Christopher Hitchens: 'I'm Dying'

Originally posted by Solomons
reply to post by Hellas

 

Contrary to popular belief, not all opinions are made equal. Sure everyone can have one, but not everyone can provide logical and rational reasons to expand and substantiate how that opinion was formed...blind faith for example.

First of all what do You know about faith and second how can you say that somebody is blind believer? You have no idea what experiences people have, what they have seen or heard etc..

And when somebody finds peace and harmony in faith and that alone let's him live a prosper life, who are you to judge him? But maybe you need to cry with the wolfs because that's the only way of expression you know

Even though I am of Faith he is entitled to his own death wishes. Although many find God on their death beds. There may be something said that most atheists know the frirst few chapters of the bible. I wish him luck fighing his illness.

Originally posted by john_bmth

Originally posted by dragonsmusic

Originally posted by john_bmth
reply to post by HunkaHunka

 

He's saying that drastic alterations to his thought process brought on by the cancer treatment or fear of death may lead him to say things which, in his current rational, "normal" state of mind he might disagree with. No more to it than that, really. How you managed to tie that in with some existential conjecture about his life views is beyond me.

[edit on 14-8-2010 by john_bmth]

If his fear of death results in his recanting of what he believes in then he truly does not believe in the things he speaks of...it's simple.

Not at all. One can hold an opinion on a logical & rational level about the (non)existence of a deity but the uncontrollable fear of death (the unknown) may cause you to say things in desperation that you would not say if you were clear of mind. If one of my family were to be critically injured in an accident I may well pray in desperation to a God, but that does not mean I believe in God, it means I'm in an extremely distressed and desperate mental state, nothing more.

You are generalizing, and in doing so you lose sight of what is being discussed. As you talk about "one" being able to do this and "one" bein able to do that you step into a world of glittering generalities.
What I said was very specific. The man is sensing something which goes against or contradicts what he has preached to the world in my opinion. I could be wrong but it sounds like he's snipping in his britches.
What more powerful evidence that he is not at peace with himself and his beliefs at this moment in his life is there than these utterly strange comments he has uttered?

I used to like and respect Hitchens until he latched on with the murderous neo-cons and supported the Iraq war with alacrity. Now it seems he would support Israel in an attack on Iran. Its hard to feel anything for a so called progressive who would do that and also support the mass murder and slaughter that has gone on in Iraq

His militant atheism was as ignorant as his support of the Iraq war . . . him and his buddy Dawkins.

I don’t mind atheism but they like believers cant prove there is no God as believers cant prove there is a God

It’s a matter of faith

reply to post by Solomons


LoL the Idea that there is no creator and that when its over its over and theres nothing left, doesnt sound to FORWARD THINKING to me......sounds pretty short sighted......

Originally posted by The Endtime Warrior
Interesting....so is this a foreshadowing that he may indeed say something to the contrary of his non-belief? I think it is.

More probable that he is taking steps to counter the kind of "deathbed conversion" rumors that popped up after Darwin died.

reply to post by vox2442


Well what is in his heart, we'll never know. Doesn't matter what he teaches or advocates for, no one is watching what the other hand is doing. Much like a priest who follows god, and molests boys behind the alter. He very much portrays a man of deep intellect and proud of his non-belief. I can imagine he is doing some internal damage control at the moment.

What an utterly sad existence for a man with such a penetrating mind. It must be a horrible feeling to think of everything as completely meaningless, particularly towards the end of life.

Either way I wish him well and I hope he passes painlessly full of love and light in the presence of the One Infinite Creator only to see how much better the truth really is.

reply to post by Mr Poopra


Well you're seeing Atheism in the wrong way. Yes, we don't believe in an afterlife. Does that mean we're weak minded? No! There are numerous of people who die every year. I have not seen one bit of evidence of an afterlife.

Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.
Ayn Rand
www.brainyquote.com...

reply to post by dragonsmusic

If his fear of death results in his recanting of what he believes in then he truly does not believe in the things he speaks of...it's simple.

No.

He's talking about in the hours before death, losing control of his mental faculties might cause him to say something regardless of how strong his conviction is. He's not talking about the fear, he's talking about the pain and effect the process of death has on his mind.

