Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Christopher Hitchens - What Can I Say?
Saw this mentioned on Pharyngula. I disagree with Hitchens quite a bit, although he's one of the few talking heads/pundits/writers who can make arguments that actually have some weight to them. Witness his defense of the Iraq war - I happen to totally disagree, but he doesn't make the silly and emotional arguments that the neocons and dittoheads do...
No, I applaud the man for having the balls to say what almost no one in the public will say - and have the wit to back it up. He'll defend Iraq when even when not popular, even giving the bird to Bill Maher's audience while actually on the show. He came on and faced the fire. He'll come out and say he's an atheist when that's HUGELY unpopular here. I don't agree with either of these positions, but I applaud him. On this Falwell love-fest - I totally agree with someone coming along and popping the bubble of lovey-doviness and pointing out the elephant in the room - that Falwell was a despicable, evil little man, even if he did hide behind the shield of religiousity and preaching the word of Jaysus.
Witness the flaying:
Kudos also to boing boing for cataloguing his most atrocious statements almost immediately after the announcement of his death:
I don't think it's appropriate to dance on anyone's grave, but when someone dies and they WERE NOT decent, it's not appropriate for the media to pretend as if they were.
Oh, and I love the fact that Freepers are all agog that Hitchens could say such things about Falwell AND Mother Theresa. I guess emotion will always rule most of that crowd...
No, I applaud the man for having the balls to say what almost no one in the public will say - and have the wit to back it up. He'll defend Iraq when even when not popular, even giving the bird to Bill Maher's audience while actually on the show. He came on and faced the fire. He'll come out and say he's an atheist when that's HUGELY unpopular here. I don't agree with either of these positions, but I applaud him. On this Falwell love-fest - I totally agree with someone coming along and popping the bubble of lovey-doviness and pointing out the elephant in the room - that Falwell was a despicable, evil little man, even if he did hide behind the shield of religiousity and preaching the word of Jaysus.
Witness the flaying:
Kudos also to boing boing for cataloguing his most atrocious statements almost immediately after the announcement of his death:
* “AIDS is not just God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals”
* "It appears that America's anti-Biblical feminist movement is at last dying, thank God, and is possibly being replaced by a Christ-centered men's movement which may become the foundation for a desperately needed national spiritual awakening."
* "If you're not a born-again Christian, you're a failure as a human being."
* After the September 11 attacks Falwell said, “I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen."
* “Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions”
* “[Homosexuals are] brute beasts...part of a vile and satanic system [that] will be utterly annihilated, and there will be a celebration in heaven.”
I don't think it's appropriate to dance on anyone's grave, but when someone dies and they WERE NOT decent, it's not appropriate for the media to pretend as if they were.
Oh, and I love the fact that Freepers are all agog that Hitchens could say such things about Falwell AND Mother Theresa. I guess emotion will always rule most of that crowd...
# posted by Sean LeBlanc : 7:31 PM
