Christopher Hitchens and his debates

12ogue

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Out of all the atheist "philosophers" out there, Mr. Hitchens seems to be one of those who chooses to attack Christians vehemently, stating for a desire to rid of religion vehemently. It almost felt like a chilling resemblence to the Holocaust, with the belief to purge Christianity off the face of the earth.

I still am trying my best to retrieve what he believes is wrong with Christianity. Majority of his arguments seem to aim itself at FUNDAMENTAL Christianity, something I choose to not be a part of or believe represents Christianity correctly at all. He states the reason why Christianity is wrong is because it triggers violence, with Jerry Falwell and his negative comments on modern issues as his prime evidence. He eventually sums up by concluding that Christianity only provokes and causes stress.

I just had to laugh at many of his claims. It either proves itself IN the Bible or just eventually climbs itself as another list of anti-fundamentalism.

He begins to act like a hypocrite in the end. He makes childish names of Falwell and other Fundamentalists, yet makes claims that Christianity enjoys provoking others into warfare when apparently he fell into his own folly. And odd enough, most of what he believes IS Christianity is nowhere near context of what I believe in. All of the Christians I've met personally also disagree with Fundamental Christianity and its accusations of situations. It seems to me Hitchens need to research more on Christianity rather than generalizing it into the category of the mainstream Christianity.

Positive or negative comments are greatly appreciated =)
 

DailyBlessings

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Out of all the atheist "philosophers" out there, Mr. Hitchens seems to be one of those who chooses to attack Christians vehemently, stating for a desire to rid of religion vehemently. It almost felt like a chilling resemblence to the Holocaust, with the belief to purge Christianity off the face of the earth.

Actually, the Holocaust was caused by Christians trying to expunge other peoples, not the other way around.
 
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The Nihilist

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quote snipped

I don't think Hitchens's attack only applies to christian fundamentalism. Christianity has an extremely poor track record regarding violence and oppression, particularly in the dark ages.

Also, I think it would be a mistake to write this off as just a product of medieval catholicism or christian fundamentalism. The idea here seems to be that because these groups didn't follow the bible correctly, they don't count. Well, the bible even says that no one follows the bible correctly, so if you're going to take that approach, then no one should count.
Perhaps more importantly, what differentiates a fundamentalist christian from a more liberal christian is that a fundamentalist is actually a better christian. He is truer to the bible. He doesn't let contemporary concerns interfere. That you and your friends find fault with fundamentalism means that you actually agree with Hitchens in a way. You agree that the more christian someone is, the more hostile and violent they become, and that christianty must be tempered by other ideas.
 
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Eudaimonist

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Philosopher, journalist, its all the same...

Published Ph.D. scientist, message board creationist with only a high school education, it's all the same... ;)

I agree that people who are unpublished in philosophical journals can be real philosophers, but I want to know if this Hitchens does any creative work in philosophy, or if he is simply a guy with an opinion. It seems to me that "philosopher" really does mean more than "journalist", if both words are to mean anything.


eudaimonia,

Mark
 
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IzzyPop

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Published Ph.D. scientist, message board creationist with only a high school education, it's all the same... ;)

I agree that people who are unpublished in philosophical journals can be real philosophers, but I want to know if this Hitchens does any creative work in philosophy, or if he is simply a guy with an opinion. It seems to me that "philosopher" really does mean more than "journalist", if both words are to mean anything.


eudaimonia,

Mark
Bah. I forgot to add the facepalm to signify sarcasm. Sorry 'bout that.

He is a journalist that has a pretty well informed opinion. He has been all over the world and seen first hand what can go wrong when people get a little overzealous in their religion.
 
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DailyBlessings

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Who is Hitchens? Is he really a philosopher?


eudaimonia,

Mark
He has produced no meaningful original work in field of philosophy, if that's what you mean. I see him as a public figure along the vein of someone like Bill O'Reilly, spouting an extreme version of someone else's philosophy to garner attention.
 
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The Nihilist

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He has produced no meaningful original work in field of philosophy, if that's what you mean. I see him as a public figure along the vein of someone like Bill O'Reilly, spouting an extreme version of someone else's philosophy to garner attention.

Oh come on, that's hardly fair! Hitchens at least probably has a soul! (If they were real, I mean...)
 
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Oh come on, that's hardly fair! Hitchens at least probably has a soul! (If they were real, I mean...)
Yes, he has a soul! I'm sure he's even an entertaining dinner party guest. But I don't think he contributes all that much to meaningful philosophical discussion. You don't have to be a good or a bad person in particular, to do or fail to do that.
 
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DailyBlessings

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Ok, the joke was that the comparison to bill oreilly was unfair, and the suggestion was that oreilly is without a soul
I maintain that the point of connection is a solid one. Not casting impunities on anyone's personal character, particularly.
 
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12ogue

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Well, I can't see if he would be a philosopher or no. I really have yet to read his God Is Not Great book. I just saw some of his interviews on Youtube. Thought he might really be intriguing of an atheist to debate against =).

But sure, as soon as my winter break ends, I shall purchase myself his book and read from it ^^
 
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NeverClever

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Yes, he has a soul! I'm sure he's even an entertaining dinner party guest. But I don't think he contributes all that much to meaningful philosophical discussion. You don't have to be a good or a bad person in particular, to do or fail to do that.

Kinda like the Lee Strobel of the New Atheist movement?
 
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JGL53

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Hitchens is quite well educated, highly intelligent, an eloquently articulate speaker, and an man of letters and accomplished author of several scholarly books - in other words, he's like the absolute very opposite of George Bush the Lesser.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens

And here is a list of his books:

http://books.google.com/books?ct=title&q=inauthor:Christopher+inauthor:Hitchens&lr=&sa=N&start=0
An man of letters? possibly. Several scholarly tomes? Not really.
 
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