He's also taking a dig at those deathbed conversion stories touted by theists as some sort of proof that atheists really believe secretly (such as the lies told about Darwin's death bed "conversion")

When you read The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, or Albert Pikes letter on 3 World Wars it is very clear that TPTB/NWO/Globalists are very religious. They even confess that atheism, Darwinism, nihilism, marxism, communism were created by them to weaken Christianity. But they themselves are pure Luciferian, and they are very devout in their worship, obedience, ritual etc.

reply to post by HunkaHunka


I wish Chris well. I hope he pulls through. If not, I hope he is surrounded by people who truly love him.

If he does decide to change his beliefs, I won't gloat. It doesn't matter how you start, It matters how you finish.

"Most truly I tell you today, you will be with me in paradise."

The door is always open.

You can always come home.

reply to post by Romantic_Rebel


I never implied anyone was weak minded, quite the contrary. Opinions exist based on personal experiences. Your experiences differ from mine, hence the difference in our opinions. If i were born as Christopher Hitchens, most likely we would share near identical beliefs.

Since life after death cannot be verified living, while we are alive we must treat each other as equals and regard every belief as neither right or wrong, but plausible and completely reasonable. The universe is designed in such a way that science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. The only reasonable solution to this dilemma is to be tolerant, kind, and accepting to all. Are you listening world religions?

reply to post by HunkaHunka


I wish him the best but can't help thinking this is a little like cutting off your nose to spite your face. What does he prove by dying? Mortality? I think we all knew that.

reply to post by Mr Poopra


You're correct on that issue. It seems earlier you attacked him for not beveling in "One Infinite Creator".
I found this offensive to me.

Originally posted by Mr Poopra
reply to post by Romantic_Rebel

 

I never implied anyone was weak minded, quite the contrary. Opinions exist based on personal experiences. Your experiences differ from mine, hence the difference in our opinions. If i were born as Christopher Hitchens, most likely we would share near identical beliefs.

Since life after death cannot be verified living, while we are alive we must treat each other as equals and regard every belief as neither right or wrong, but plausible and completely reasonable. The universe is designed in such a way that science cannot prove or disprove the existence of God. The only reasonable solution to this dilemma is to be tolerant, kind, and accepting to all. Are you listening world religions?

So very true...but when you get what you prayed for and it was all but impossible in your logical mind...it has an effect on the psyche and your belief system. I wish this miracle, for this man, whether he prays or not.

When I read the the OP i thought Antony Flew en.wikipedia.org... who came to a deist belief the later part of his life.

Looks to me like hes just setting his public persona up so that if he actually did come to some sort of "God" belief either cancer induced or an actual true life conversion that future atheists can still piggy back off his stuff without taininting it like Flew did.

Before Flews changing he was a giant for many years in the debate circles well respected on both sides. After changing one side pretended he never existed.

Honestly Hitchens was one of the few people on that side of the coin that i could actually stand to listen to or read. I didnt agree with him on much philosophically and thought his historical conjecture was stated in too materoffact way.

Either way its appointed for every man to die at least once.

I think ive read that somewhere O.O.

Originally posted by Titen-Sxull
reply to post by dragonsmusic

 

If his fear of death results in his recanting of what he believes in then he truly does not believe in the things he speaks of...it's simple.

No.

He's talking about in the hours before death, losing control of his mental faculties might cause him to say something regardless of how strong his conviction is. He's not talking about the fear, he's talking about the pain and effect the process of death has on his mind.

He's also taking a dig at those deathbed conversion stories touted by theists as some sort of proof that atheists really believe secretly (such as the lies told about Darwin's death bed "conversion")

I understand very well what he is thinking when he says this. My main point is that he hasn't been diagnosed with Alzheimer's here. There was no reason to mention any of it, unless he is questioning himself. Think about it, do doctors, lawyers, artists, and philosophers fear that , in their death throws, they might start rethinking what they spent their lives doing?
Nobody ever does that unless they are questioning.
No offense is meant to this man. Back when I was an atheist I read God Is Not Great three times. I was about to read it a fourth time when my father asked for it back, as it was his copy of the book.
Anyway, it's not like he was suddenly diagnosed with Turret's. In that case I could see him starting to worry that something bizarre would come out of his mouth.
No, this is different, and utterly strange. But that's just my humble opinion.

I wonder what would happen if he has an NDE and recovers.