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The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist

angel.eyes

By angel.eyes
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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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Has anyone read this biography?

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist

I read a review of it today. Before I buy it, I'm wondering how insightful it really is or if it comes across as biased and unidimensional. I hate buying a book and then discovering I really don't like it.

 

Here's the URL to the book review:

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens

 

Thoughts?

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Cablebandit Established Member

Cablebandit

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Posted

" It’s a good reminder: nobody arrives at atheism by merely weighing the intellectual merits." Apologetics slant coming, no thanks.

 

Read what David Wolpe (Rabbi) had to say about Hitch after his death as well as a few others to gain a little more insight.

Deirdra Member

Deirdra

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I hate buying a book and then discovering I really don't like it...Thoughts?

 

My thought is to borrow it from the library. :)

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BetheButterfly Established Member

BetheButterfly

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Posted
Has anyone read this biography?

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist

I read a review of it today. Before I buy it, I'm wondering how insightful it really is or if it comes across as biased and unidimensional. I hate buying a book and then discovering I really don't like it.

 

Here's the URL to the book review:

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens

 

Thoughts?

 

I am interested in reading it, just to understand his worldview.

 

It is interesting for me, as well as important in my opinion, to listen to Atheists and understand their reasons for not believing in God. I respect the right of people to not believe in God and to explain why.

 

If I didn't know Jesus Christ personally, I'd be an Atheist. I do think it's funny when an Atheist friend refers to Jesus as my imaginary friend. :) I know he's not trying to be insulting; he just sincerely thinks that, which is understandable.

Taramere Established Member

Taramere

Posted
Posted
Has anyone read this biography?

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist

I read a review of it today. Before I buy it, I'm wondering how insightful it really is or if it comes across as biased and unidimensional. I hate buying a book and then discovering I really don't like it.

 

Here's the URL to the book review:

 

The Faith of Christopher Hitchens

 

Thoughts?

 

I haven't, but I think I'll get it. It sounds fascinating. I've long felt that for all his air of confidence and authority, Christopher Hitchens had the same internal conflicts as many of us do. His were, perhaps, just more interesting and battled out in more eloquent style.

  • Like 1
OpenBook Established Member

OpenBook

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Posted

Everything I've seen and read of Christopher Hitchens seemed like he was... snarling. Like there was an undercurrent of great anger, anguish, something. A lot of his commentary I found offensive, but at the same time I oddly empathized with him. With all the terrible horrible senseless events that happen in the world, it's hard NOT to get angry, frustrated, cynical, etc. with the way things are.

 

I read somewhere in the news recently that he actually considered Christianity as he was dying. I hope he found some peace in the end.

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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" It’s a good reminder: nobody arrives at atheism by merely weighing the intellectual merits." Apologetics slant coming, no thanks.

 

Read what David Wolpe (Rabbi) had to say about Hitch after his death as well as a few others to gain a little more insight.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I found several long YouTube videos of their debates together and this tribute, among others: Rabbi David Wolpe on what it was like to debate Hitchens.

 

He was certainly an interesting character! Anything else that you would specifically recommend?

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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My thought is to borrow it from the library. :)

 

Thanks. That was my first instinct. Unfortunately, while Hitchens' books are all part of the library collection, this biography isn't. I think I'll recommend that my library add it to the collection. They're pretty responsive to suggestions.

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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I am interested in reading it, just to understand his worldview.

 

It is interesting for me, as well as important in my opinion, to listen to Atheists and understand their reasons for not believing in God. I respect the right of people to not believe in God and to explain why.

 

If I didn't know Jesus Christ personally, I'd be an Atheist. I do think it's funny when an Atheist friend refers to Jesus as my imaginary friend. :) I know he's not trying to be insulting; he just sincerely thinks that, which is understandable.

 

I know what you mean!

 

Faith is a little strange when you think about it. You either believe or you don't. You're either open to the Holy Spirit or you aren't.

 

It's hard to explain why two people in similar circumstances and with similar backgrounds will hear the same message of salvation. It will speak to one person's heart, but the other will reject it out of hand. The pat answer I get is that the Holy Spirit spoke to one person's heart, and he or she was open. But why? Why was the other person's heart hardened under identical circumstances?

