The Best of the Hitchslap - Part Two

Christopher Hitchens' Amazon Page

Fischer: God Sent Christopher Hitchens to Hell Because He Loved Him

Bryan Fischer says that God sent Christopher Hitchens to Hell as a demonstration of his true love for him.

Christopher Hitchens - The Best of the Hitchslap

Christopher Hitchens Dies at 62

December 16, 2011 on ABC News:

Christopher Hitchens, the maverick essayist, unabashed atheist and cable television gladiator whose long list of targets included Bill Clinton, Henry Kissinger, and even Mother Teresa and organized religion, has died of complications from pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer. He was 62.

Hitchens died Thursday at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, according to a statement released by Vanity Fair late Thursday night.

"There will never be another like Christopher. A man of ferocious intellect, who was as vibrant on the page as he was at the bar," Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter said in the statement. "Those who read him felt they knew him, and those who knew him were profoundly fortunate souls."

Born in Britain April 13, 1949, and educated at Oxford, Hitchens authored more than a dozen books. He achieved his greatest notoriety with the 2007 best-seller "God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything," in which he dismissed faith as wish fulfillment and religion as "the main source of hatred in the world."

With its publication, Hitchens became the public face of atheism. Critics assumed his cancer diagnosis, in 2010, would lead Hitchens to relent and embrace God. But he remained a proud non-believer to the very end, as he made clear in an early October 2011 speech at the annual Atheist Alliance of America convention in Houston, as he accepted the Freethinker of the Year Award.
Read more

See also:
In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens - Vanity Fair
Christopher Hitchens Remembered - Slate
'A great voice falls silent': Christopher Hitchens tributes pour in on Twitter
Christopher Hitchens' Amazon page

Stephen Fry & friends on the life, loves and hates of Christopher Hitchens - IQ2 talks

From Intelligence Squared:

IMPORTANT: This video will not be available to users in the UK and Ireland until February 20. Thank you for your patience.

In this historic event, Stephen Fry and other friends of Christopher Hitchens came together to celebrate the life and work of this great writer, iconoclast and debater. Fry was joined on stage at the Southbank Centre's Royal Festival Hall by Richard Dawkins and the two discussed Hitch's unflinching commitment to the truth. Hollywood actor Sean Penn was beamed in from LA by Google+ and, between cigarette puffs, read from Hitch's acclaimed work, The Trial of Henry Kissinger. Five friends of Hitch spoke via satellite in New York: satirist Christopher Buckley and editor Lewis Lapham mused on Hitch's prowess as a journalist. 'Like a pot of gold', said Lapham. Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie and James Fenton delighted the audience with stories of Hitchens as a young man. Rushdie drew roars of laughter when he recounted a word game invented by Amis and Hitchens where the word 'love' is replaced with 'hysterical sex'. Particular favourites included Hysterical Sex in the Time of Cholera and Hysterical Sex Is All You Need.

Watching the event with Hitch at his bedside in Texas, Hitch's wife Carol and novelist Ian McEwan provided an email commentary. 'His Rolls Royce mind is still purring beautifully', typed McEwan.

The event was watched live by 2500 at the venue, and by thousands more in UK cinemas and online.

http://hitchfry.intelligencesquared.com/

Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins at the Texas Freethought Convention 2011

From Chron.com:

Atheist superstar and public intellectual Christopher Hitchens appeared in public for the first time in months tonight at the Texas Freethought Convention in Houston. Hitchens, author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and most recently of Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens, was presented with the Richard Dawkins Freethinker of the Year Award by Dawkins himself. Dawkins is the bestselling author of The God Delusion and The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True. 

Though Hitchens suffers from esophageal cancer, he and Dawkins spoke and took questions for about an hour in front of a crowd of what appeared to be well over a thousand people. Read more

The Tribute "To Hitch"

People from around the world raise a glass in tribute to Christopher Hitchens.

