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  • Hitchens we all miss you my friend.

  • If the lighting person didn't get fired, here's a message for him or her. You're afraid of anyone who doesn't agree with you or believe what you've been told to. Your fear is painfully obvious by your actions.

  • Hitchens is brilliant, both intelligent and entertaining

  • Pascal's wager doesn't make sense. You have A LOT to lose by following a religious faith. All the time spent in Church on sunday is wasted. All the hours spent reading and re-reading the Bible is time that could have been spent reading a variety of different, better books. If a homosexual takes up the Catholic Church's most recent offer of joining but remaining chaste and not being permitted to masturbate, he or she will go through life never experiencing simple sexual pleasure. Lots to lose.

  • I doubt it was a prank ...  Looked like an unfortunate technical problem.

  • @spp41 Ya, it looked like it was on automatic timer for a lighting effect that someone forgot to stop

  • When Muslims disagree with you, they blow you up. When Christians disagree with you, they fuck with the lights. Or is that Scientology?

  • @TheMetalRiffer

    Cherrypicking examples to justify and spread prejudice and stereotypes. Good job!

  • @idiotwithknife Go ahead and go to 100 different places of worship ( let's say 10 for each of the 10 largest religions ) and claim what they're preaching is simply not true. I think we all know where you'd be most at risk of physical harm, spoiler: it's not the Buddhist temple.

  • @eyholmess

    The point was that you deliberately chose examples based on whether or not they would "prove" your claim and not based on whether they were appropriate representations of that group. It's called cherry-picking your data and it is dishonest.

    I think if you were to look around you would see that violence from religion tends to come from those with a strict, fundamentalist belief more than it comes from any one religion. This is a problem in christianity as well as in islam.

  • @idiotwithknife Care to point out the last time a christian, jewish, buddhist or hindu theocracy expressed the desire to bring about the endtimes? Rioted in the streets because they were butthurt? Issued a fatwa? It's blatant intellectual dishonesty to pretend islam isn't currently the primary source of religious violence in the world. Had we been talking during the inquisition I would've said the same about christianity.

  • @TheMetalRiffer Clearly this is the work of the almighty FSM, his Noodly Appendage touches all.

  • I love how Hitchens keeps going even when the lights are switching on and off...hes the greatest

  • Mr. Hitchens is brilliant as usual.

  • What the fuck is up with the lighting? I'm a sound engineer, and if I were working that show, I'd slap the light guy.

  • Wow. I can't believe this light thing is still going on. I read the comment with the thumbs up so I was mentally prepared for this. But this is fucking ridiculous. How fucking rude.

  • The lighting guy must of let his 5 year old kid man the controls while he went to the bar.

  • God was good enough to tell me this morning that I aught wear a red shirt, so, of coarse I grabbed my red shirt, put it on and before I could muster up a question for God as of to why he instructed me to wear this red shirt, I thought to myself, (His way's are mysterious) Later that day while I was crossing the st a semi truck nearly ran me over, the driver professed that it was my red shirt that alarmed him to me being there. This story is a lie, but I bet christians would say (amen brother)

  • during one of the dark moments, he should have taken all his clothes off.

  • some where in the aduience, someone's faith was being strengthened because they had been foolishly praying for god to stop Hitchens' speech. lol.

    "yes god! yes the lights! brilliant! it's a miracle!"

  • I read half of the book "Exodus" yesterday - if you want evidence of the vindictive, cruel, torturous sadistic God of the Old Testament read this! God slaughter's innocent children & persecutes innocent people because the King of Egypt was stubborn is bad...but the fact that it say God decided to make the King Stubborn in the first place....what an evil minded S.O.B.!!!! Then he wants sacrifices of animals to thank him for not killing the sons of the jews? Meglomaniac? Psychopathic dictator?

  • all god could do to stop hitchen was to blink the lights. PATHETIC!

  • If worship without cease sounds so promising, move to North Korea and get a taste of heaven on earth. I'm betting it's not all that it's drummed up to be.

  • That lighting guy needs a kick in the ass.

