Christopher Hitchens and Tony Jones 6 of 11 , 06 October 2009 10:00

If there were any doubts about writer and general provocateur Christopher Hitchens ability to pull a crowd, they were entirely dispelled by the sold-out opening night of the first ever Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Presented by the Sydney Opera House and the St James Ethics Centre, the Festival brought together some of the more controversial thinkers from Australia and around the world. Hitchens's keynote address, followed by a discussion with our own Tony Jones, was an expansion on his bestselling, "God is Not Great: Religion Poisons Everything". Hitchens was at his polemical best, delivering a beautifully constructed speech supporting his argument that religion is not only completely implausible, but often actively destructive.

Christopher Hitchens's other books include "Letters to a Young Contrarian", "Why Orwell Matters" and "The Missionary Position: Mother Theresa in Theory and Practice." He also writes a regular column in "Vanity Fair".

Category:

Education

Tags:

• christopher
• hitchens
• antitheism
• atheism

[limpnail]

Get rid of that damn intro! Very irritating

[NegativeNick]

Hitchenschannel,

I know you like that intro but please don't include it to any videos that are labeled > 1. i.e. 2,3,4,5 etc. it takes me out of the conversation

[purgruv]

Have watched a few of his speeches and despite the repetition in this I enjoyed it a great deal. One of the finer and more complete of the Hitch's discourses.

[daskalaka]

Maybe a bit irritating the intro but more than outweighed by my thanks for the upload.

[Arahant108]

"This black guys they sure love them some ministers" Haha

[TomVodkaCollins]

@MrAtheism33 A theist's morals are worse than antiquated, they're mutable to convenience.

[dannylucilla]

0:07 to skip intro.

[TAz69x]

I thought Gandhi and MLK's trip to India and peaceful dissent had a bigger impact on his views regarding the March on Washington, as well as Rustin's impact on MLK

[ImperialUSA]

Tony Jones you're labouring the point. Talk about something else.

[cruelbusiness1984]

@MrAtheism33 I agree. and look how much violence they had 2 suffer at the hands of the whites. and after those points in time as well. with the police as crooked and violent as they were, nonviolence may hav prevented more violence but basic self-defense moves I think should hav been encouraged, a response based reaction @ first, then mayb aggressions that seem anonymous against prominent anti-black marks. as the opposition progresses, the defenders of rights must progress

[cruelbusiness1984]

@pele6922 I agree. and it shows our imperfections as well

[MrAtheism33]

The United States would not be here, would be without independence were it not for violence against tyranny and oppression...and I am CERTAIN that NO CHRISTIAN IN THE U.S. would wish it had not happened.....hypocrisy reveals itself again