#ChristopherHitchens's #TenCommandments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-63cTYJDCA
#Hitchens #deconstructs the ten #commandments and adds a few of his own.
#deconstructionism #atheist #religion #christian #judaism #hitchslap #sundayschool #OT #bible #moses

#PeterHitchens in 2020 had nothing better to do than accuse a mere parish #clergy of lying about war crimes in #Syria. I thought it amusing that he would tell me to "do your own #research" when his own #newspaper's foreign desk could have told him he was wrong. My Tweet was deleted because I was sick of the pile on. A fanboy phoned the #manse to complain; the family member who took the call had never heard of #Hitchens. Funnily enough, I've never heard of him since I stopped using #Twitter!/...

"Der #Mensch ist eine #Spezies ohne größere #Variationen"

(Christopher #Hitchens)

@mariapopova Christopher #Hitchens made me join social media 20 odd years ago, and I still miss him since he's left

Remembering Christopher Hitchens, born 13 April 1949. An amazing thinker and communicator, he died in 2011 and the world is intellectually poorer since.
#hitchens #ChristopherHitchens #atheist #tdih #history

A List of Apologies from the Catholic Church - Christopher Hitchens

https://youtu.be/yuGjcCByVyc

#Religion #Christians #Catholics #Atheism #Murder #Slavery #Nazis #Hitchens

The question of "god-belief" is already inherently biased toward religion. When someone asks you, "Do you believe in God," from an intellectual standpoint, it's like asking "When did you stop beating your significant other?"

There's no good response to the question. If you say you "don't believe," people get bent out of shape and start pestering you with nonsense like "how can you not believe--who made the universe, then?" or "no one knows what happens after you die" and "you can't prove that." Well, duh, the question was about *belief,* not proof. On the other hand if you say you *do* believe, most people take your belief at face value as your right under freedom of religion, and leave you alone.

So what's really being asked? Do you conform? Are you willing to submit to social proof? What group identity are you willing to embrace? It's a no-win situation. You either self-identify as a social pariah, you lie, or you face-plant intellectually.

Because the question assumes its own premise, that there's a God that can be "believed in" or "not believed in." Stripped down to its essentials the question is asking you to accept that this all-important thing, hinges on the opinions of human beings.

As George Carlin pointed out, no one has to ask if you believe in the Sun.

The better question about God is, "does it exist?" Well, what is "it?" Most people refuse to define their terms. Let's take a commonly accepted definition:

"God is a supreme being, a creator and ruler of the universe, who is believed to be transcendent, omnipotent, omniscient, and benevolent."

This definition is absurd. Logically inconsistent and nonsensical for all the familiar reasons.

-Any creator of the universe must also have a creator, so "god" solves nothing.

-A "ruler" of the universe would mean that it's an undemocratic place. Hitchens' "celestial dictatorship" is the model for all Earthly dictatorships. Which are a horror show.

-Despite all the efforts dedicated to theodicy over the centuries, there's no way to reconcile the problem of evil with a benevolent God.

-Epicurus famous Trilemma: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

So, to sum up:

1) The question of god-belief is a nasty bit of social engineering to force you into a positive answer, with the implication that a negative response will be punished with exclusion.

2) The question of "god's" existence is logically absurd and meaningless, in addition to being unfalsifiable. Dismissed without regard or hesitation.

So "atheism" (as declared non-belief in god) only makes sense as a political reaction to the cultural hegemony of god-belief. Forget Dawkins' 7-point scale and all that jazz. Without "God" as the default position, atheism has no meaning.

This is why I self-identify as an *anti-theist.* Anti-theocracy. Because what's worth opposing with every gram of passion you can muster, are all the despicable things being done in "God's" name.

#atheism #antitheism #carlin #dawkins #epicurus #hitchens #theodicy #god #theocracy

In the 00s, the subgroup that rallied around the phrase #Islamofascist moved into something called New Atheism, where the heroes were, of course, Christopher #Hitchens and Richard #Dawkins. In the 10s, having exhausted the Middle Eastern enemy, this group went into “#rationalism” and libertarianism. And now, in the 20s, they seem to be moving into polycules, race science and effective altruism.
The wonder of it all.

I cannot imagine that switching would cause trouble, afterall the other person did that switch in their response.

As far as I know, title or not it's ok to start Dear Full Name. Afterall it's their name.

If you're from a #for-profit journal then please grant me the satisfaction and do address me with my title, yes.

Reminds me of:
- Mr. #Hitchens said...
- Dr Hitchens.
- Dr Hitchens said...
- Prof. Hitchens.
😂 😂 😂
etc etc

An oldie but goodie:

"Like many #fanatical preachers, #Falwell was especially disgusting in exuding an almost sexless personality while railing from dawn to dusk about the #sex lives of others. ...From his wobbly base of opportunist fund raising and degree-mill money-spinning in Lynchburg, Va., he set out to puddle his sausage-sized fingers into the intimate arrangements of people who had done no harm." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/05/jerry-falwell-faith-based-fraud.html #hitchens #taxthechurches

4/x sowie Journalisten wie Peter #Hitchens und Julia #HartleyBrewer ließen regierungskritische ausspioniert worden sein.

Stunning talk by Christopher Hitchens on the Catholic Church

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRsaxXrjk3w

#youtube #justice #children #Inquisition #Apology #church #doctrine #Catholic #Hitchens #moral #ethical #Fascism #Holocaust

Hitchens changed the way I saw the world and still remains my idol

#hitchens #religion #atheism #faith

In 1999, Christopher #Hitchens wrote about Donald J. #Trump “here’s a man who hates to be alone, who needs approval and reinforcement, who talks a better game than he plays, who is #crude, #hyperactive, #emotional and optimistic."Hitchens had previously written that Trump demonstrated "nobody is more #covetous and #greedy than those who have far too much."

I MISS HITCH!

If there were any more worthy spokesperson for common people than Christopher #Hitchens I know not who they are. They certainly have not stepped up to the task. No one possesses the gravitas he had. We the people need another champion capable of showing the world that in fact the emperor has no #clothes nor #character!

@Anarchamond Bei mir war's der #Religionsunterricht. Viele Jahre später überwunden dank Christopher #Hitchens. Sport war ähnlich traumatisch.

Només faltava això. Una associació proposa "Orta" per Horta de Sant Joan, al·legant, sense proves de cap mena, que el topònim té un origen grec i iber.
Doncs com #Hitchens: "el que es pot afirmar sense proves, es pot desestimar sense proves".
https://www.facebook.com/people/Recuperem-ORTA/100063488083092/

If only we could have had Hitch still with us in 2019. We would have almost surely have been spared the embarrassment of Donald Trump as the leader of Democracy.

“#Hitchens was an old-fashioned radical and a “figure of the Enlightenment, a coffee-house pamphleteer, a ready duelist, an unreasonable fighter for reason, an émigré from England come to the New World to tell us what the universal words of our Declaration meant, and hold us to them.”

https://www.thebulwark.com/what-christopher-hitchens-can-teach-us-about-liberalism/

Nel 2011 scompare il giornalista e scrittore Christopher #Hitchens. Esponente del #NewAtheism, critica in maniera serrata la religione, in particolare l'islam. Tra le sue opere più note, "La posizione della missionaria" dedicata a madre Teresa di Calcutta, e "Dio non è grande".
https://twitter.com/UAAR_it/status/1603292272208003072?t=-k3u646kn5NtIqABDsAvLA&s=09

RIP #ChristopherHitchens who died 11 years ago tomorrow.

#hitchens #atheism #freethought #skeptic #secular #religion