  • @uriituw he's a theist! :))

  • 'A Universe From Nothing' by Lawrence Krauss, AAI 2009

    go look this up and watch it.

    we need no god(s).

  • @digital0707neo so what caused god? was god its own first cause? and if you can comprehend that, why can't you comprehend that the universe can cause itself?? besides, your argument is for deism, not a personal god that listens to you talking to yourself and then changes the order of natural events

  • In math 0 always equals 0. You can’t get away from that. Stephen Hawkins has said, “there must always be a first cause, then the effect.” In order to have a universe of matter, and a beginning of space time, there had to be some power outside the finite, to start the engine. Infinite something above the finite. The question “so where did God come from,” is answered in the infinite. Something out of nothing, still leaves us with nothing starting everything.

  • @digital0707neo Stephen Hawking also said that asking what occurred before the Big Bang is like asking what is north of the North Pole

  • @digital0707neo great job quote minin

  • The lighting issue looked like thermal cycing. Light gets hot, safety switch turns it off. Light cools down, switch turns it back on, etc, etc. Needs better cooling.

    Full marks to CH for ignoring it so thoroughly. Very distracting though.

  • If I had two esophaguses..... I'd guve Hitchens my spare one.

  • "Thank you ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters..." Now, now, Chris! That's "brothers and sisters IN CHRIST". Tsk tsk, you should know better.

  • @drhoobad Go away

  • @sybo59 Go away...and sin no more.

  • @drhoobad Clever retort

  • @sybo59 It's all one can do on the internet. Youtube is not a forum for discussion and debate, but trolling. Many a mind tricks a person into feeling comfort when it really registers the exposure of opinion and jumps on guard. We may manage to keep our cool for now, but tomorrow, who knows? Someone could just come along and "diss" our films. Then that would be that.

  • Some people are just not ready to be set free from the mind programming of religion. The fear is too overwhelming but the more people evolve and become enlightened, the easier it is to let go.

  • hitchens is just damn amazing. i wish we could have every christian on the planet be in the audience of a debate with him, harris, dawkins and fry debating any and every other christian "intellectual" at once i bet there would be atleast 10 thousand less christians after that debate

  • @patrickledford420 Now, now. That's 10 thousand FEWER Christians. And fat chance.

  • @patrickledford420 Who do you refer to with Fry? The comedian Stephen Fry?

  • @shawndimery "Stephen Fry on 'respecting' religious beliefs" search that

  • He doesn't care whatsoever about the lighting change, handles it flawlessly.

  • Send Christian Bale on them, that will teach them not mess with the lights!

  • somebody fix the fucking lights!!! what are they retarded!?

  • @chromer123 ...an effort by the divine to interrupt the de-indoctrination of the faithful perhaps?

  • @faithisfiction i cant argue with that.. ill find a church tomorrow..

  • @chromer123 ...actually it was the god of the golden maned unicorn... there is no church in your neigh-bourhood, however, for a small fee I can make sure that all is well between you her hooved majesty.

  • @faithisfiction will i get thy icecream, with sprinkles of pixie dust?

  • @chromer123 ...This is an extra I am prepared to arrange at no extra cost, however, her golden maned godliness will insist on a cash payment and surrender of your eternal soul...although we all know that icecream with pixie dust is more than worth it.

  • @faithisfiction i am prepared for pixiedust! :D i dont have to insert anything up the ass, right? i've had a problem with other religions in the past.. always with the cock.. :|

  • I know some people think him brash ?

    I think he is perfectly brilliant!

  • @anetchi ; Indeed, the world would be alot poorer without him.

    Though in general term the people who've made the remark about him being brash/concieted or rude often tend to be very same individuals who play the 'hurts feelings'-card when discussion religion and/or philosophy.

  • What's wrong with the light?!

  • Good on Hitchens for pointing out what to me is the most egregious failing of the focus on salvation--it assumes and depends on selfishness.

  • @cluebcke : history has shown that we are instinctly based on selfishness based on animilistic behaviour to survive, nomatter how civilized we r....we r still porocurring ourselves to forward our genes to the next generation...

