Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

[Maggie]

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

Mr. Hitchens was one of my favorite writers on the Left. His arguments were always a good read and well worth the time. I don't know if Hitchens is wrong about God, I believe he is. But, I know Hitchens was wrong about religion. To his credit, Hitchens was one who seemed to always be seeking for the truth. Yesterday he found out the truth of life ends in death. As a person of faith I never considered him an enemy but a worthy adversary who helped to keep everyone honest. He liked the word "comrade" as many of us like the word "brother". We are poorer today losing this comrade/brother.

Requiescat in pace.

[Anthroshock]

http://www.vanityfair.com/video/2011/12/1329955421001

I did not always agree, but I always was forced to think when reading his work.

[ripemupshocks]

Much like William F. Buckley, I didn't always respect Christopher Hitchens opinion, but I always respected his intellect.

[kcshocker11]

Interesting man-RIP!

[Maggie]

A couple more thoughts on Hitchens: I once thought Hitchens could be considered a "man of the Right." In my mind, at least, the most famous use of the locution "man of the Right" comes from Whittaker Chambers. Who embraced, like Hitchens, Communism though he was a slightly different flavor – and a better writer. Chambers fled politics, late in life; he no longer had the stomach for it. He preferred to escape to his inner frontier even as he understood the stark nature of the fight he was leaving. Escapism is laudable; perhaps the only truly honorable course for humane men - but only for them. Those who remain in the world, if they will not surrender on its terms, must maneuver within its terms. That is what conservatives must decide: how much to give in order to survive at all; how much to give in order not to give up the basic principles. And, of course, that results in a dance along a precipice. Many will drop over and, always, the cliff dancers will hear the screaming curses of those who fall, or be numbed by the sullen silence of those, nobler souls perhaps, who will not join the dance.

Now Hitchens, you see, was no conservative. You can't really be a conservative in the Anglo-American tradition and hate religion. You can be a non-believer, I think. But you have to at least have respect for the role of religion and maybe a little reverence for the role of transcendence in people's lives. Hitchens had nothing but contempt. It was one of the last truly asinine Marxist things about him.

I no longer think Hitches was really a man of the Right, chiefly because you can't be a man of the Right and reflexively, perhaps even childishly, reject the label. A man of the Right is not a doctrinaire conservative. What a man of the Right is, however, is something harder to define. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that Hitchens who believed in the importance of Western Civilization (he said he'd rather defend Western Civilization than denounce John Ashcroft), gloried in the splendor of the Canon, admired other cultures but rejected utterly the asininity of multicultural leveling - was certainly not a man of the contemporary Left, or maybe not of the Left at all.

I'm not inclined to sugarcoat my take on the man given how he could be absolutely cruel when spouting off about the deaths of others. He could be mean, pigheaded, and insensitive (though never dull!). He could also be generous and kind. He was a brilliant and gifted polemicist who sometimes took the easiest way out by going after his opponents' weakest arguments rather than their strongest. He defied easy categorization while having a gift for categorizing others (a habit, I think, engendered by his early acceptance of Marxism). He'll be missed, in part,å because he was so damn good at being Christopher Hitchens.

Why did I write this? Conservatism, like politics generally, is not a science. Nor is it a matter of literary whimsy. It's not an easy game where if you just read all of the manuals you'll have all the answers. Nor is it a test where if you just fill in the oval for "(e) Most Conservative" you'll be right every time. It requires making judgment calls, with limited information, about complicated human beings and how millions of other complicated humans beings will react to them.

Hitchens, whether you agreed with him or not, always did that (and he never left the field) –that is why I respect him.

[ripemupshocks]

A couple more thoughts on Hitchens: I once thought Hitchens could be considered a "man of the Right." In my mind, at least, the most famous use of the locution "man of the Right" comes from Whittaker Chambers. Who embraced, like Hitchens, Communism though he was a slightly different flavor – and a better writer. Chambers fled politics, late in life; he no longer had the stomach for it. He preferred to escape to his inner frontier even as he understood the stark nature of the fight he was leaving. Escapism is laudable; perhaps the only truly honorable course for humane men - but only for them. Those who remain in the world, if they will not surrender on its terms, must maneuver within its terms. That is what conservatives must decide: how much to give in order to survive at all; how much to give in order not to give up the basic principles. And, of course, that results in a dance along a precipice. Many will drop over and, always, the cliff dancers will hear the screaming curses of those who fall, or be numbed by the sullen silence of those, nobler souls perhaps, who will not join the dance.

