Christopher Hitchens at Freedom From Religion Foundation 7/7

[writersblock26]

Thank you for posting this, Flirmy.

[MexxPowers]

Christopher is right, like I myself experienced in the Netherlands with a large muslim population, its they that should be in doubt.

[MexxPowers]

Jihadists reminds me of school bullies, don't annoy them you might get beaten.

Christopher is right, as I have experienced here in the Netherlands with muslims, its they that should be in doubt, in doubt is what they should be.

[hicham437]

While I partially agree with Mr. Hitchens point about interfering with other nations' affairs to "free people". I wonder how far and deep can we put our fingers in their noses or butts. Can a nation claim the right to attack the USA to free the slaves? ( this is back when slavery was OKAY.) Would that attack, if happened, really brought freedom and led to a prosperous America like today's. I doubt it. He mentions Oil and then switched to democracy and freedom.

[deagon85]

@hicham437 There was a civil war fought, were thousands of americans on either side died, to destroy the concept of slavery and free those in bondage. If there was no civil war and no other nation had the right to put a stop to slavery, are you saying you doubt the outcome would lead to prosperity?

[hicham437]

@deagon85 I thought we invaded nations and created conflicts to get their oil and sell our weapons. Of course there will be no prosperity after them. Maybe for us. I said maybe. You analogy is wrong. Who intervened to free slaves? the Chinese? Russians? Got my point

[deagon85]

@hicham437 I'm addressing YOUR analogy of american slavery to your partial agreement with hitchens on interfering. slavery is wrong, so, had no civil war ocurred should another nation interfere to "right" this "wrong"? i should hope so.(what china or russia have to do with this i dont know). to its own credit America was able to "self-intefere" and solve its own problem.

The premise that America invades for oil and to sell weapons is a different issue on which i might partially agree with you.

[hicham437]

@deagon85 My point is that democracy and prosperity should not be imported or imposed. Let them kill one another to realize the value of freedom. I mentioned slavery and the Civil South-North war just to show that we brought and fought for our freedom and prosperity. The claim that we drop bombs on civilians to kill invisible terrorists doesn't convince me. Smell some Chomsky, Edwards Said, Finkelstein, Robert Fisk, ...

[wwaalltthheerr]

in previous parts he already revealed one of his fundamental faults- religious belief in Giuliani (btw one of the masterminds of 9-11), in this part he actually acknowledged his belief that Al-Qaeda is a Muslim, independent , self sustaining organization with unlimited might and ever-presence and not merely a militious part of the criminal CIA syndicate ( read Brzezinski's "Grand Chess Board) with BinLaden personally hired by today's Sec. of Defense Gates (while in CIA)

[InsulatedSynapse]

Did anyone else notice that sneer of contempt Hitchens cast into the audience before pulling from his glass at the very end? It's no wonder the woman looked so busy. The tension onstage was probably nearing the unbearable.

[metrx330]

Not all atheists are left wing. I'm a right wing libertarian atheist. Its important that the thrust of the New Athesim is spread over the political spectrum. The founders of the Republican Party must be turning in their graves to see how the religious Right has infiltrated and corrupted the GoP.

[TheInimitableKaka]

that woman looked so busybodyish at the end

[Dpesh7]

its odd, most atheist are left wing and support obama. I guess most atheist are bothered about destroying jihadists like hitchens.

[KittenButter]

Christopher Hitchens makes some VERY good points. I'm quite impressed.

[duke222222]

He doesn't despise his audience - he's disappointed with them, but his mind is in the argument which is what he's there to do.

[GeauxTiger]

Wow...what an incredibly powerful talk by Hitch. Hitchens, regardless of what else may be said about the man, is clearly intellectually honest. Once he realized that his audience was not so, he decided to hold their feet to the fire and show them for the cowards they are. It was as if Hitchens had turned to the proverbial judge and said, "Your Honor, I'd like to treat the audience as hostile." Keep in mind, this was a group that invited him to speak! Kudos to you, Mr. Hitchens.

[luwala23]

Hitchens went to work!

[321lawc]

That guy got smacked down hard.

