You Must Believe This – Hitch

[michael17Participant]

@davis

I will defer to Jakelafort’s comment.

And not to be nip picky, the term I used was “atheistic perspective”

[jakelafortParticipant]

I am into horse racing more than a little bit. I have an equine religion which holds in the highest esteem the virgin mare and the holy horse hoof. Let me tell quote you passages from Pegasus Rex, the holy text.

For he who lacks that studious and analytical approach and wagers without having poured over the data in the daily racing form is a fool who will engender endless showers of urine and feces onto those who are similarly inclined. Let not man’s heart turn to hot monkey women for in that lust the powers of the holy horse hoof and virginal mare are diluted and ultimately lead to financial ruin and a cessation of the life blood of civilization.

I wonder whether in contemplating these sacrosanct passages i may be able to find evidence of horse sense and sensibilities as the events of our lives unfold.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

Here are some of the basics that Christians must believe:

You have the ability to communicate with an entity  that you call “God”, the Creator of the Universe.

You expect – hope – believe that you will be an immortal when this life is over.

God has a plan for Christians yet they constantly pray for Him to change it.

From my perspective this is unbelievable.

I assume you don’t believe that the Hindu god Shiva exists. Does that give you a fresh perspective on anything?

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

I think I once met one of those hot monkey women at a race track. I felt an unbridled passion for her but neigh she said unto me.

[jakelafortParticipant]

But Reg it is clearly written in the Pegasus Rex that the chosen at Cheltanham choose chastity. On the other hand a neigh might mean neigh but sometimes when you win they whinny.

[_Robert_Participant]

I used to perform 5 or 6 magic tricks very well, some levitation illusions and coin tricks. My company hired 10 engineers from India to conduct design verification and assigned them to be part of my project team. Months later, after a meeting I gave them a bit of a magic show. Their eyes got as big as saucers and from then on they seemed a little spooked of me or something. I was chatting with one guy while he was eating lunch and I noticed this pic on his computer. He said it was proof of the giant Hindi monkey God Hanuman with full sincerity.

[jakelafortParticipant]

I once spoke to a Hindu about his monkey god. It was such an effort to repress a laugh. But i sincerely believe that the Christians got this shit spot on.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Greetings,

The Hitch was and is absolutely mind-blowing in his polemics on religion!

 

Although I thought he was thoroughly mistaken on the U.S. invasion of Iraq and history showed Iraq turning into a playground for Al-Qaeda, ISIS, and Iran after the Post-Saddam power vacuum, I think if he lived, Hitchens would have been magnanimous enough to acknowledge his mistake.

 

Christopher Hitchens was both a worthy ally and a worthy opponent on differences.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Spelling
• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by  TheEncogitationer.

[TheEncogitationerParticipant]

Greetings, Reg,

Not to be pedantic, but the old Primo Levy joke about Israel is no longer true:

 

Eureka!  Israel Has As Much Oil As Saudi Arabia, Knesset Told

https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/eureka-israel-has-as-much-oil-as-saudi-arabia-knesset-told/

 

Between Israel’s new-found oil, Europe’s oil discoveries in the North Sea, and the U.S.’s discoveries in the early 2000’s in ANWR and the Dakotas, nobody really needs Saudi Arabia, Iran, Venezuela, or any of the OPEC gangsters anymore.  They’ll just have to diversify and free their economies or die.  And in freeing their economies, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and other Islamic oil producers may have to give up Sha’ria law and even many other aspects of Islam itself.

I can’t wait until Six Flags Over Mecca and Medina opens, complete with beer gardens and unveiled, uncauterized, un-scourged beautiful travel hostesses!  😎

 

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by  TheEncogitationer. Reason: Separating text from link

[Glen DParticipant]

What I MUST believe?

I didn’t allow my parents or teachers tell me that, so I’m hardly likely  to allow Chris Hitchens to tell me either

Reading ” God Is Not Great” simply reinforced my opinion of Mr Hitchens; an ignorant and bigoted polemicist and a weak  philosopher.

I realise my opinion may not be the consensus  here.  It’s only an opinion even though based largely on direct experience.   I have no interest in arguing this opinion . Been there done that, far too many times.

• This reply was modified 4 years, 6 months ago by  Glen D.

[Reg the Fronkey FarmerModerator]

When Hitchens said this is “What you must believe”, he was not telling atheists that must believe “this”. Rather he was saying that if you are a theist then there are certain things that you must believe by the fact that you are claiming you are a Christian. You seem to have totally missed his point.

[jakelafortParticipant]

Glen, I was very disappointed in Hitchens when he debated Craig on the topic of morality. But on balance i find him a solid thinker.

Will you give a few examples of his failings?

[DavisModerator]

You can point out a lot of silly stupid things that new atheists like Dawkins, Harris and Boghosian have said (not their critique of religion but outside of that)…but it’s hard to think of examples of this when it comes to Hitchens. He was a snarky dick a lot of the time but that’s a personality trait, not a failing. Hitchens was actually pretty careful with the words he used and stayed out of polemics on race, class, gender and sexuality (at least as social consciousness of these issues became more prominent in western discourse). I’d be interested to know what Hitchens’s failings were too.

[PopeBeanieModerator]

_Robert_ wrote:

[…] I play in some rock bands. This virus has turned some members into tRump fanatics, miracle cure advocates, 2nd amendment wing nuts, WHO haters, Chinese conspiracy dimwits all at once. Not sure I care to play music with them anymore. They will soon break curfew to assemble and I will not be part of it.

That was from April 2020. I forgot he wrote that, until just now accidentally rediscovering it. My apology to _Robert_ (and family) if I’m wrong to ask and worry about what might have happened. Whatever happened, @robert is missed here.

[Glen DParticipant]

“You seem to have totally missed his point.”

In terms of him telling atheists what they  must do, seems I did. Mea culpa.

Still don’t like him as a serious thinker. Far too fond of facile and gratuitous  ad hominems imo and too short on evidence.

[Author]

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