The entire debate between brothers Christopher Hitchens and Peter Hitchens is not available on line right now (YouTube videos were removed).
But that doesn’t mean a couple excerpts can’t be found in print!
Christopher Hitchens praised the war in Iraq, saying it “brought one of the great war criminals of the world to justice.”
And it’s about time for humankind to depose the “heavenly dictator,” too, he said.
“(Religion) is a totalitarian belief. It is the wish to be a slave (to someone) who can convict you of thought crime while you are asleep,” Hitchens said. “Unless you’re North Korea, who wants this to be true?
“At least you can (expletive) die and leave North Korea. Does the Quran or the Bible offer you that liberty? No. The tyranny, the misery, the utter ownership only begins at the point of death. This is evil.”
…
“Far more good has been done by religious belief than harm,” Peter Hitchens said.
“If you were to abolish (Christianity), it would not be replaced by a blank space,” he said. “In societies that don’t believe in hell, hell pretty quickly comes into existence. You will find a complete absence of self-government.
“If the universe does have an origin, then wouldn’t it be a good idea to try to find out and to seek to govern ourselves by it?”
Waiting to read the full transcript…
Reader Chad said this:
I was hoping to hear a stronger argument out of Peter. Instead, he focussed on character attacks against Christopher, perpetuating the all-atheists-are-dreadfully-evil stereotype, and pulling out the atheist=Hitler=Stalin=Mao card. All in all, he had no leg to stand on and eventually got to a point where he all but stopped answering.
Near the end, things kinda fizzled into the standard bickering by both sides, blaming the other for causing more wars and violence. But if you’re a fan of Christopher Hitchens’ scathing wit, you’ll enjoy this.
***UPDATE***: The torrent of the debate can be downloaded here.
Rachel Donadio’s article in tomorrow’s edition of The New York Times profiles Giuliano Ferrara, a “third party” candidate in the upcoming national elections in Italy.
One fringe candidate is different.
He is Giuliano Ferrara, a Communist turned conservative who is Italy’s most operatic and most mercurial intellectual provocateur. A newspaper editor and former government minister, Mr. Ferrara is best known here as a television talk-show host. He combines the political theatrics of an Abbie Hoffman with the rhetorical flair of a William F. Buckley.
…
To his critics, he is an opportunist, a consigliere ever in search of a new prince, a misogynist meddler trying to draw Catholic votes away from the left.
He’s also an atheist who doesn’t fit the typical mold:
… Mr. Ferrara is running for Parliament on a small slate devoted to a single issue: “pro-life,” which he defines loosely. An avowed atheist and nonbeliever, he has called for a “moratorium,” but not a ban, on abortion, to call attention to the value of life.
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When a health inspection found that an illegal, late-term abortion had been performed on a fetus with Klinefelter’s Syndrome, whose symptoms include small testicles and large breasts, Mr. Ferrara said that was no grounds to abort. He said he, too, might have the syndrome — and anyone who doubted him could take a look. But Mr. Ferrara is an unlikely pro-life crusader; he has acknowledged that in his early 20s, three of his partners had abortions.
Ferrara has said he’s concerned more about intellectual advancement than winning the election: “I’m a man in search of ideas, not votes. That’s only a means.”
In the process, he has formed a bit of a bond with the Catholic Church:
One obvious question is whether Mr. Ferrara is inching his way toward the Church as if it were the last best hope for a politics of ideas. He denies this. “I’m not asking for their support, not in any way,” he said. “Of course it’s also true that I don’t have it.” Indeed, three leading Catholic publications have criticized Mr. Ferrara’s campaign, saying matters of faith should remain private. But on a recent visit to a church in Mr. Ferrara’s neighborhood in Rome, Pope Benedict XVI shook his hand. Mr. Ferrara said in the interview that he had a “relationship” with the Church, but no political ties.
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For his part, Mr. Ferrara says he remains an atheist. “I’m not a converted Catholic,” he said. “I’m still a nonbeliever, even though my idea of reason is the idea of a reason which is open to mystery.”
Ironic that the atheist would need a miracle to win.
Spc. Jeremy Hall filed a formal statement Wednesday with the Army. He says he overheard a conversation between two sergeants in his platoon and one wanted to “bust Hall in the mouth.”
Hall says he faces the animosity because he is an atheist and is suing the Department of Defense. He alleges it permits a culture that pushes fundamentalist Christianity.
He says he does not feel safe his unit.
It’s bad enough we have our soldiers overseas right now; that many are not treated with respect because they are not Christian is despicable. The Department of Defense has to take action against high-ranking army officials who allow this harassment to continue.
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