  • Fuzzy you pressed the spacebar at the wrong time, the entire time, since i'm sure you meant to say

    gernig gernig gernig

  • isn't he a bit hard on Pascal? I was under the impression that pascals wager was ironic?

  • @Zookeeper1983 No, if you read the Pensées, it is clear that Pascal believed that reason was the enemy of religion and he tried to tear reason down. You can read it on Google books.

  • @Zookeeper1983 pascals wager is nonsense, first off being that it is selfish and arrogant thinking that GOD himself would not see through the fake beleif, then it fails by the fact that there could be MANY other gods and like hitchens said, the god could in fact respect thought and rationality more then gullibility, selfishness and bigotry

  • Brilliant speech by Hitchens. Another point for Secularism.

  • Zeus is my God too

  • After the first 3-4 times with the lighting bullshit why didn't someone go check wtf was up? There must have been atleast one person working for the hotel or on the TAM aware of the situation.

  • The lighting prank was funny for the first 2 times, after that it was stupid. I hope someone got fired.

  • adrianfi7 is right of course. All hail to Zeus, the one true God.

  • Zeus is my God.  He asks me before he hurls lightning.

  • @adrianfi7 and your a dumbass for thinking god (nonexistent) is more important the ANYTHING else. why exactly do you think that nonsense

  • The lighting srely is a sign from GOD.

    Ahhhhh!

  • our superiority...

  • I hope someone was fired for that unprofessional excuse of stage lightning.

  • that was more then unprofessional. it was obnoxiously abnormal lighting behavior. Either there was a problem or someone was doing it intentional. If there was not a problem then that person would at least be a sure candidate for the next firing.

  • Has anyone ever heard Hitchens talk about coincidence, just in general?

    I'm sure he'd tell my I was being glib and babeling but I'm curious if he makes any distinctions about it

  • why the fuck do the lights keep going off and on?

  • Actually no. I did some research and found out that in fact your mother is a whore and your father will shit in his own mouth for food and some loose change.

    Go ask them. I'm sure they wouldn't lie to you about it.

  • if you mean a person who sells their services for money and/or produce, then indeed his mother is a whore, like the rest of the world.

    so i say rejoice and stand up whores of the world and be proud of your status as an equal in the world, at least on one scale.

  • wow, that's hilarious

  • Probably because it posits that the moral purpose of life is the pursuit of pure self-interest via the failed economic theory of laissez faire capitalism.

    Or maybe it's because Rand was such a hatefull bitch.

  • Comment removed

  • Hahaha, man you probably don't even see the irony. On one hand you have Rand, who wasn't hateful in the slightest, and infact was incredibly nice considering her suffering. On the other, there is you who refers to people who would fight for your liberty (even at the expense of being demonised) as a "bitch", a pretty hateful thing to say about someone who wrote some books you just happen to not agree with. Also, laissez faire capitalism has not once been shown to "fail", even at it's own goals.

  • "people who would fight for your liberty"

    Not everyone is from the US and the only liberty Rand was fighting for was the liberty of the ultra rich to piss on the people who made them ultra rich.

    The current mess otherwise known as the US economy is a direct result of laissez faire capitalism. And yet like an abused wife who keeps going back for more, you are still cheering the rotting corpse of it's "let them eat cake" ideology and placing it's manical prophets on a pedestal.

  • Who said everyone was from the US? I'm from Britain, I understand not being American. She wasn't a politician though, she had no affect upon America specifically, or policy, only thought across the world. No its not you lieing, whatever word describes people seeking to hurt other people! It was socialism that destroyed the US economy you idiot. Go take a fucking class in economics, it was a housing bubble, not safe capitalism that caused the recession you liar. Capitalism is the lack of husband.

  • If you think the credit crunch was a housing bubble created by socialisim you are off in an economic la-la land.

    The credit crunch came about because bankers stopped trusting each other and therefore stopped lending to each other, that's why it's called a "credit crunch".

    The reason they stopped trusting each other is because lax regulation made it impossible to know what the other guy's paper was worth.

    Lax market regulation is practically the definition of laissez faire capitalism.