[skedaddleMLS]

Hitchens, how do we pay for these wars? crickets * crickets

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

How do we pay for avoiding these wars??

[skedaddleMLS]

@mots35 easy. if we avoided Iraq for instance we would have saved a trillion dollars and nothing bad would have happened.

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

Nonsense. The rot would have spread, Saddam would have gone nuclear, and it would have cost 10x the amount it did to delay the clean up.

We would have been much better off (finacially) taking him out in 92' when we had him on his heels.

The primary point is, a conflict with Saddam and the US was inevitable, and if you say it wasn't, i'd like you to tell me where im mistaken and how things would play out differently in your opinion.

[skedaddleMLS]

@mots35 lol, now thats some nonsense. saddam was contained and broken. Just another tin pot dictator only a danger to his own people. If we would have left him alone he would have eventually died and the country would have torn itself apart. So basically the exact same results except we save a trillion dollars and the military.

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

Broken? He was committing genocide. His punk sons were ready to take up the family business.  They had 550 tons of yellow cake enriched uranium. They had a nuclear centrifuge burried in a rose garden. They were in the process of deals with north korea for longer range missiles...

And even if that weren't the case, you think the US (or anyone else for that matter) would have been better off if Iraq fell apart and was taken over by the parties of god??? GET REAL.

[skedaddleMLS]

@mots35 lol they didn't have 550 tons of uranium!! LOL! thats total B.S dude. Once the U.S pulls out it will fall apart anyways. So in the end we wasted a lot of lives and our economy fighting a war that should not have been fought in the first place. And now Iran is looking 100X more dangerous than Iraq ever was in your fantasys and theres nothing to be done about it.

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

No? hmmmm

w3 (dot) msnbc.msn (dot) com/id/25546334/

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

now there are some "crickets"

[skedaddleMLS]

@mots35 cause its A bullshit fantasy

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

Its a news story! your saying every one of the news outlets that covered this story is lying??

No. Acoms razor. Its much more likely that you hit the snooze that morning and our just now catching on to these FACTS. The first stage is denial... than acceptance...

[skedaddleMLS]

@mots35 he wasn't trying to build a nuke.keep up the fantasy, just use your own money to pay for it next time.

[mots35]

@skedaddleMLS

LOL. Yellow cake enriched uranium? What do think a sadistic dictator like Saddam wanted it for?? A fucking science fair project??

[kriseye]

@mots35 your mis-spelling of Ockham casts a dubiuos light on your assertions.

[mots35]

@kriseye

also spelled occam. didnt realize the crux of my point was a spelling/grammatical one.

[lardcarcass]

When is someone going to tell him that the war in his mind isn't the one out here? We are NOT fighting Islam or religious rule. It has never been stated that we are. Every time he frames his argument this is what he asserts. We attacked Iraq in order to take out the government in retaliation for crimes supposedly committed in a decades long back and forth nobody can seem to unravel with any clarity. They were a secular nation. These are just the facts.

[QwidgyboMan]

We are not fighting Islam or religious rule but rather for the crimes Hussein committed? And what are those crimes sir?

Invoking Quranic instruction to justify gassing the Kurds perhaps?

You say it has never been stated that that's what we're fighting. So what? Doesn't change the fact that we're killing and hunting theocrats purely because of what they do in the name of their religion.

[lardcarcass]

So let me get this straight, You're saying that whatever methods we use to go out into the world and kill people whether they be misrepresentations or outright lies, we're justified? And by the way, you're wrong. We aren't out killing theocrats. I guess you don't understand that the principle matters here. It is the very thing that will fuck us or save us in the end. An unjust killing spree is just that, don't make it seem more thought out than it is.

[QwidgyboMan]

To answer your first question, no. I said no such thing. I never even said we are justified. Merely that we are fighting a conflict that has deep roots in religiosity.

We're not killing theocrats? lol, please. Then what exactly are these sadists, and users of indiscriminate violence who claim the end justifies the means?

[Brantinger]

He despises his audience and I can really understand that...

[Dominick629]

Hitchens is brilliant !

