1. Comment #54969 by Salvatore on July 9, 2007 at 1:54 pm

Hitchens denies us a parting joke! :(

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2. Comment #54980 by PaulJ on July 9, 2007 at 2:31 pm

Comment #54969 by Salvatore

Hitchens denies us a parting joke! :(

He also said he's going to be debating Alister McGrath. That'll be ... interesting. (Or possibly futile.)

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3. Comment #54990 by oarwhat on July 9, 2007 at 3:40 pm

First to be fleeced, then to be killed. I like that one liner.

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4. Comment #55023 by Rtambree on July 9, 2007 at 6:10 pm

Hitchens was a bit misinformed in this interview in respect to Wallace. Almost all evolutionists accept that Darwin did a lot more work, writing, thinking, research, and anticipating counter-arguments on natural selection, than Wallace did.

I've noticed that about Hitchens - as soon as he strays into the realm of science, his regular confidence and dazzling intellectual start to work against him. Getting things wrong is going to open him up to criticism from all sides. He either needs to do some more reading or admit he doesn't know.

Also, I don't think the humanities can do a better job of arguing against theism than science. Poems, plays, literature, paintings and music, can be interpreted any way you want - and they share with religion an inherent anthropocentrism, and Hitchens normally decries solipsism.

Yes, bring Alistair McGrath within firing range of Hitchens - that'll be interesting. The trouble is McGrath's beliefs are so vague and his statements so vacuous, it will be a challenge for Hitchens to score points.

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5. Comment #55034 by Jenin on July 9, 2007 at 7:24 pm

Just a question: does anyone know if it is true that there is no mention of Hell in the Old Testament? As much as I enjoy Hitchens, I know he sometimes gets his facts wrong and this surprised me.

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6. Comment #55035 by savroD on July 9, 2007 at 7:27 pm

I like the comments about shepherds and sheep. It reminds me of the old western, "the magnificent Seven". You know when Calvera, referring to the townsfolk, says "If god did not want them sheared he would not have made them sheep".
I just love it because it is a metaphor for the god is not great argument!

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7. Comment #55040 by CruciFiction on July 9, 2007 at 8:41 pm

Jenin,

The word "Hell" (as we all understand it today) does not appear in the Old Testament. However, the Hebrew word "Sheol" in the OT is translated in some places as Hell. But this was not a place of eternal punishment and torment -- that Hell came only with the "love" of Jesus in the NT.

Sheol, in the OT was simply described as the grave, or the place where dead people (souls) go.

But please, where has Hitchens gotten facts wrong (pertaining to religion)?

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8. Comment #55045 by Zaphod on July 9, 2007 at 9:26 pm

Rtambree wrote "Yes, bring Alistair McGrath within firing range of Hitchens - that'll be interesting. The trouble is McGrath's beliefs are so vague and his statements so vacuous, it will be a challenge for Hitchens to score points."

Very true. Alistair McGrath's beliefs do seem to be vague, ambiguous, and vacuous. He talks like he is a deist or pantheistic and then moves on to a sort of pseudo Christianity. Then asserts that he relates to Christianity because , WAIT FOR IT "IT MAKES SENSE TO HIM". This is their great intellectual, their great theologian. It makes sense to him. Seriously?

Who wants to put 5 quid on McGrath mentioning C.S. Lewis in the debate with Hitchens. He has done it in the 4-5 debates I have seen him in.

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9. Comment #55048 by Beachbum on July 9, 2007 at 9:45 pm

Got some info for Armory, Guys and Gals. I found a searchable Internet bible:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Has many different versions, but the big thing is a keyword search.

I've read the damn thing 11 times, and it gets funnier every time I read it, but this is much faster.

keyword search for 'hell'= 14 hits starting with Matthew 5:23

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10. Comment #55068 by Beachbum on July 10, 2007 at 12:21 am

Some guy walks into the Betty Crocker school of Broadcasting and Rehab center with a drug (pick your poison) addiction. Wherein, his hook on the aforementioned poison is substantially reduced. Then at the door he turns and asks,"What do I replace it with? I'm lost."

Do we offer another drug or something spiritually related to a drug. OK, Howzabout we offer the bean sprout and tofu diet of Reason as an alternative. "Not me, but I came by it naturally - I love the stuff" (not tofu eww). Remember he was not attracted to rational thought originally, thus his slide into the opiate den.

How do we show him the world through eyes of wonder, instill in him 'a skeptic's ear'. Can we impress upon him that there is nothing "materialistic" about the makeup and majesty of the universe? Should we?

For me, it came from the woods, I mean, how everything fit together; bird, eggs, nest, branch, tree, grass, leaves, pond, tadpoles, frogs, rain, stars, sky, bird and me running around like a cherub (I was very young). In the world of man the pieces of the puzzle did not fit together so well, it was flat out confounding.

After our reformed addict realizes the pieces of the puzzle don't fit and we remind him to stay away from any other "misfits" he might encounter. Might it be enough, to show him the door to enlightenment and let him discover the world anew. May we even hope that he might take a friend?