  • No, What I am is experienced and educated in economics and history. The credit crunch is not the recession, sub-prime market crisis or fiscal problems... so as you don't even understand these distinct economic situations, are you taking the piss? The rest seemed to be gibberish, though you did scare me, but when I checked it turned out you were lieing and currency markets are still active, capitalism is not only setting, but making people very aware of the worth of "paper". Where's the issue?

  • "you don't even understand these distinct economic situations"

    Yes your such a fucking economic genius that you keep conflating capitalisim with laissez faire capitalism and hoping nobody will notice.

    Up until now I've avoided ad-homs even though you haven't shown me the same courtesy. That said, you can stick your FAILED Reganomics up your arse and go jerk off over a picture of Rand. As far as I'm concerned there is no point in discussing anything with a dogmatic fool such as yourself.

  • I'm not confusing anything. Laissez Faire capitalism is a branch of Capitalism and I haven't once referred to either specifically, as you haven't even understood the basic concepts yet. Reganomics? Are you joking, just because he happened to coincide with Thatcher, doesn't make that economics. And if you base your understnading of economics on attractiveness, no wonder you're so idiotic. Not dogmatic, scientific, it's the process of comprehending economics instead of pulling it out of a hat.

  • Dude this argument started over Ayn Rand, Objectivisim is the philosophical basis for modern Laissez Faire capitalism.

    BTW You never said - Did you pass those classes? - hahahaha

  • No.. that's a lie. For one thing, objectivism is a philosophy, not an economical or political ideology. Many objectivists come to develop such economic ideas. However, the rest is bullshit, you ignorant pig. At latest it developed with Carl Menger, theoretically, pre-Smith and in reality was the first economic system in America. I got a 2:1 as it happens, and wrote a paper on the Austrian School, which you've clearly never even heard of. Don't discuss thing you don't understand, leave it to men.

  • Dude you have chronic case of ideological tunnel vision and your now wadering off on another tangent, go back to where we started - Ayn Rand invented Objectivisim. Objectivisim is the modern philosophical basis for Laissez Faire capitalism as opitimised by the US/UK trickle down economics of Thatcher and Regan, ie: Regulation removed - Doggy market assests grew - Trust evaporated - Market crashed.

  • Perhaps you don't know what tunnel vision is then... it would cause me to stay heavily and absurdely on topic, you grammatically challenged bagoon. Ayn Rand's development of Objectivsm has nothing to do with the development of Laissez Faire Capitalism, that is a lie. Many Objectivists support it, but none were even born when it came to be understood. Regulation removed, free market assets, trust increased (no unaccountable government intervention, only enforced contracts), markets crashed?! WTF

  • Any Rand's views however can hardly be seen as anything but supporting laissez-faire capitalism (it's French, not capitalized, and makes no sense when you omit the hyphen). I quote from her famous Playboy interview in 1964:

    I advocate the separation of state and economics. The government should be concerned only with those issues which involve the use of force. This means: the police, the armed services, and the law courts to settle disputes among men. Nothing else.

  • I never said Ayn Rand's views didn't support capitalism. While I'm sure you don't have the time to waste reading through the entire discussion, it's unfair to make assumptions about comments I have made, when my meaning was clear from the one you did choose to respond to. Of course Ayn Rand supports laissez-faire economics, but the concept existed for centuries before her parents existed, and that was the lie presented by Tapecutter59 that I responded to. She is of course right regardless.

  • Hitchens always says something about the introduction.

  • Yes non belevers who are decent people are superior to christians, who need the threat of punishment.

  • I see where your coming from with your statement, but I really don't see a need to say who is superior and who isn't. Yes, religious conviction is totally unnecessary to be a good person, but lets not get into saying whose better than others and making personal judgments of the sort. I don't think Hitchens would be down for that either.

  • @davexy22 It's a perfectly valid point to make. I wouldn't trust someone who was "moral" solely because Jesus will smite him if he isn't to mow my lawn. Christians especially like to display their moral bankruptcy by asking people how they can be moral without fearing Gods flaming wrath, directly admitting that they would apparently be out raping and pillaging were they not deathly afraid of eternal hellfire.