(via Reddit)

SBS Dateline - Fighting Faith

From SBS Dateline:

Dateline heads to the United States' Bible Belt, as hundreds gather to celebrate their non-belief in God.

The annual Texas Freethought Convention draws atheists, agnostics and humanists from around the world, and this year Christopher Hitchens is the star attraction.

David Brill meets the renowned writer and thinker, as he battles cancer and uses the last of his strength to denounce religion as immoral.

And outspoken atheist Richard Dawkins tells David he only cares about facts and is standing up against ‘outdated and rather unimaginative ideas about the world’.
Transcript

(via RichardDawkins.net)

Christopher Hitchens vs. Barry Brummett

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Debate between renowned journalist and author Christopher Hitchens and Dr. Barry Brummett (Chair, Department of Communication Studies, University of Texas at Austin) on the resolution "Religion has been a positive force in culture," June 4, 2011. Organized by the Department of English Language and Literature, University of Waterloo, as part of the Literature, Rhetoric, and Values Conference, 3-5 June 2011.

Moderated by Jian Ghomeshi, an award-winning broadcaster, writer, musician and producer. He is the host and co-creator of the national daily talk program, Q, on CBC Radio One and CBC TV. Since its inception in 2007, Q has garnered the largest audience of any cultural affairs program in Canada and has become the highest-rated show in its morning time slot in CBC history.

A Celebration of Reason - 2012 Global Atheist Convention

http://atheistconvention.org.au

Christopher Hitchens on the Consequences of Religious Tradition

Complete video at Fora TV

In this highlight from May 2007, author and atheist Christopher Hitchens notes an increasing audience for "resistance to clerical bullying." He cites examples of society's widespread frustration with outdated religious traditions and champions the perseverance of scientific thought.

Hitchslap - Has Serious Illness Shaped Your View of the Afterlife?

Full Debate: Is There an Afterlife?

Christopher Hitchens: In Confidence

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April 14, 2011 on Sky Arts with Laurie Taylor
(Thanks '1984')

Happy Birthday Christopher Hitchens!

Last chance to nominate Hitchens for Time's 2011 Most Influential People

Hitchslap - Hitler Was a Humanist?

Full Debate
(via Cynical-C Blog)

CBS 60 Minutes - Christopher Hitchens

March 6, 2011 on CBS 60 Minutes:

Steve Kroft profiles Vanity Fair columnist, author and public intellectual Christopher Hitchens, for whom nothing is off-limits when making his wry and often outrageous observations, including the cancer he is suffering from.

Christopher Hitchens & Sam Harris vs. David Wolpe & Bradley Artson - Is There An Afterlife?

Full debate available on Jewish TV Network

In this recent Whizin Center for Continuine Education program, renown scholar, author and atheists Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris square off against Newsweek top rabbis, David Wolpe and Bradley Artson Shavit to determine what may or may not happen in the hereafter.

The possibility of an afterlife has challenged believers and atheists alike for centuries. Because its very nature defies conclusive definitions or proof, it remains a heated topic for debate and exploration. This debate is moderated by the Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Journal, Rob Eshman.

Q&A with Christopher Hitchens

January 23, 2011 C-SPAN

Christopher Hitchens is the author of over a dozen books including his recent memoir, Hitch-22. Other titles include, God Is Not Great, The Trial of Henry Kissinger, The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice, and Thomas Jefferson: Author of America. He is currently a contributing editor for the Atlantic Monthly magazine and a columnist for Vanity Fair magazine, where he has been writing articles about his diagnosis in the summer 2010 of stage four esophageal cancer

Christopher Hitchens vs. Rabbi Shmuley Boteach - Is There An Afterlife?

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September 16, 2010 at Cooper Union, New York
(via Daily Hitchens)

Paxman Meets Hitchens: A Newsnight Special

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November 29, 2010 on BBC Two

In a wide-ranging special interview, Jeremy Paxman talks to Christopher Hitchens about his cancer diagnosis, his life, his politics and his writing.

(Thanks to TreVelocita)