Thursday 26 July 2007

Christopher Hitchens the Anti-Theist

What is the difference between an anti-theist and an atheist? ...Christopher Hitchens seems to be responsible for popularizing the term - 'anti-theist'.

Hitchens, never shying away from controversial topics, is a freelance journalist and writer for publications, such as Vanity Fair and Slate and author of books such as 'The Trials of Henry Kissinger', 'Why Orwell Matters', 'Thomas Jefferson: Author of America' and most recently, the book... 'God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything'.

Hitchens was also, famously called to give testimony at the Vatican against mother Teresa receiving a sainthood and he recently commented , in a debate with Al Sharpton... "That the old bitch got it anyway". He has also written a book on the not so 'saintly' Mother Teresa, entitled: 'The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice'.

Christopher Hitchens calls himself an anti-theist, rather than an atheist and he defines the difference as such. He notes that he has occasionally met atheists, who actually wish they could believe in God, but simply cannot, because there is no evidence to support such a position. Hitchens on the other hand, denounces this atheistic position and qualifies his own, by saying that, not only does he not believe in God, he is glad it isn't true.

So, an anti-theist not only doesn't believe in God, the idea that such a God could exist, is a rather unpleasant proposition. Indeed, who in all seriousness would want to live in a World, where an apparent dictator in the sky, watches your every waking and sleeping moment.

Christopher Hitchens, is the only journalist who has visited all three 'axis-of-evil' ...Iran, Iraq and North Korea. Hitchens said that when he was a child, he would try to imagine what Heaven was like and what it would be like to praise your creator in your every waking moment. After visiting North career, where they do exactly that, in praising their 'beloved leader' Kim Il-sung who is now dead, but bizarrely is still praised as the "Eternal President" and his son Kim Jong-il, only holds his 'presidential' position de facto... after his visit, Hitchens said he knew exactly what heaven would be like, it would be like living in North Korea... In other words Heaven would be 'hellish'.

Hitchens went on to say, that Heaven would be even more unpleasant than North Korea... 'At least when you die, you can leave North Korea, but you could never escape the eternal prayer state of Heaven'.

Hitchens commented that North Korea was disturbingly like George Orwell's 1984, where thought police check up on you. Indeed, when visitors enter North Korea, the tour guides are followed around by a 'thought policeman' who monitors the guides words. This is obviously a terrifying experience for the tour guide, one wrong word, could mean prison or even execution. Indeed, one is not even allowed to mention George Orwell, the subject is a big, no no. Another bizarre behavior, which appears very 'Orwellian' ..when tourists do visit, the North Koreans are not aloud eye contact with the visitors, they can be seen walking along, eyes looking at the ground, almost robot like as tourists walk past. This bizarre behavior has been documented on film and can be watched on YouTube... It reminds me of a staircase scene in a Hollywood movie called Equilibrium starring Christian Bale, where all the individuals on the staircase walk in 'military strides' and look like non-thinking robots.

The children of North Korea suffer the worst mental child abuse one could imagine. From dawn till dusk, they learn nothing but words and praise for Kim Il-sung... School is really one long prayer session.

When Kim Il-sung died, there was mass hysteria among the population. There seemed to be genuine grief, with men and women weeping and shaking uncontrollably. If one has been indoctrinated, on a daily never ending basis, with the belief that your president is more than a president and is the 'Great Leader' and your mind is indoctrinated with this day after day for almost every waking moment, then it becomes a 'truth' of the mind. These people genuinely believe in the 'Godly' status of Kim Il-sung and when he 'disappeared up into the clouds' ...They asked 'oh why did you leave us,Kim Il-sung'.

It is hardly surprising that many Christian fundamentalists are so offended by Hitchens. Not only is he denouncing the possibility of God, because there is no evidence for the concept, but on top of that, he is saying it is an immoral belief to hold in the first place. Because God is not only a non-provable concept, it is not a morally praiseworthy one. On top of that, Heaven would not be a wonderful place, it would be a 'living hell'.

Hitchens makes the point that we are innately good and the World would be better of without religion and quite simply, as his book title say: 'God is not Great'.

I for one Agree with Christopher Hitchens and would quite happily call myself an anti-theist. Not only do I not believe in God, I also hold that the monotheistic Gods held up by the three major religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam are fundamentally bad concepts and should not be held up as forces for good.

Book Reference: 'God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything' - by Christopher Hitchens

Film Reference: 'Equilibrium' - starring Christian Bale, David Barrash, Sean Bean, and Francesco Cabras




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3 comments:

United Atheists of America said...

Christopher Hitchens was a great man and a brilliant mind. He deserves respect and the only proper thing to do is appreciate the knowledge he left behind for all of us to learn from. He taught us to continue to evolve our brains, with the ultimate goal being to become a greater species of human. Thank you Mr. Hitchens, you will be missed.

Mark Pragnell said...

A literary genius. Millions of xtians cursing his every breath. The monotomy of his audiobook (G.I.N.G) does little to distract from the insight into this obvious insanity created by man in man's image.

United Atheists of America said...

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