[CarmineFragione]

The State has no right to teach students that they must abandon their historical

religions to pass the grade.  Besides the

warning President Eisenhower gave about the "Industrial Military Complex"

is also the "Intellectual Political Complex."

The latter is much worse than the former.

To control what people are allowed to think and believe, is much worse than any

known religion, given freedom of religion.

"Freedom from Religion" is a pretext for

a new mind control in a Fascistic state.

[Unknnnnn]

Students are the property of the state. State is the property of people. If anyone doesn't like that, State doesn't force them to stay. Let those who don't like that leave the state and live in the desert or wherever they are comfortable to live.

As far as "State is the property of the people" the opinion of the strong will usually decide what State has the right to do and what it doesn't have the right to do.

If State disagrees with you, your argument is not strong enough to convince it.

[CarmineFragione]

Unknnnnn you defined tyranny to a tee. God is greater than the State, since man

made the state and God made the natural

mind and it's afinity for LIberty. Thus the evils of the state will clash with the pathos of the human mind and there will

be no peace, and the weight of the state

collapses itself. Ask Pharoah, ask Emperor, ask the King. What nature does is turn the opinions of the strong against each other by jealousies and envyings, writings on the wall for Doom.

[Unknnnnn]

Every State have always been and will always be a tyranny.

That includes any and all gods.

Everything that is - is a tyranny.

The species that will worship god will die.

The species that show mercy will die.

The species that embrace their cruel and beautiful nature will live.

Because the nature itself is cruel and beautiful.

No mercy for the weak, no pity for the suffering. In nature, every organism devours another, without mercy if they wish to survive.

[Unknnnnn]

You only survived so far, because the species that showed cruelty to nature decided to show mercy to you.... That's pathetic of them. Personally, I hope one day every living cell on our planet will die.

This planet is not ready for life. Its too weak to accept life.

[CarmineFragione]

Unknnnn, God gave both life and death in

nature, yes, but also gave man a higher

sense of Love that cannot be reconciled by death. Thus we have arisen to bury our

dead and call upon God , by Faith that causes actions in the future, increased to us by Jesus, to seek the MInd of God, even if it takes forever ,as knowledge increases, we believe God began the world with the Intent of it's end being

better, with Intelligence given man to pursue the Mystery of God until we raise

all the dead

[Unknnnnn]

Carmine, I think u mistaking God for flying spaghetti monster.

It was flying spaghetti monster that gave both life and death.

He sent his Son: "The meatball" to be eaten by flying spaghetti so that salvation can be available both to spaghetti and humans.

And Flying spaghetti monster orderered u to eat only spaghetti forever.

Or you go to no-spaghetti hell. Where u are boiled with vegetables for all eternity.

U must accept flying spaghetti by faith and go to spaghetti heaven.

[CarmineFragione]

God is the connective tissue bridging over the graves of souls from Adam to Jesus to the last faithful member of humanity. Love transcends death to unite

all real humanity as one Being in God, as

we say in America, "E Pluribus Unum"

Out of Many, One. Thus you by your hatred of God and God's people are not

among us. We live forever, because in each child goes our heart's Love, a gift of God to connect us across the ages. While you stand alone, a single ember,

apart from the whole fire.

[Unknnnnn]

Fail.

U guys kill each other.

[richwfd]

@CarmineFragione Flowery rhetoric and appeals to emotion do not make your beliefs true. "Faith" is really a misnomer and is willful ignorance resulting from fear. You are an atheist when it comes to Zeus, and that is how more rational, progressive countries view the God of Abraham.............

[CarmineFragione]

@richwfd no, but Poetry is as a kiss on the lips. The Word of God is Nurtured

by passion,  not logic. I am not an atheist when it comes to Zeus. Zeus is Greek for the planet Jupiter. In the Hebrew, Jupiter was a sign of the Messiah King of Israel. Thus any natural object is not dismissed to some lack of belief in the object. But we take the object before the whole background of the entire Reality and It's God to learn it's proper place. So Zeus still exists, but it is a planet.

