Christopher Hitchens Has Died; Changing Life Situation
Christopher Hitchens, my favourite writer and hero (though he did not approve of hero worship) has died of esophageal cancer.
It may surprise some to note that Hitchens’ writing provided me a good deal of comfort as well as joy. I fell in love with Hitchens as a thinker with attitude when I watched the Tony Blair-Christopher Hitchens debate on whether or not religion is a force for good in the world today. Hitchens took the side that it did not, and he put his points in a way that was both memorable and highly entertaining, not to say downright funny. That is a gift.
More recently, I have been encountering far-reaching changes in every aspect of my life that have brought with them not only their share of positive developments, but also of stress and even anguish. It was during this time that I began and completed Hitchen’s book god Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. It was a riot to read, and I enjoyed it immensely, even if–as a lover of traditional sacred architecture and music in the western canon–I can’t quite bring myself to fully agree with the book’s subtitle. I finished reading it only two days ago.
Hitchens’ bright yellow book took me out of myself when I most needed a feeling of transcendence and immanence, when I most needed a reminder that it is human ethics I must live up to, not unattainable “divine” ones self-imposed on humanity by corrupt religion. For me, Hitchens was above all an inspiring and humane force for great good in the world, and I will cherish his memory.
Rest in peace, dear man.
























