Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Eric Hitchens (born April 13, 1949, in Portsmouth, England) is a journalist, author and literary critic. Hitchens received degrees in philosophy, politics and economics from Balliol College, Oxford, in 1970. From 1971-1981, he worked in Britain as book reviewer for The Times newspaper. He emigrated to the United States in 1981, and has written regularly, or been a contributing editor for Harper's, Vanity Fair and The Nation. He is an avowed atheist and antitheist. Hitchens has a younger brother, Peter Hitchens, who is also a journalist, author and critic. Mr. Hitchens is one of the more prominent spokesperson for the New Atheism movement.

Christopher Hitchens was a member of the International Socialists and an active Trotskyist during his youth. Today he is "on the same side as the neo-conservatives," but does not consider himself a conservative. He supported George W. Bush's foreign policy, but has a negative attitude towards Bush's support of intelligent design.

He is a harsh critic of Ronald Reagan, and considers Henry Kissinger a war criminal. Mr. Hitchens is also known for having a history of heavy drinking.

Christopher Hitchens is currently being treated for esophageal cancer caused by drinking and smoking.

British atheist and evolutionist Christopher Hitchens on bestiality

See also: Christopher Hitchens on bestiality and Atheism and bestiality and Evolutionary belief and bestiality

Bestiality is the act of engaging in sexual relations with an animal.

At the end of Christian apologist William Lane Craig vs. atheist Christopher Hitchens debate there was a audience question and answer period.VIDEO The first audience member to ask a question twice asked Christopher Hitchens to label bestiality as an immoral act, but he refused to do so. Dr. Craig said the question posed to Hitchens was a good one and it helped illustrate that atheism cannot offer objective moral standards (see: Atheism and morality).

Opposition to Islam and Support of the War on Terror

Christopher Hitchens became an activist against Islam when Ayatullah Kohmeini declared a fatwa against his personal friend Salman Rushdie. The event has led him to become very vocal in his support of the war in Iraq and heavily critical of Muslim society and ethics.

Insults toward Jerry Falwell

In a TV interview with Hannity and Colmes a day after Jerry Falwell's death, Christopher Hitchens expressed his anger over Fawell's legacy, calling the media coverage of his death uniform in its "stupidity" and calling Fawell himself a "vulgar fraud and crook". Hitchens went on to state such outrageous comments as "we have been rid of an extremely dangerous demagogue who lived by hatred of others and prejudice", "that it's a pity there isn't a hell for him to go to", "the evil he did will live after him", and "and I think his death is a deliverance" . Hannity said that such comments were "crude", "thoughtless", "mean", and "hateful."

Select bibliography

• Callaghan: The Road to Number Ten (Cassell, 1976)
• Hostage to History: Cyprus From the Ottomans to Kissinger (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1989)
• Imperial Spoils: The Case of the Parthenon Marbles (Hill and Wang, 1989)
• Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1990)
• The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice (Verso, 1995)
• Prepared for the Worst (Hill and Wang, 1989)
• For the Sake of Argument: Essays & Minority Reports (Verso, 1993)
• No One Left to Lie To: The Values of the Worst Family (Verso, 2000)
• God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything - outside the US, published with the alternate subtitle The Case Against Religion (Atlantic, 2007)

External links

• "Why Christopher Hitchens Is Wrong About Billy Graham", Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy, Time magazine Tuesday, Sep. 18, 2007