[richwfd]

@CarmineFragione What a mischaracterization that is!! Zeus was the king of the gods in Greek mythology and assigned the other gods their roles, so yes, you are an atheist with respect to Zeus since you now assign his role to the God of Abraham. Emotional attachement, or passion to use your word, to certain beliefs does not make them true. I do thank you for at least being civil, though....

[CarmineFragione]

@richwfd no you are uneducated. Zeus is Greek for Jupiter. The Romans had temples to the Kingly Planet Jupiter, the sixth orb of the Sacred Seven of Astrological

history. We have seven orbs, The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. We have seven colors of the rainbow. We have seven musical notes. There was a common grasp of numerology that the Bible shared. because God created the world in six days and rested on the Seven.  This all was a shared Celestial Religion

[richwfd2002]

@CarmineFragione No. You are willfully ignorant and brain-washed. I'm done with you. You are beyond help

[CarmineFragione]

@richwfd When Joseph, a son of Israel , son of Isaac, son of Abraham had a vision of his future life, Joseph saw the Sun, Moon and Stars bowing down to him. This eventually fufilled itself as Joseph became the second in power to Pharoah

of Egypt, because Joseph was a Wise Man. In those days, a Wise Man was an

Astrologer, Interpreter of Dreams, and often an Alchemist ! They learned to smelt Copper and incorporated the secret methods into metaphorical visionary stories of angels

[richwfd]

@CarmineFragione Flowery rhetoric and appeals to emotion do not make your beliefs true. "Faith" is really a misnomer and is willful ignorance resulting from fear. You are an atheist when it comes to Zeus, and that is how more rational, progressive countries view the God of Abraham.............

[CarmineFragione]

@Unknnnnn you should give Bertrand Russell a rest, they are not going to give you any money for quoting their straw man arguments.

[Unknnnnn]

@CarmineFragione don't worry I don't need their money. I have a good job unlike some uneducated christians.

[Unknnnnn]

I gave u flying spaghetti story so that perhaps in some part of ur brain u can understand non-believers. To them ur god sounds just as ridicilous as what I told you sounds to you.

They won't believe u God until you believe in Flying spaghetti monster.

Which is just as real as your god.

And if u have no intelligence u will deny this.

No intelligence = no need for any further discussion with u.

[kadene2]

Huh? The puppet master God seems to be confused.

[VarialProductions]

you sir, are a moron

[thesunofjuda]

i agree with him on religion. but what is it our business what goes on in other countries. why do we insist on having this imperialistic government?

[venusblew]

The thing is that when countries become totalitarian (and to make it worse, theocratic), they do not stop at the boarders.We are all on this planet, but theocracies are not interested in reality...

[lord69z]

Damn right

[canyank2]

The islamic radicals are dangerous but they're not an existential threat. They can blow up a bus or something in the West, but that kills maybe fifty people. Is that as dangerous as the Red Army or the Nazi army (millions of armed men)? So, these fanatics do evil, horrible things but the risk is overestimated and the Iraq War is a disaster. The neocon movement has basically rebuilt the backwards British empire idea of "White race is superior and we must go and civilize the brown people"

[meiitbe]

You are a fool and should probably sterilize yourself to prevent any descendants from sharing in what might be a genetic lack of intelligence

You think that 9/11 was just some insignificant car bomb? According to you, 9/11 and 7/7 are only minor events, and to be considered a threat one must engage in total race theory, genocide, and attempts to conquer the world. Really?

You can continue to apologize for these fanatics, coward, but the rest of us are working to stop them once and for all.

[lord69z]

Hed like to bury his head in the sand while the onslaught rapes and pillages his home.

[meiitbe]

I think you are being too generous - he would help them by opening his own door.

[SketchyBack]

9/11 and 7/7 indeed pale in comparison to the hundreds of thousands of civilians killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The U.S. is a bigger threat to the world than Iran, precisely because of its ability to wipe out the entire world through nuclear hellfire and to destroy anyone it desires. No fanatic can dream of the scale of demolition available to the Pentagon.

No apologies for religious fanatics, but similarly no apologies to US efforts for global domination of lands, markets, and resources.