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11. Comment #55138 by Jenin on July 10, 2007 at 5:12 am

CruciFiction: Oh, they're not facts I would have known were wrong. I have just noticed other comments on some of these blogs that he said things that were incorrect--although most such comments have had to do with his understanding of science not religion.

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12. Comment #55140 by LeeC on July 10, 2007 at 5:16 am

Who wants to put 5 quid on McGrath mentioning C.S. Lewis in the debate with Hitchens. He has done it in the 4-5 debates I have seen him in

I don't have 5 quid, but it would be a mistake… Hitchens loves to quote CS Lewis in his book, so Hitchens will be one step ahead.

But please, where has Hitchens gotten facts wrong (pertaining to religion)?

Now I like Hitchen's I really do, but reading his book ("God is not great") – he has got his facts wrong in areas that I can question him (He needs to look up on his science) and when he can misquote science, it worries me about his other "facts".

So, no - I cannot point you to areas where Hitchen's is wrong on religion – but I can point out areas incorrect in his book on science. Does this mean he does not check his facts before writing? Could he make similar mistakes on other matters – probably.

Do I care while he is shouting at the theist?

Lee

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13. Comment #55150 by OZE2 on July 10, 2007 at 5:53 am

It is wonderful to learn that Hitchen's book is a runaway seller in so many countries including Australia where I live. However, to my great chagrin, Hitchen mentioned that his book is banned in Malaysia, probably the first Muslim country to have done so.

I have lived in Malaysia for many years and am quite surprised by the ban, being a moderate Islamic country with many inherited British institutions (although many have been watered down, like the independence of the judiciary, political jerry meandering, racism against the Chinese). It just shows how insecure the Islamists are feeling against the onslaught of rationalist thinking.

I am sure Singapore, a much more progressive country does not have a ban. Hence, you can be sure many educated Malaysians (especially those not of the Muslim faith) can still access a copy of the book by just making a short trip across the causeway.

I think the Malaysian government has by banning the book, inadvertently make it a best seller in Malaysia.

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14. Comment #55207 by Rtambree on July 10, 2007 at 8:52 am

13. Comment #55150 by OZE2

>Hitchen mentioned that his book is banned in Malaysia, probably the first Muslim country to have done so.

When does it get translated into Arabic and go on sale in the Middle East, followed by a Hitchens book tour featuring debates with Imans, Mullahs, Rabbis and other Abrahamic clerics?

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15. Comment #55232 by Edanator on July 10, 2007 at 9:58 am

I am sure Singapore, a much more progressive country does not have a ban. Hence, you can be sure many educated Malaysians (especially those not of the Muslim faith) can still access a copy of the book by just making a short trip across the causeway.

Yes! We got them all in Singapore: Books by Harris, Dawkins, Dennet and now Hitchens.

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16. Comment #55480 by sane1 on July 11, 2007 at 8:36 am

"Comment #55140 by LeeC on July 10, 2007 at 5:16 am"

LeeC: Where does Hitchens get his facts wrong? Please share.

And I found this gem online:

"Wednesday, 6 June 2007
God still pondering response in Hitchens debate


There was frustration in religious circles this week as God failed to respond to provocative claims made by writer Christopher Hitchens. In his book God is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything, Hitchens writes that Religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism and tribalism and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry," but so far God has declined to answer the charges, to the bewilderment of some of His followers. "The same thing happened with Dawkins," said one London churchgoer yesterday. "Why doesn't He strike these people down instead of all this maintaining a dignified silence bullshit?" God was last night unavailable for comment."

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17. Comment #55485 by Bonzai on July 11, 2007 at 9:02 am

I am sure Singapore, a much more progressive country does not have a ban. Hence, you can be sure many educated Malaysians (especially those not of the Muslim faith) can still access a copy of the book by just making a short trip across the causeway.

Hmm.. Singarpore a "much more progressive country"??

It is a place where chewing gums carries a big fine and having oral sex can land you in jail. It is a puritan Confucian country used to be run by a know it all patriarch. The patriarch is formally retired but still refuses to shut up and he is succeeded by his son.

Singerpore does not ban the "new atheists" just because it has no affiliation to any of the Abrahamic faiths. But it has banned many mildly provocative books it deems "immoral" such as "catcher in the rye". Try write a book to attack Confucianism in Hitchen's style and see what happens.

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18. Comment #55575 by maton100 on July 11, 2007 at 2:56 pm

Yep, the whole religion thing is about control. What better way to convince someone "of something" than to bring in a third party that doesn't exist! It is the oldest trick out there and what Jesus (if he existed) capitalized on to get folks to listen to his ass.

http://thestubborncurmudgeon.blogspot.com

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19. Comment #55790 by JJoe on July 12, 2007 at 10:01 am

Very good interview.

Kudos to those at Point of Inquiry. They do great work. Intelligent, tough questions and adult conversations. I wish the rest of the media would rise to their level.

If you haven't heard of them before they have a number of their shows available on their website and as podcast subscriptions thru iTunes. (I'm not affiliated, just a big fan.)

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