http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/ ... s-19492011
Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him (or more likely both, depending on the day or the topic), he was a master of the written word. The big C finally got him.
Hitchens: Requiescat in Pace
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sultan2075
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The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
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markfiend
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If you want to be really depressed, do a search on Twitter for "Hitchens Jesus". Vultures are already circling to claim a deathbed conversion, or failing that, gloating about him being in hell. What a wonderful christian attitude. Kind of proves Hitch's point doesn't it.someone on twitter wrote:God Is Not Great
Proof couldn't be neater
He took away Hitch
And left us with Peter
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
—Bertrand Russell
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sultan2075
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There was much more to him than the rather crude atheism that certain quarters will remember him for. More than anything, the man was a moralist--and a quite serious one at that, regardless of one's own disagreements with him. Here's a nice obit:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... ifestyle_5
I might give to him the same appellation given to Nietzsche's Zarathustra by the last pope (in Zarathustra IV): the most pious of those who do not believe in God.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... ifestyle_5
I might give to him the same appellation given to Nietzsche's Zarathustra by the last pope (in Zarathustra IV): the most pious of those who do not believe in God.
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The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
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markfiend
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Oh certainly.sultan2075 wrote:There was much more to him than the rather crude atheism that certain quarters will remember him for.
Mark Thomas phrased it best IMO: "Even when he was wrong he was brilliant."
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
—Bertrand Russell
Thanks, guys, for posting this!
He even adressed the topic of last-minute death bed conversion in an interview.
PS - at the danger of soundign stupid, but Peter? Who's Peter?
Bah, that won't make me depressed. Rather, almost amusedmarkfiend wrote:If you want to be really depressed, do a search on Twitter for "Hitchens Jesus". Vultures are already circling to claim a deathbed conversion, or failing that, gloating about him being in hell. What a wonderful christian attitude. Kind of proves Hitch's point doesn't it.
He even adressed the topic of last-minute death bed conversion in an interview.PS - at the danger of soundign stupid, but Peter? Who's Peter?
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sultan2075
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I'm assuming his brother, Peter Hitchens, whose very existence offends the rabid-atheist type of Hitchens fans. He's (gasp!) a religious man.
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The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
The most successful tyranny is not the one that uses force to assure uniformity but the one that removes the awareness of other possibilities, that makes it seem inconceivable that other ways are viable, that removes the sense that there is an outside.
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markfiend
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Peter Hitchens wrote a very moving piece about his brother: clicky
The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.
—Bertrand Russell
—Bertrand Russell