Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Hitchens

Christopher Eric Hitchens (April 13, 1949 - December 15, 2011) was 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 was an avowed Marxist, atheist and antitheist. Hitchens has a younger brother, Peter Hitchens, who is also a journalist, author and critic. Mr. Hitchens was 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. Before his death he claimed to be "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. Hitchens made himself unpopular, even among fellow atheists for his support of the Iraq War, which was motivated by his hatred of religion - in his own words, he supported the Iraq War simply because Iraqis were Muslim, which has been compared to endorsement of racially-motivated genocide.

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

Christopher Hitchens was being treated for esophageal cancer caused by drinking and smoking up until his death on December 15, 2011.

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 a Christian apologist William Lane Craig vs. atheist Christopher Hitchens debate there was an audience question and answer period.VIDEO Around an hour and 54 minutes into the aforementioned video, the first audience member to ask a question asked Christopher Hitchens twice whether it is "good that the Bible prohibits humans from having sex with animals." Hitchens answered the question essentially by saying the Bible is not needed to stop humans from doing that, since we are genetically inclined against it and societies that do engage in such harmful behavior tend to die out, citing the example of cannibalistic societies that get kuru. 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 Falwell's legacy, calling the media coverage of his death uniform in its "stupidity" and calling Falwell himself a "vulgar fraud and crook". Hitchens went on to state such 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)

Some other titles include: “Letters to a Young Contrarian,” “The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001)” and his memoir, “Hitch-22. [1]

“Stranger in a Strange Land”: In this piece that The Atlantic published two months after the attacks of 9/11, Hitchens summed up his break from the establishment left over the attacks and the war on terror that was then only beginning. Ibidem

Death

Christopher Hitchens died on December 15, 2011. The media has reported that the cause of his death was pneumonia, a complication of oesophageal cancer. The cancer was likely caused by his heavy drinking and smoking.

External links

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