  • Added to that, a point Hitchens makes very frequently is that the religious take religion "a la carte," picking and choosing from the bible or other holy books what sounds nice, ignoring what isn't. Most people aren't into telling others that they are going to hell for not believing what they do, because they are decent people in the end who know that isn't very nice. But at the end of the day, if something is really holy, than one has to come to terms with the mean words as well.

  • The lighting was amazing!!!

  • the lighting tech had to be a christian! a republican conservative, gay-hating, woman-body-controlling, bible-not-reading-but-touting, christian jerk who knows there is no god

  • I second that opinion

  • lol... i wasn't serious(completely, anyway) it's been three months since i left this. i had to remember what i was talking about for a second

  • yah, seriously, does it look intentional?

  • Comment removed

  • It's clearly a sign from Zeus.

  • Comment removed

  • it was Captain Crunch!

  • @THEREIZNOGOD i cant speak for your country, but dont lump conservative wih christian dip shitttttt

  • @seppomuppit, after you don't lump me with dip shits (aka christians)

  • Hope they fired the fucknut of a lighting technician.

  • imagine, if everyone lived as is there was a god, how much more manipulative the clergy would be!

  • what in the FUCK! is the light problem?!? do you know who this is?!?!?! this is christopher hitchens!! he made his bones while you were dating high school cheerleaders!!!

  • I'm still dating highschool cheerleaders.

  • what do you mean?

  • lol, nice one.

  • Comment removed

  • pascal's wager is great... if there had been an inkling of a chance there was a god

  • Hitchens is brilliant

  • yes he is

  • God i love Hitchens. I would have flown to Vegas and paid the admissions just to see him. Too bad it didn't work out for me :( Thanks for posting this video its the second best thing.

  • Note to self: do not book a conference at The Stardust. Amateur night. No wonder their Atlantic City branch went bankrupt!

  • They blew up the stardust about 2 years ago I think, so there was vindication. :-)

  • boycott the stardust for being assholes and fucking with the lighting while he was trying speak.

  • Why does the light keep coming on and off repeatedly?

  • someone was messing with the lights in another room and didn't realize that they are all connected.

  • Ha! I love how The Hitch just takes it in his stride. :)

  • Comment removed

  • Although Jesus was a carpenter he didn't really cut it as an electrician. =]

  • funny how the bible forgets to mention if he was a good carpenter XD

  • Hitchens speaks as well as he writes, and is interesting always

  • Since there are quite a few things I do not like in several holy books of various religions. I think you would agree with me on this.

    After all you are an atheist of several gods. You do not believe in Zues do you? I just do not believe in a few more. Why do you not believe in Zues? Is it so hard to see the position of the atheist?

    Did you know ancient name of the atheist was 'doubter'?

  • Personally I find absolute belief to be dangerous. It stops one from accepting other possibilities and a person becomes immune to logic.

    I would be far happier for people to see good ideas in things like the bible as there are quite a few rather then for it to be held it as absolute and unquestionable.

  • AzureDragon1, do you believe that absolutely?

  • No, but I strongly agree with it.

  • Do you absolutely believe that you agree with that strongly?

  • Please stop using circular logic.

  • TylerNull I have never met an atheist such that you describe. I consider myself somewhat of an atheist but I do not think there is no possibility of some sort of god. Indeed with enough evidence of such a thing I could accept it.

    For that matter before I am atheist I am a skeptic. Belief in god is just one thing among many I have a hard time accepting. Things like psychics who talk to the dead, ghosts, reincarnation, and possibly UFOs.

  • Hmm the "rock concert" lighting is humorous.

  • ... continuation... Because I believe you can't prove there is or is not a God, I am an agnostic. I can't prove there is, or is not, a tea pot in orbit around the Sun, but I have no reason to believe there is. I also believe from the points you are making that you are by definition agnostic.

    Bertrand Russell stated that he was an agnostic but due the layman's misinterpretation of the word he would routinely and inaccurately state that he was an atheist.

