use. ie., to say you are angry at the atrocities committed in the name of religion is one thing, that would be anger at people. Your anger is misplaced and that is the point.
Something about that statement of Dawkins makes you wonder- that deep within every soul there is a serious questioning going on and that is-the question of evil. We all want to get rid of evil, we can't. As an alternative the human mind tries to rationalize this evil and blames God for all the evil in this world.
@CFGA: Ummmmm, no.
We know people are responsible for evil. We don't blame it on a mythical god.
However, when the thiests insist their god exists and is good and loving and shwhatnot, then we're forced to point out the inconsistency in those attributes.
We don't believe in a god, and we don't harbor anger for or cast blame on something that doesn't exist. I guess it makes you feel better to think so, just like your faith, but it's simply not true.
Sean-Think deeper. Death comes not just by killing each other, it comes from diseases, it comes from natural calamities and so on. Our human mind wants to wish this away.
A believer knows that God is loving, understands that evil is part of this life we all inherited thanks to Adam/Eve.
On the other hand-an atheist actually tries to rationalize all these ills and blames it on God, except that they reject God and then blame God. It only hurts them in the end. Dawkins statement proves he is fighting God.
@CFGA: *sigh* See my statement above.
I don't blame god, because I don't believe it exists. I'm not angry with god, because I don't believe it exists.
You, however, are exasperatingly dense.
How does one harbor hate for the non-existent? It's the non-existent's fan club members who are the most obvious purveyors of hate for those who are not like them.
@Question,
I don't think atheists are mad at God, per se. Really, they don't believe He exists, so why should they be mad at Him? What they are mad at are the hypocritical Christians who try to cram the Bible down their throats, create laws that affect them based on the Bible all while telling them they have a freedom of religion as long as it's some branch of Christianity. And then if they refute Christianity, they get some pompous blowhard standing up and condemning them to Hell and telling them they are immoral.
I can understand their frustration. I'd be pretty mad too if someone tried to force their religion or belief system on me and make me adhere to their tenants.
It is your life, you can fill your life with all the anger and bitterness you want against God and keep insisting that God does not exist.
And yet ,Dawkins in his condolences thought it essential to mention GOD in that 140 char liner.
@CFGA, it was a Tweet – they are limited. It likely truncated "'s fan club".
We are not angry at a being we don't believe exists. We are amused by the arrogance of believers
@CFGA – do you get angry at pink unicorns? Do you see any possible way in which you could conceivably get angry at pink unicorns. Many believers like to paint atheists as bitter angry people who have been scorned by religion. This is not only incorrect, this viewpoint really only shows the inability of the one holding it to understand that people don't think the way they do. It's really just a statement made out of ignorance – both at the group they're attempting to generalize and about the outlook that requires no deity.
Atheists who fight, fight against the idea of god(s) and what that idea entails and promotes, i.e. inherent worthlessness of humans and subjugation of the human mind by mindless faith.
This evening I will raise a glass to the memory of Christopher Hitchens, and drink heartily. Care to join me?
And I will say in his honour, loudly, "That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence."
Sadly, Hitchens knows the truth now, just a bit late!
Tear, and you know that how?
HotAirAce: They dont...but they would like to think they do so their fear of death is comforted by imagination. The arrogance of christians is amazing.
I'm with you, captain c.
Cheers! Hitchens would have approved, and said so.
I'll drink to that!
Definitely, a toast after dinner tonight.
"That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.”
― Christopher Hitchens
li“[O]wners of dogs will have noticed that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they will think you are god. Whereas owners of cats are compelled to realize that, if you provide them with food and water and shelter and affection, they draw the conclusion that they are gods.”
― Christopher Hitchens, The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Non-believer
Great quotes from a great book, Reality.
quote by me, the hippypoet – this is not meant to be enjoyed but dwelled upon...
"death – there is no reason to fear the end when one has started nor to fear what is unchangeable. And so is time, it flows without knowing it flows for it needs not no to complete its flow and in like manner is death to all that live. I fear only life and the horrors that can befall those who live."
“Do I fear death? No, I am not afraid of being dead because there's nothing to be afraid of, I won't know it. I fear dying, of dying I feel a sense of waste about it and I fear a sordid death, where I am incapacitated or imbecilic at the end which isn't something to be afraid of, it's something to be terrified of.”
― Christopher Hitchens.
RIP
As opposed to canadians who are always incapacitated and imbecilic. canadians actually think that the rest of us needs to hear from them.There's your sign
You need to shut your idiot mouth, captain. Just shut up and show some respect for a great man that the world lost.
captain america, watch your step. Our near-stealth Canadian biological airforce is far from incapacitated. They invade your airspace at will,and are cr@pping on your lawn as I type this. Christopher Hitchens would have chuckled loudly at that.
Sad loss for the world. A brilliant and brave writer and thinker.
I think "What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." was from him, among many other great, biting lines.
A powerful intellect and a gifted writer. He will be missed. I guess the theists who claim that "there are no atheists in foxholes" will have to eat their words. There was no 11th hour about face here.
Brave, brilliant guy. Spoke out loudly and clearly re what he stood for, no matter how unpopular or controversial his stance was. A hero to me.
Colin, you are very correct. I'm sure there are plenty of ways the religious nut-jobs will want to spin their failure of their "god" into their world-view.
He fought for truth, justice, and a good glass of scotch. He defended Salmon Rushdie from the beginning against Islam and became a firm fighter against the madness that is Islam, supporting the war in Iraq to the dismay of many friends.
He is missed. At least he left us some books to read. If he hadn't, we'd be stuck with gathering up all his essays piecemeal.
Books that make much more sense than The Babble! Thank You CH!!
You can ask a trillion religious zealots on their deathbeds on god and when all counted -the sum of their total viewpoints will be absolutely insignificant.
Yet IF ask one atheist to vouch for and support a religious zealots viewpoint on their fairy tale god it would be infinitely credible. That is why those zealots have always approached Christopher Hitchens about his 11th hour.
We atheists have lost a great mind and a friend in Hitchens.