[nemesisnick66]

i wouldn't mind if the US has global domination of lands, markets, and resources..just not bush or anyone else who subscribes to a religion

[SketchyBack]

okay so you want your country to dominate everyone. but if you think that is an acceptable behavior, then you logically make it perfectly okay for another country to do the very same. would you be okay with that?

there is no religious manifest destiny for americans. all humans are equal. no one should dominate anyone.

[nemesisnick66]

*sigh* i guess what i meant to say was that i want our bill of rights and constitution to "dominate" the world.

[SketchyBack]

american success is no proof of superior people OR institutions.

some people (especially libertarians, but i won't assume you are one), think that the constitution and the bill of rights are a gospel. or that the american system is the best and perfect one. but that's not true. would it work for another country? what makes it the best? for one, the 2nd amendment interferes with rational solutions to gun violence.

all must use rationality to create their own way of life. yours isn't perfect.

[weversonman]

That's a petty argument because people kill each other if they want to whether they have a gun to do it or not. Every western country in which heavy restrictions have been put upon firearms ownership have seen no decline in violence period, not even in gun violence. It's so pathetic how all these fanatical anti-gun people seem not to care in the least if people are stabbed to death or beaten to death, but if they are shot then it's utter outrage.

[SketchyBack]

As far as I've read, there is indeed no overwhelming proof gun laws help reduce violence. That is why I took no unequivocal position above, saying only that a fanatical adherence to the 2nd amendment would hinder rational policy-making (in the case such proof surfaced, for example). That being said, you can't kill a bystander with a knife or a club, and a child is unlikely to knife or club himself or herself to death, so guns aren't really the desirable thing to have around the house.

[niginit]

Thank you for paying attention, I wish I could present an award worthy of the job.

That was so well said as well as accurate that I nearly replied with all caps shouting admiration.

america is the larger threat because it is america which wields such a significantly larger power for will and destruction than the rest of the world community combined. This is evident based on the wars throughout history and america's role in them as well as they're outcomes.

the religious fanatics R in office.

[toolie42]

Fantastic. I've only recently stumbled upon Hitchens but I've been reading and watching him fervently. Although I must make one point on his support for the war in Iraq. If the Bush Administration hadn't lied so much about the reasons about going into Iraq, then I and I think most of the country would have been on board. To free a people of theocratic oppression. But they didn't say that. They lied from the start and continue to lie until we can't possibly or rationally believe what they say.

[SketchyBack]

The Iraqi war was hardly a liberation from theocratic oppression. Bush wouldn't care for that. The war was about the oil trade.

Also, Iraq was HARDLY a theocracy. Saudi Arabia, Turkmenistan, Sudan qualify for the title much better.

Iran and Iraq get the shaft because their agendas contradict those of Washington, and it is naive to think Washington actually gives a shit about Iranian/Iraqi peoples over its economic and geopolitical interests.

Hitchens is great, but he is too rough and hawkish.

[meiitbe]

I think you are confusing roughness and hawkishness with an unalterable belief in a principle. Whether you agree with him or not, you have to admit - he is more firm in his convictions than any of the relativist, democrat fools we now have in office.

[SketchyBack]

unalterable belief in a principle, roughness and hawkishness, are both bad as far as i am concerned. i do disagree with relativism, but hitchens's position isn't correct just because he is firm in his belief. i find completely appalling his cheer-leading for war, with hundreds of thousands dead and many more victims - both Iraqi citizens and American taxpayers.

as to democrats - all parties have their fools. at least they aren't trying to get sarah palin elected.

[cancerparty]

The Iraqi flag was, under Saddam's demand, inflected with the phrase 'Allahuh Akhbar' or 'God is Great'. The destruction of Kurdistan was called Operation Anfal, which relates to the sura 8, or 'despoilement and destruction of nonbelievers'. Iraq had the region's largest mosque, dubbed The Mother of All Battles....

Need I go on, or do you require more from the definition of theocracy?! Also, does 'rough and hawkish' make a euphemism for determined and principled?