  • Mirthra1, you state you are agnostic to the existence of "God" which, as capitalised, I assume to mean the Abrahamic god of the three main monotheistic religions. You then go on to state that you don't believe in God. I'm sure that you realise that this makes you an atheist.

    Now your argument about not being able to disprove the existence of all manner of flying teapots to justify your agnostisism fails when the small matter of evidence is considered. ...continued...

  • ... continued...

    Carl Sagan said "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence". The existence of "God" can easily be assessed to be false due to the utter nonesense contained in the holy books claiming to be the infalliable word of a perfect god.

    Can you disprove my claim to be holding a football inside my clenched fist without actually looking inside it?

    ...continued...

  • ...continued...

    Of course you can we know that footballs don't fit in fists without needing to check every time and similarly we can disprove the existence of the God as described in the ludicrous holy books. We know the earth isn't 6000 years old, we know horses don't fly, snakes don't talk, dead people don't get up and walk around. We know that the futility of prayer proves instantly that the Bible is lying.

    ...continued..

  • ...continued...

    As are those who claim to converse with God. We also can see that a tediously long handbook about how to keep slaves and stone people isn't the work of an all-loving all knowing deity.

    If I claim to hold wobblegong in my closed fist, you, never having seen one may ask how big the wobblegong is. If I tell you it is 6 feet long you can instantly deduce that my claim is false. The Bible, the so-called evidence for God comprehensively disproves his existence.

  • Nice posts! Very well written! ps: I heart Carl Sagan

  • Great points AzureDragOn1, and I agree to your proposition regarding complete certainty, I only take issue with your use of the word agnostic, which I believe it's continuous misinterpretation give undue comfort to the believer/credulous.

    Definition: agnostic

    Somebody denying God's existence is provable: somebody who believes that it is impossible to know whether or not God exists.

    I am an agnostic, and like most agnostics, I don't believe in God.

  • I love Hitchens

  • I was more then willing to have an intelligent discussion with you regarding your beliefs and the things the foundation does. However since you are now threating the organization and using profanity (a comment which I removed) I have no choice but to block you from commenting. If you would like to email me directly please use the contact form on the randi website.

    Have a great day =)

    Rich Montalvo

    Media Manager

    James Randi

    Educational Foundation

  • Ok someone that believes in the Prophecies of Nostradamus just called me highly deluded that's the funniest thing I've heard all week.

  • I don't need to read SWIFT I work at the Foundation and speak directly with Randi. The reason why the challenge is being terminated in 2 years is due to the deluded individuals who believe they have powers when in fact they just are not properly educated. It had nothing to do with Nostradamus or any other mystical event or prophecy.

  • all i see from the varies posts on the CFI Nostradamus thread is that you are going on and on about how you believe Nostradamus is correct. Regardless of your beliefs the James Randi Million Dollar Challenge is still going on. We are still accepting applicants and conducting tests. So how exactly did you stop it if it is still going on?

  • this happened to another one of his speeches last year.  apparently, this is the only rebuttal opponents can make. stupid gits.

  • respect the hitch!

  • I never watch youtube speeches its all for listening.

    I love the randi wager.

  • damned fluorescent lights!

  • His opening somewhat addresses your point.

  • man when was this?!?!? when is the next one? are they all in vegas?

  • wassup with the lights during his speech. absolutely ridiculous!

  • That's one of the reasons why the Amazing Meeting will not be at that hotel ever again.

  • Very good. I'm so surprised that Hitchens didn't really make a verbal mention about it. Although it seemed jokeful in the beginning, it became annoying after a while. Notwithstanding, thanks so much for posting your phenomenal clips.

  • Sir:

    Which hotel was it? (So as to never give them my custom.)

  • The other reason being the stardust was imploded 10 months ago. Love you Hitch!

  • The lighting situation at this event was such a monumental disaster ... I mean were the organizers fucking retarded? Or beyond retarded?

  • It wasn't the organizers, it was the hotel A/V guys in the other room. They were arbitrarily turning the lights on and off and did not realize it was affecting our room.

  • Why did the light keep going on and off?

  • I CAN believe that -- what a bunch of dumb asses.