Play all videos (10)
October 5, 2010 at the 92nd Street Y
Christopher Hitchens and Tariq Ramadan Debate: Is Islam a Religion of Peace? Moderated by Laurie Goodstein.(via Daily Hitchens)
With the Obama administration in its nascent years, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proving as intractable as ever, relations with Iran reaching a boiling point and the political landscape changing rapidly both in the United States and the Middle East, wrestling with the issue of Islam is more crucial than ever and will be a defining feature of the 21st century. Join famous atheist and prolific author Christopher Hitchens and the accomplished and controversial scholar Tariq Ramadan as they debate one of the most pertinent questions of our modern age.
I don't know if I've ever seen Hitchens in such fine rhetorical form.
ReplyDeleteMP4 anyone?
ReplyDeleteHow singular and magnificent is the Hitch. As he is ailing, I find every word the more precious (though I should not lament when his powers are still so much in evidence).
ReplyDeleteBoth participants made very interesting and good points. From my view though the muslim man came across better and Mr. Hitchens came across like most christians do in a debate. Very rigid.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes I do no that Hitchens is not a Chrsitian, I was just making a comparison.
Having firm convictions is not bad in itself it is just bad when those convictions are usupported or wrong - religon has the much greater burden proof. I have the deep conviction that all faith (do not confuse with trust) is vice - I do not have faith that faith is vice, I have knowledge based on everything I read, experianced, thought, wheighed and finally decided. Some convictions are better than others. Faith is the antagonist of knowledge.
ReplyDelete<span>Having firm convictions is not bad in itself it is just bad when those convictions are unspported or wrong - and religon has the much greater burden proof. I have the deep conviction that all faith (do not confuse with trust) is vice - I do not have faith that faith is vice, I have knowledge based on everything I read, experianced, thought, wheighed and finally decided over a period of 15 years. Some convictions are better than others and remeber faith is the antithesis of knowledge.</span>
ReplyDeleteThat´s because Tariq Bs´d his way with the usual babble.
ReplyDeleteTariq´s right I wouldn´t trust him and I don´t find him convincing.
ReplyDelete@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
ReplyDelete<span>The giant and the dwarf. The dwarf is babbling his way around all issues, but not forgetting to protest for the lack of "respect" towards the "complexity " of the particular dogma that feeds him his bread. Inconveniently, it happens to be just the dogma that for the moment soaks the planet in blood. So maybe for the time being he should remember that respect is something you earn for any admirable attitudes and deeds, and not by extortion. The giant clarity, honesty and truthfulness of Hitchens' discourse fill me with deep admiration for this intellect. He is the epitome of what open western society, so hated by the “muslim street”, can do for a predisposed human mind.</span><span></span>
@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
ReplyDelete@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
The giant and the dwarf. The dwarf is babbling his way around all issues, but not forgetting to protest for the lack of "respect" towards the "complexity " of the particular dogma that feeds him his bread. Inconveniently, it happens to be just the dogma that for the moment soaks the planet in blood. So maybe for the time being he should remember that respect is something you earn for any admirable attitudes and deeds, and not by extortion. The giant clarity, honesty and truthfulness of Hitchens' discourse fill me with deep admiration for this intellect. He is the epitome of what open western society, so hated by the “muslim street”, can do for a predisposed human mind.
<span></span>
The giant and the dwarf debate. The dwarf is babbling his arguments around all issues, but not forgetting to protest against the lack of "respect" towards the "complexities" of the dogma that feeds him his bread. Inconvenienly, the same dogma that at the moment soaks the planet in blood. So maybe he should remember that respect is something you earn for any admirable attitudes and deeds, and not by claiming to be entitled to it. The giant clarity, honesty and truthfulness of Hitchens' discourse fill me with admiration for this intellect, epitome of what open western society, so hated by the "muslim street", can offer to the predisposed human mind.
ReplyDelete<span>All 92 min can be purchased from Y92St for 1,92 USD. Worth every cent.</span>
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think Tariq failed to address the question head on (as Hitch quickly pointed out), I did enjoy his contribution because it was mostly interesting and not just the usual canards.
ReplyDeleteA 1st class debate Hitch still as sharp as a pin and highly entertaining.
ReplyDeleteHitchens coming across like most christians do in a debate?! What debates do you watch? He never dodges a question. He was on top form.
ReplyDeleteIts the way he came across to me anyways... its not about dodging questions.
ReplyDeleteBoth parties in the beginging of the debate agreed that the question "is islam a religion of peace," was not a very good one.
It seemed to me that the muslim wanted to have more of a discussion.... which in my opinion would be a better format to improve understanding and knowledge in this world. Let us reason together!
But how would a discussion work if person X talks 5 minutes and then person Y talks 5 minutes? The format is more suitable for a speech really.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't focus on what Hitchens was saying, his noisy chops were annoying me to no end.
ReplyDeleteI guess nobody picked up in the opening statement that this debate had a large Jewish audience. Maybe they should have invited muslims to the audience too.
ReplyDeleteI thought Tariq handled himself well in this debate. I don't think this is an "one or the other" issue.
ReplyDeleteIslam can be reformed like any other ideology, but it won't be through a better understanding of what is written in the quran (eg. by acknowledging certain phrases are hateful or immoral).
It takes knowledge of a better option. And the opportunity to pursue such options without fear.
You don't kill ideas. You forget about them.
Venue is venue!
ReplyDeleteThere are lots of debates, and this one happened to be in at the 92Y. You can't complain that not all debates are the same.
FFS I want to watch the debate i can't believe it has been taken off- anyone have any idea where to get it from?
ReplyDelete