[SketchyBack]

That is not the definition of theocracy. A theocracy is ruled (kratos) by either a god (theos) or clergy ruling in the name of god. Hussein was neither. He was totalitarian, and that is why Hitchens opposes him, but Bush opposed him purely for geopolitical reasons. (North Korea is more totalitarian than Iraq was, but it isn't going to be invaded.)

A hawk is a warmonger - determined, but poorly principled. Hitchens readily supports war. Hussein should've been brought down more subtly than that.

[cancerparty]

I don't quite understand where 'subtlty' comes into overthrowing totalitarian criminals.

And I don't know how many times Hussein called for victory in the name of Allah in order to meet your criteria for theocrat. His rule was based entirely on the glory of Islam over all else.

I do, however, appreciate your point about double standards with Bush and the Saudis. The Americans clearly believe they can 'keep in them line' in some way, or edge them towards progression. It seems an odd fantasy.

[cancerparty]

To Sketchy Black:

Are you really saying Iran isn't a theocracy?! A country with no political parties; whose rule is based entirely on Koranic law; a place where a woman is stoned just for sitting in a car with her fiance; where women are gang raped as punishment for contracting AIDS from unfaithful husbands, who refuse to wear condoms as the Iranian govt tells them they actually 'spread AIDS'.

You're so blinded by anti-Americanism you miss real fascism when it stares you in the face.

[SketchyBack]

You somewhat misread me. I entirely agree that Iran is theocratic, all I said was that Bush does not oppose Iran because of that. (If Bush opposes all theocracies, why has he been so friendly with Saudi Arabia?)

Saddam Hussein was not greatly religious: he abolished Sharia law in Iraq and was the President of Iraq, not the religious leader. The inscription on the flag was added after he lost the 1st Gulf war and wanted to appeal to the population.

[javb222]

Iran doesn't say condoms spread AIDS (but some Christian preachers in Africa do). Get your facts right, Iran has a very successful family planning program which provides various contraceptives for FREE to couples. Before marriage, men and women are required by law to take a class on contraceptives.

There are elections in Iran, although I think the religious leaders of Iran have a veto on who can and cannot run.

[cancerparty]

The govt doesn't have an official voice on it, but there are - through them - many disinformation campaigns running out of mosques that indeed say condoms spread AIDS as part of a Christian-Judeo/Western conspiracy. My sister works for Medicin San Frontier in the region and has had personal testimony from HIV positive boys saying this is the case.

And I agree with your definition of Iran's elections, but I don't think that stops it being a theocracy: the religious leaders are still in charge.

[Oceanica22]

he does have HUGE balls, listen to his "freedom of speech" on youtube, a intellectual masterpiece where he fantastically explains the importance of freedom of speech.

[meiitbe]

That speech should be mandatory for kids in grammar school - so fundamentally important it is that we have the right to speak our mind and to hear the opinions of others, even the loons.

[wizardworl]

The great thing about Hitchens is that whether you agree with him or not, you must admit that those who question/confront him in a public forum or debate are never on the same level intellectually. Every time I have seen him debate or argue with someone he has decimated them.

[Rojhalat80]

I, like Hitchens, believe that Islam should be tackled. However I also believe that true opposer of religious barbarism would allocate a little more time to denounce Saudi Arabia and not only to Iran. I've seen him evade questions about the country, and often spins the situation as to make it look as though Saudi Arabia is receding at the hands of America. This leads me to wonder where his crusade is rooted in, a genuine opposition to religion or a sufficient reason for expansionism.

[friednoodlesz]

I have heard him sneer at wahabism. He doesn't bring up the Saudis often though, so you might be on to something there. I wouldn't use the word crusade though, for obvious reasons :P I'd say his Iraq and religion stances are seperate and he might try to avoid conflict between them. Obviously though, the Saudis don't have a nuclear program and therefor are less of an examplar.

[jc333jc]

What happened to my last comment?

[jc333jc]

Love him or hate him; I personally think he is a very perceptive man. He is ballsy (is that a word?). No matter.

