tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post2611007802128966863..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: RIP Hitch. Christopher HitchensDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-36113856523110807802011-12-23T10:25:55.017+11:002011-12-23T10:25:55.017+11:00Unfortunately religious lunatics in America do not...Unfortunately religious lunatics in America do not just dwell on the fringe.<br /><br />That episode on Revelation was a real disappointment. A lunatic trying to preserve his lunacy in the face of sanity. The episode on Paul the week before was much better.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-73300973906319740192011-12-22T18:46:50.049+11:002011-12-22T18:46:50.049+11:00There's always a lunatic fringe for every move...There's always a lunatic fringe for every movement in history! This is viewable only for about 3 more days, but I think it helps to explain a lot about fanaticism and tolerance: <br /><br />http://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/2176901782/The-Bible:-A-History-Ep-7-Revelation:-The-Last-Judgement<br /><br />Sadly, I doubt if anyone outside Australia can view it.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-20568169496661628292011-12-19T10:58:32.606+11:002011-12-19T10:58:32.606+11:00I read some of them. They all sound as though the...I read some of them. They all sound as though they were written by the same person. You read some pretty weird stuff, Denis :).<br /><br />I like the account of a group of fundamentalist Christians who put out a pamphlet claiming that Copernicus was wrong.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-43506016306279134212011-12-18T13:44:21.731+11:002011-12-18T13:44:21.731+11:00I really appreciated Chrispydog's thoughtful c...I really appreciated Chrispydog's thoughtful comments There's an argument for going to another level of depth but there's also only so much you can say in a short posting. Certainly these elements were present. Hitchens was well versed in the genuine conservatism of America, not the insanity and shallowness of the idiot TeaParty fringe, which, I suspect, is about to get its comeuppance.<br /><br />When I spoke about the loony end of the Christian spectrum, have a look at these (warning: foul, intemperate language!)<br /><br />http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/25-dumbest-reactions-to-godisnotgreat<br /><br />Somebody seems to have forgotten the 'Thou shalt not kill' one of the Commandments! Read and weep.<br /><br /><i>God is Not Great</i> refers to Hitchens' book.Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-33740921195443283122011-12-18T12:37:29.450+11:002011-12-18T12:37:29.450+11:00I haven't followed Hitchens closely, not being...I haven't followed Hitchens closely, not being attracted to right wing thinking, but I felt that his death was a major loss. Intelligent people on the right of politics are rare these days. Most of them have joined the Mad Tea Party and are ranting irrational slogans rather than presenting a reasoned debate. <br /><br />I do hope he is resting in peace, although that implies that there is someone there to rest in peace.Joanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04715081266571704126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-25630645127974863392011-12-18T02:34:48.140+11:002011-12-18T02:34:48.140+11:00PS My dad's cousin Christopher, whom I was ver...PS My dad's cousin Christopher, whom I was very fond of, died unexpectedly last week. I feel saddened about them both.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03796734273732243982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-20555326674437098222011-12-18T02:32:13.510+11:002011-12-18T02:32:13.510+11:00Well, that IS an excellent article and I'm gla...Well, that IS an excellent article and I'm glad you pointed us towards it.Sort of horrifying but oh so real, yes.. Then I read several more of his pieces. Caustic fellow, but what a disciplined mind (ie not lazy like mine!)But he seems to choose negativity and loathing as a course, without tempering it with much gentleness..I'm going to read more. I admire him but don't warm to him, though it's quite good to see someone speaking so plainly and I'm glad of it even when disagreeing. As for 'whatever doesn't kill you'etc, I agree it is tosh. We can learn from happiness, too.Juliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03796734273732243982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-44781550608560275332011-12-17T10:36:19.511+11:002011-12-17T10:36:19.511+11:00Hitchens (peace be upon him), had the experience o...Hitchens (peace be upon him), had the experience of 9/11 more personally than most of us, with a friend smashed into the walls of the Pentagon, but he also had another seminal experience which was that of his close friend Salmon Rushdie having a fatwa placed on him by the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini. His hatred of “Islamofascism” was deep and personal, as was his disgust at those on the left who didn’t share his visceral revulsion to what he detested above all else, fundamentalist religion throwing its weight around.<br /><br />It’s through these two lenses that Hitchens viewed the invasion of Iraq, like they were his personal binoculars, amplifying what he wanted to see, but of course leaving everything else outside his field of view, diminished, inconsequential and to this intellectual warrior, collateral damage.<br /><br />When we look at the lives lost, the bodies and minds broken, the trillions of dollars poured like water onto the sands of Iraq and see the horrendous destruction this war produced, Hitchens could only see what he hated being destroyed. Even though Saddam Hussein was not a religious fanatic, his regime was a murdering and repressive one that had easily sponsored terrorism, was able to gas its own citizens with impunity, and for Hitch, who could not accept Arabic fascism in any of its forms, the ends justified the means.<br /><br />When Dick Cheney conflated Saddam and 9/11 it was easy to see a tacky political conjuring trick, the strings were visible, we knew we were being conned by the arch neocon, but when Hitch extended his revulsion of Islamic tyrants in Iran to Iraq we somehow didn’t feel it was intellectually deceitful contrivance for political reasons, he truly believed in a version of the ‘clash of civilisations’ was playing out and that the West had to take it on.<br /><br />Hitchens (peace be upon him), had his own near religious belief in the rightness of his own convictions, and held them to his last breath.chrispydognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-40265817772671202332011-12-17T10:31:43.015+11:002011-12-17T10:31:43.015+11:00well saidwell saidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com