Christopher Hitchens RIP

[K9]

Dies aged 62

The world has lost a truly great mind.

[Merusk]

Incoming flood of political cartoons trying to have the last word in -1..

[K9]

The Best of Christopher Hitchens

also

[NiX]

Always liked his point of view and arguments. Led to me questioning why I was being sent to Catholic schools and eventually becoming atheist. I'll have to steal my girlfriend's e-reader and read his book.

[Jherad]

Always liked his point of view and arguments. Led to me questioning why I was being sent to Catholic schools and eventually becoming atheist. I'll have to steal my girlfriend's e-reader and read his book.

Pretty much the same story for me. He was a big influence on my questioning Catholicism and then religion/'faith' in general.

I didn't always agree with his views, but he was a great mind and the world is poorer for him having died. I'll miss his debates.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kuzYwzGoXw
(Hitchens starts towards the end of part 1)

[rattran]

Sad, an entertaining man gone. Forever.


Or burning in hell, if his detractors are correct. In which case, I'll see him there!

[bhodi]

http://www.theonion.com/articles/fumbling-inarticulate-obituary-writer-somehow-losi,26890/

He had weird ideas about Islam and imperialism but damn if he didn't stand up for his beliefs. Don't forget about his voluntary waterboarding.

Here's another link you should read.
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/hitchens-201201

[Paelos]

I didn't know who this was when I read the title. Guess that shouldn't shock me.

[ShenMolo]

Such a great thinker, writer, and speaker.

Find some of his speeches & debates on Youtube if you can.

He had that great quality of liking and enjoying the company of those who disagreed with him but who were intellectually honest.

[bhodi]

And Cyanide & Happiness did a tribute thing.

[Ingmar]

Deeply mixed feelings about the guy, so I will just say I'll miss the parts I liked.

[MahrinSkel]

I think I would have loved to have a drink with him, and hated to know him much longer.  He was one of those people who sees the world without the normal filters, and apparently didn't like what he saw much.

--Dave

[Bzalthek]

normal filters, in this case, being mass delusion and fantasy.

I kinda thought he was an asshole, but I respected his determination and intellect.  I think he was a necessary voice, and I don't think we got many people like that left.

[HaemishM]

He WAS an asshole, being an asshole was his entire cause. That doesn't mean he wasn't a deep thinker and a ballsy guy.

[Ruvaldt]

Definitely an asshole, but also one of the greatest essayists of our age.  Perhaps you can't be one without being the other.

I'll miss him.

[HaemishM]

You kind of have to be an asshole to tell someone their entire belief structure is total horseshit in an intellectual manner.

[TheWalrus]

Hey, it's scary to walk without crutches you never really had in the first place.

[Soln]

His debate in TO with Tony Blair on the existence of Cod was terrific.   I plan on reading his work on Orwell.   He wasn't a toady and was highly literate.

[Bzalthek]

The existence of Cod is not debatable.  I ate some last night.

[lamaros]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/christopher-hitchens-obituary?mobile-redirect=false

[Morat20]

Deeply mixed feelings about the guy, so I will just say I'll miss the parts I liked.

I felt he was an asshole, a contrararian who often felt violently disagreeing with common beliefs was deep thought, and moslty surfed on a few really good pieces -- his writing of the last decade or so was rarely up to his previous levels.

On the other hand, I respected him for his 180 on waterboarding after deciding to try it himself -- especially given the tenor of times, his prior statements, and his audience it took a lot of guts to come out and be brutally honest about what it was like and what he thought.

So the good with the bad.

[Surlyboi]

Complete and utter asshole. But when presented with facts contrary to his opinions, open-minded enough to accept the new information and move on.

There was a ton of shit about him that I didn't like, but goddammit, the man had my respect.