I would love to have him as a dinner guest...With the Pope, Abu Hamza, Julie Andrews, John Lennon and some bearded fundamentalist. Just for the light hearted banter.:-D

[cancerparty]

Working in a bookshop this weekend, a customer complained about us selling Satanic Verses, as it 'promotes anti-Islamic sentiment.' It appears he would prefer only mysogynistic, homophobic, theocratic opinions to be heard on religion. Our debate moved on to Iraq where he chastised the West's sanctions that killed many 100,000s. So I asked him, how can you reject military intervention, sanctions, and appeasement all at the same time??!! (Attila Hoare quote I stole). This world is cuckoo at times.

[notbendable]

Sweet!

[highwind8124]

I'm a Canadian citizen of Lebanese descent. Man, when I heard Hitchens say that comment about freeing Lebanon from the bullying of Hezbolah, I thankfully raised my fist in the air.

Thank you, Mr. Hitchens. I hope that Lebanon's democracy survives that dictatorship. That's not to say I like the Israelis, but Hezbolah removes any say the average Lebanese citizen has.

[bluntman007]

@highwind8124 You should be ashamed of yourself.

[countertreason]

@highwind8124 Nor does he like the Israeli bullying. I hope the best to a return of control to a Lebanese democratically elected government and, hopefully, a day when all religion is removed from the constitution and laws are blind to religion in that good country. I believe Lebanon has that potential too.

[1L0V3C1IT]

say what you want about the tenets of national socialism, at least it's an ethos

8D shut the fuck up donnie

[cancerparty]

I never expected to see Big Lebowski quoted on here. Nice one, man.

[truestefq]

Nice speech, thanks for uploading! But Hitchens speech at the AAI makes these points even better.

[murderbydeath79]

Our current president and furthermore the right wing would move this country to a christian theocracy if given the chance. The fact hitchens supports this branch of government seems to contradict everything he is saying

[KennGM]

The secularist argument for going to Iraq was made long before the US made the decision to go there. You are mistaken if you believe that Hitchens support for the Iraq war means he supports all other aspects of the administration. Hitchens has stated many times that he is essentially a single issue voter in support of the war on terror and the war in Iraq in support of his many secular friends fighting the most right wing elements in the world.....and it's hard to hold that view against him.

[murderbydeath79]

God is not great was a wonderful read and he is such an intelligent man, but his right wing rhetoric is truly inexcuseable. Our own president believes in rapture and conversion among other insane religous views. This war was under the assumption that god was on our side. American imperialism has to stop

[KennGM]

I fail to see any "right wing rhetoric" in the way Hitchens approaches the issues of religion and the Iraq war. Hitchens takes every opportunity to chastise George W Bush for his delusional views on religion but you have to remember that Hitch was calling for an armed intervention against Saddam Hussein many years before the current administration even took office. Hitchens solidarity with Iraqi and Kurdish secularists and hatred of Islamists are behind his support for the intervention.

[bobbels101]

His rhetoric is so blindingly good that it's hard to disagree with him. But he can hardly be right in everything he says.

Better watch it again, find the holes...

[Masenko]

Hitchens is totally correct, he realizes that this attack on reason worldwide is causing so many problems. The U.S ain't no saint, but neither are the enemies of the U.S.

[TheNextTurn]

Sorry Hitch I disagree.

The US seems to be the biggest threat to peace in the world.

As Dawkins says the biggest contributor to religious extremists in the world is the occupation of another country.

[Hirnlego999]

I agree. PNAC is a very dangerous agenda, already risk of starting another weapons race and even Condi Rice acknowledged that it's a very dangerous game they're heading towards. USA supposedly shold take it chances from 9/11 before the clay dries. Well it has already..and USA cannot afford all those conquests it wishes to seek. Money, life and blowbacks..what a waste.

[Ellesime89]

Hitchens puts it simple, we have to fight theocracy. In all forms, with no exceptions. Some people just need this to be hammered into their heads.

[Hirnlego999]

Well then, when will the west stop supporting non-democratic islamic theocracies? It's inconsistant.

[firesteel1]

that really was brilliant

[godfree2canada]

hitch kicks ass

[TimWill]

Give them hell Hitch! :-)

[littlegreymen]

that was an ass-kicking in 7 parts. cheers.