 

Yes, if one doesn't believe I can see how that person could view it all as imaginary fairytales and friends.

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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I haven't, but I think I'll get it. It sounds fascinating. I've long felt that for all his air of confidence and authority, Christopher Hitchens had the same internal conflicts as many of us do. His were, perhaps, just more interesting and battled out in more eloquent style.

 

I don't know enough about Hitchens to comment about his private thoughts specifically. What I have noticed in general is that one of two things tends to be true when a person is stridently vocal about a complex topic with few/no easy answers:

  1. Either the person knows almost nothing about the topic (clearly not the case from the little I know about Hitchens)
    -or-
  2. the person is much less confident about his or her stated position than he's letting on and is almost goading those who hold the opposing view to convince him of the merits of their view.

 

At any rate, public personas can be pretty one-dimensional sometimes. We're all fairly complex individuals who are full of contradictions. I suspect Hitchens was no different. I suspect he struggled with faith and what to believe. Most people do at some point.

 

I'm going to buy the book too.

Edited by angel.eyes
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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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Everything I've seen and read of Christopher Hitchens seemed like he was... snarling. Like there was an undercurrent of great anger, anguish, something. A lot of his commentary I found offensive, but at the same time I oddly empathized with him.

I agree. He seemed very angry and almost bitter. Someone who delights in verbally eviscerating others on a regular basis is not a happy person. That's a very sad place to spend the majority of your life. In many ways, I feel bad for him too.

 

With all the terrible horrible senseless events that happen in the world, it's hard NOT to get angry, frustrated, cynical, etc. with the way things are.

It's interesting that (almost) every religion or more generically, belief system tackles the same difficult topics--suffering, fairness, justice, evil, ...

 

I read somewhere in the news recently that he actually considered Christianity as he was dying. I hope he found some peace in the end.

I also heard that he was more open to Christianity than he publicly let on. I don't know what he ultimately believed as he was dying though.

 

For me, one of the benefits of my faith is the peace that comes with it.

TheFinalWord Established Member

TheFinalWord

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Posted

Hitchens was a character.

 

Very funny, but his actual arguments against God were weak, philosophically.

 

Hitchens was considered one of the four horseman of the new atheism movement (Dawkins, Harris, Hitchens, Dennett). To understand Hitchens, I'd recommend his book, God is Not Great.

 

Here's what I mean about funny and witty, but a terrible philosopher:

 

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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Thanks for the clip and book suggestion. He dodged rather than answered questions about his exact position in this particular clip. That surprised me. Hitchens had a reputation for being a pretty fearsome debating opponent. Is this particular clip an anomaly or pretty representative, of his debating style? If it's typical, I wonder how he earned his reputation for debate.

 

I'll take a look at his book. What attracted me to the biography was the opportunity to get a glimpse of the man behind the public persona.

BC1980 Established Member

BC1980

Posted
Posted
I know what you mean!

 

Faith is a little strange when you think about it. You either believe or you don't. You're either open to the Holy Spirit or you aren't.

 

It's hard to explain why two people in similar circumstances and with similar backgrounds will hear the same message of salvation. It will speak to one person's heart, but the other will reject it out of hand. The pat answer I get is that the Holy Spirit spoke to one person's heart, and he or she was open. But why? Why was the other person's heart hardened under identical circumstances?

 

Yes, if one doesn't believe I can see how that person could view it all as imaginary fairytales and friends.

 

I'm not sure how much control we really have over what we believe or how open we are to certain beliefs. You can't force yourself to believe somethings or be open to it. I'd love to 100% believe in God, but that isn't possible it seems. And I've tried, believe me. Faith and religious belief are odd things.

Cablebandit Established Member

Cablebandit

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Posted

Faith is a failed epistemology. If you want to know something, you don't use faith. If you want to believe something that empirical evidence doesn't support or contradicts, faith is the vessel of choice.