Now Hitchens, you see, was no conservative. You can't really be a conservative in the Anglo-American tradition and hate religion. You can be a non-believer, I think. But you have to at least have respect for the role of religion and maybe a little reverence for the role of transcendence in people's lives. Hitchens had nothing but contempt. It was one of the last truly asinine Marxist things about him.

I no longer think Hitches was really a man of the Right, chiefly because you can't be a man of the Right and reflexively, perhaps even childishly, reject the label. A man of the Right is not a doctrinaire conservative. What a man of the Right is, however, is something harder to define. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to me that Hitchens who believed in the importance of Western Civilization (he said he'd rather defend Western Civilization than denounce John Ashcroft), gloried in the splendor of the Canon, admired other cultures but rejected utterly the asininity of multicultural leveling - was certainly not a man of the contemporary Left, or maybe not of the Left at all.

I'm not inclined to sugarcoat my take on the man given how he could be absolutely cruel when spouting off about the deaths of others. He could be mean, pigheaded, and insensitive (though never dull!). He could also be generous and kind. He was a brilliant and gifted polemicist who sometimes took the easiest way out by going after his opponents' weakest arguments rather than their strongest. He defied easy categorization while having a gift for categorizing others (a habit, I think, engendered by his early acceptance of Marxism). He'll be missed, in part,å because he was so damn good at being Christopher Hitchens.

Why did I write this? Conservatism, like politics generally, is not a science. Nor is it a matter of literary whimsy. It's not an easy game where if you just read all of the manuals you'll have all the answers. Nor is it a test where if you just fill in the oval for "(e) Most Conservative" you'll be right every time. It requires making judgment calls, with limited information, about complicated human beings and how millions of other complicated humans beings will react to them.

Hitchens, whether you agreed with him or not, always did that (and he never left the field) –that is why I respect him.

Is your name Jonah Goldberg? And if not, Why did you not give him credit?

[Kung Wu]

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949–2011

Mr. Hitchens was one of my favorite writers on the Left. His arguments were always a good read and well worth the time. I don't know if Hitchens is wrong about God, I believe he is. But, I know Hitchens was wrong about religion. To his credit, Hitchens was one who seemed to always be seeking for the truth. Yesterday he found out the truth of life ends in death. As a person of faith I never considered him an enemy but a worthy adversary who helped to keep everyone honest. He liked the word "comrade" as many of us like the word "brother". We are poorer today losing this comrade/brother.

Requiescat in pace.

Is your name Jonah Goldberg? And if not, Why did you not give him credit?

Not sure why, but probably for the same reason the opening thread was just a bunch of cherry-picked lines from the comments on ricochet.com. Not a single sentence of original thought.

[Maggie]

I don’t know how to properly quote things remotely – sloppy I know. Think what you want, and I know you will (and that is okay by me), but I no longer have the time, these days, to do any of these subjects any justice. So, I tried to find opinions I might agree with and post them.

I will endeavor to format them properly in the future. And if I can’t I won’t post it.

In any event, I don’t believe I will be posting for a few weeks.

[MoValley John]

I don’t know how to properly quote things remotely – sloppy I know. Think what you want, and I know you will (and that is okay by me), but I no longer have the time, these days, to do any of these subjects any justice. So, I tried to find opinions I might agree with and post them.

I will endeavor to format them properly in the future. And if I can’t I won’t post it.

In any event, I don’t believe I will be posting for a few weeks.

Don't feel bad Maggie, in another thread, kcshocker11 quoted Wikipedia and failed to cite his source.



Wikipedia! :highly_amused:

[Kung Wu]

I don’t know how to properly quote things remotely – sloppy I know. Think what you want, and I know you will (and that is okay by me), but I no longer have the time, these days, to do any of these subjects any justice. So, I tried to find opinions I might agree with and post them.

I will endeavor to format them properly in the future. And if I can’t I won’t post it.

In any event, I don’t believe I will be posting for a few weeks.

@Maggie: get your *** back here. When traveling just do this: "When traveling just use the friggin' double quote" --Kung Wu. Problem solved. There is much to discuss though so quit walking around with your tail between your legs and get back here.

[Maggie]

@Maggie: get your *** back here. When traveling just do this: "When traveling just use the friggin' double quote" --Kung Wu. Problem solved. There is much to discuss though so quit walking around with your tail between your legs and get back here.

Dealing with other issues.

[Kung Wu]

Dealing with other issues.

OK, good luck with your issues, and looking forward to seeing you back and postin'.