[ClevelandSteamer1969]

I tend not to tell people I'm an atheist not because I'm afraid of being ostracized but because I don't want to be lumped in with the asses he's berating. They are many times as dangerous to me and mine as Christians are and I actually find myself embracing Christians simply because they are not anti-American nihilists. If I have to live in a world filled with people who abdicate reason I pick Christians before Marxists any day.

[TheBannedAtheist]

Shameful but true. I wish atheists would start standing up for themselves more. I learned in school, at the cost of a few detentions, that capitulation to bullies gets you nowhere. A black eye is the way to stop a bully.

[meachanDEE]

After the whining political correctness and the vacuous religious spin doctoring, Hitch is like cold, clear water. A shock at first, but cleansing and refreshing. Drink deep and let it clear out all the gunk clogging up your mind.

[tcrb2]

amen

[jmcgeoug]

It is interesting indeed to trace the declining levels of applause from the beginning of Hitch's speech to the end. The more he addresses the problem in concrete terms, the less the ostensible army of non-believers wants to have anything to do with them.

[belzondium]

Hitchens roasted the last couple of questioners. Exquisite!

[PhillyDickinson]

He's brilliant when he encounters the kind of stupidity summed up by that so-called marxist secularist questioner.

[hitchenswatch]

Gushing fanboy megadittos the object of his affections.

[PhillyDickinson]

Hitchwatch I'm getting concerned, your points against Hitchens are just so damn eloquent!

[hitchenswatch]

The comment was about you, moron.

[PhillyDickinson]

Hmm, now that was less eloquent. And I was aware that I was commenting on the nature of your videos.

Are you working on one now? I bet Hitchens is terrified!

[hitchenswatch]

Hitch lives in a fantasy world of his own design. BTW, are you in favor of bombing Iran like your hero is?

[PhillyDickinson]

Find me where Hitch has said he wants to bomb Iran.

( I'm guessing you're an apologist for Iran)

[reedbraden]

I happen to be in favour of bombing anyone who wants me and my fellow Americans dead. I don't see why you wouldn't be.

[Hirnlego999]

It never ends.

[RodentSchmodent]

Hey hitchwatch, you never answered me earlier. When you make love to your girlfriend, do you call her "Christopher"?

[PhillyDickinson]

Ha! True, he is worringly obsessed.

[johnclavis]

The Pentagon took $11 BILLION in cash it had lying around (you know, petty cash) and flew it to Iraq, where it DISAPPEARED. Then Bush issued a signing statement that prohibited Congressional investigation of what happened.

I'm with Hitchens; I will not back down from religious tyranny of any kind. But Pres. Cheney and VP Bush are not the right men for this job; surely we all agree on that?

[eXcommunicate1979]

Agreed. While I share Hitchens' views on this matter, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were the wrong people at the wrong time.

[lollygager3664]

Agreed. It's good we have a President who is willing to fight, but he is also incompetent, unimaginative, corrupt, surrounded by cronies, insurged with business special interests at an unprecented level, and is grossly inarticulate.

It's simply horrible. We have so many atheists unwilling to fight back against the jihadist.

[eXcommunicate1979]

To be honest with you, I'd be more than willing to join the 82nd Airborne, lionized by Hitchens in his speech, and fight the jihadis if I knew my life wasn't going to be wasted by being sent on a superfluous mission by ignoramus Bush and Darth Dick. I am still incensed we've taken our eyes off the ball and got bogged down in Iraq at this time. It'd help if I knew Bush didn't sleep well at night.

[lollygager3664]

I know. What I'd most love to see is Hitchens discuss his opinions about the current administration in depth. We certainly know how he feels about the Clintons.

[NIckSouthAfrica]

One of the most forthright and revealing Hitchens uploads; thanks.

[templarart]

Very, very nice! I love Christopher Hitchens!

[DammitSteve]

that was a good one to upload - thanks very much for it.

[RuinedSaint]

Great lecture. Thanks much!

[philhellenes]

Thanks very much for making the effort to post this. Watched all 7. :)