 

 

 

“What I have a problem with is not so much religion or god, but faith. When you say you believe something in your heart and therefore you can act on it, you have completely justified the 9/11 bombers. You have justified Charlie Manson. If it's true for you, why isn't it true for them? Why are you different? If you say "I believe there's an all-powerful force of love in the universe that connects us all, and I have no evidence of that but I believe it in my heart," then it's perfectly okay to believe in your heart that Sharon Tate deserves to die. It's perfectly okay to believe in your heart that you need to fly planes into buildings for Allah.”

Penn Jillette

  • Like 1
xxoo Established Member

xxoo

Posted
Posted
I don't know enough about Hitchens to comment about his private thoughts specifically. What I have noticed in general is that one of two things tends to be true when a person is stridently vocal about a complex topic with few/no easy answers:

  1. Either the person knows almost nothing about the topic (clearly not the case from the little I know about Hitchens)
    -or-
  2. the person is much less confident about his or her stated position than he's letting on and is almost goading those who hold the opposing view to convince him of the merits of their view.

 

Does that also apply to people who are vocal about religious beliefs?

  • Like 1
Cablebandit Established Member

Cablebandit

Posted
Posted
Does that also apply to people who are vocal about religious beliefs?

 

Of course not :)

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angel.eyes Established Member

angel.eyes

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Posted (edited)
Does that also apply to people who are vocal about religious beliefs?

 

Sometimes.

 

Generally, people who have studied something deeply tend to give more nuanced answers. At least that's been my experience.

Edited by angel.eyes
  • 1 month later...
Revolver Established Member

Revolver

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Posted

IMO faith in God is something that is used to keep the poor and oppressed masses docile. "Don't worry I know you are ugly, broke, have a disease, live in a hell hole but at least you have God and you will be in paradise when this is all over". It gives them some comfort in having something to look forward to while they are living in misery. If you take that away there would be riots in the streets and all hell would break loose

  • Like 1
LookAtThisPOst Established Member

LookAtThisPOst

Posted
Posted (edited)
I agree. He seemed very angry and almost bitter. Someone who delights in verbally eviscerating others on a regular basis is not a happy person. That's a very sad place to spend the majority of your life. In many ways, I feel bad for him too.

 

 

I have noticed this as a common theme in the characteristics of an atheist. Cynical and snarling. These are the same ones that sadly to lobby to get rid of an age old 10 Commandments monument just to stir the pot.

 

I have to chuckle that these relics that have been sitting there for ages is all of a sudden a problem for these cynical types.

Edited by a LoveShack.org Moderator
Hyperion227 Member

Hyperion227

Posted
Posted (edited)
Everything I've seen and read of Christopher Hitchens seemed like he was... snarling. Like there was an undercurrent of great anger, anguish, something. A lot of his commentary I found offensive, but at the same time I oddly empathized with him. With all the terrible horrible senseless events that happen in the world, it's hard NOT to get angry, frustrated, cynical, etc. with the way things are.

 

I read somewhere in the news recently that he actually considered Christianity as he was dying. I hope he found some peace in the end.

 

No, no, no, no, no. this will not do. This pernicious lie has crept into the conversation about Hitchens and needs to die now. Read any of his close friends and they will tell you that whilst interested in Christianity (and all religions) as a phenomenon there is absolutely no way that he considered either believing in the existence of God or Jesus or whoever, and even if he had he would never have worshipped them. He was not just an atheist but an Anti-theist. He believed that any God who required a worshipful, submissive human client-base was necessarily mendacious, dictatorial and unworthy of praise.

 

This so-called late conversion is part of a grand tradition of religious fools trying to appropriate famous atheists at their death bed. A bizarre evangalist claimed (over 30 years after his death) that Charles Darwin had sought Jesus Christ on his death bed and had repudiated his theory of Evolution. It was utter nonsense and his daughter (who was at his death bed) confirmed that this crazy woman was nowhere to be seen at her father's death.

Edited by Hyperion227
Hyperion227 Member

Hyperion227

Posted
Posted
I have noticed this as a common theme in the characteristics of an atheist. Cynical and snarling.

 

Wow, just wow.

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