RIP, indeed, and condolences to his family, though actually I'm inclined to imagine him not peaceful, but engaged in a lively and mutually entertaining encounter with God, since I'm an odd sort of Calvinist who believes that, since God is all-powerful, God, not humans, gets to decide who is saved (or preserved, or continued, or however you want to put it), and that might well mean everyone, even Judas and Hitler and intellectually engaged atheists, all of whom have some part in the divine plan (though I find the part of Hitler and his ilk hardest to fathom).
Or perhaps he has, indeed, reached (and we all will reach) what he expected: peaceful oblivion for his conscious self, and a continued existence in the memory of those whose lives he touched, directly or through his writing.
What I'm not imagining is eternal flames, or, for that matter, deep darkness, cold, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. I'm inclined to think those are threats humans use to manipulate each other, and have little to do with God or God's purposes.
I do not understand why anyone is caring about this. The guy was a total jerk, 100% violent and treated people as pieces of shit.
Granted, I say this as someone who knew him personally, but his personality came out in his condescending writing, his violent rhetoric about killing muslims and going to war at the drop of a hat.
He had a propensity for the drunk dialing. Used to call people in the middle of the night to bitch them out about shit people can't control. My Dad got a 3am call from him more than once and always asking either for a ride or yelling at him for his religion. "Stupid Fucking Christians." One time he called the house asking for money and my sister answered the phone. He yelled at her, hung up, called again. He would show up for dinner at conferences or your house completely wasted by 6pm, but somehow holding himself up and driving around.
And you totally get that from his writing! Why is anyone upset about this guy's death, other than the fact that he was famous? He was a violent guy, a drunk, and an emotionally abusive person who took his personal issues out on entire groups of people.
And people treat this like it's a terrible passing of someone who was in the middle of curing cancer.
AM, Just to play devil's advocate, his alcoholism and bad behavior don't invalidate the quality of his writing or the validity of many of his ideas. If you're going to expect perfection in all aspects of life from every writer, musician, and artist whose work you enjoy, your not going to have much entertainment to choose from.
I enjoyed God is Not Great, but that's mostly because I already agreed with him and found the book (it's really just a long rant) entertaining. Dawkins and Harris are much more intellectually hefty in that arena. The quality of the writing in G is not G drops off precipitously when he gets to Buddhism later in the book, though, and maybe that's what you mean by the booze and badness affecting his writing?
I strenuously disagreed with his views on the Iraq war and Islam in general, though I never noticed that he was particularly violent in his attacks on Muslims. I must admit to a less-than comprehensive familiarity with his writings on these topics, though, as my distaste for his viewpoint meant that I usually didn't read him on that subject. I'd be curious to hear more on your comment about his violence.
It sounds as though you were privy to a side of him that most of his readers weren't (at least entirely).
I'll let things go. I don't agree that he was brilliant. His arguments left me underwhelmed, even when he wrote about things on which we agreed. He should have spent much of his adult life in jail. He has ruined many people's lives by being emotionally abusive to those around him. I hope those who knew him finally get a sense of relief.
Hitchens was very good at nailing certain targets (Henry Kissinger, Mother Teresa, the first Bush admin.), but he lost the script during the Clinton administration, then drifted into Crazyland during the second Iraq War. He was an interesting person, but hard to live with. I'm sorry he's gone because he was such a pissant.
RIP, indeed, and condolences to his family, though actually I'm inclined to imagine him not peaceful, but engaged in a lively and mutually entertaining encounter with God, since I'm an odd sort of Calvinist who believes that, since God is all-powerful, God, not humans, gets to decide who is saved (or preserved, or continued, or however you want to put it), and that might well mean everyone, even Judas and Hitler and intellectually engaged atheists, all of whom have some part in the divine plan (though I find the part of Hitler and his ilk hardest to fathom).
ReplyDeleteOr perhaps he has, indeed, reached (and we all will reach) what he expected: peaceful oblivion for his conscious self, and a continued existence in the memory of those whose lives he touched, directly or through his writing.
What I'm not imagining is eternal flames, or, for that matter, deep darkness, cold, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. I'm inclined to think those are threats humans use to manipulate each other, and have little to do with God or God's purposes.
But, of course, I could be wrong.
He was, of course, quite a lightning rod.
ReplyDeleteBut, man, could he write. Brilliant, brilliant. Makes most writers look like single cell dickheads.
Brilliant guy, and a shit disturber. RIP.
ReplyDeleteThere is something quite amazing about his journey, too. The devout atheist who looks into the abyss and writes about it.
ReplyDeleteHate that we will have no more from him, but there is indeed a wealth of amazing work from him for those who haven't dipped a toe in yet.
I do not understand why anyone is caring about this. The guy was a total jerk, 100% violent and treated people as pieces of shit.
ReplyDeleteGranted, I say this as someone who knew him personally, but his personality came out in his condescending writing, his violent rhetoric about killing muslims and going to war at the drop of a hat.
He had a propensity for the drunk dialing. Used to call people in the middle of the night to bitch them out about shit people can't control. My Dad got a 3am call from him more than once and always asking either for a ride or yelling at him for his religion. "Stupid Fucking Christians." One time he called the house asking for money and my sister answered the phone. He yelled at her, hung up, called again. He would show up for dinner at conferences or your house completely wasted by 6pm, but somehow holding himself up and driving around.
And you totally get that from his writing! Why is anyone upset about this guy's death, other than the fact that he was famous? He was a violent guy, a drunk, and an emotionally abusive person who took his personal issues out on entire groups of people.
And people treat this like it's a terrible passing of someone who was in the middle of curing cancer.
AM, Just to play devil's advocate, his alcoholism and bad behavior don't invalidate the quality of his writing or the validity of many of his ideas. If you're going to expect perfection in all aspects of life from every writer, musician, and artist whose work you enjoy, your not going to have much entertainment to choose from.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed God is Not Great, but that's mostly because I already agreed with him and found the book (it's really just a long rant) entertaining. Dawkins and Harris are much more intellectually hefty in that arena. The quality of the writing in G is not G drops off precipitously when he gets to Buddhism later in the book, though, and maybe that's what you mean by the booze and badness affecting his writing?
I strenuously disagreed with his views on the Iraq war and Islam in general, though I never noticed that he was particularly violent in his attacks on Muslims. I must admit to a less-than comprehensive familiarity with his writings on these topics, though, as my distaste for his viewpoint meant that I usually didn't read him on that subject. I'd be curious to hear more on your comment about his violence.
It sounds as though you were privy to a side of him that most of his readers weren't (at least entirely).
Yeah, I'm with the monky.
ReplyDeleteOnce Hitchens served me light beer when I asked for a dark.
He used to spit loogies on schoolchildren from the roof of his apartment.
One time, after we'd cuddled for hours, he told me that my armpit stank.
He used to call my dad and ask if the fridge was running.
It was all too much.
And he never cured cancer, the fucking asshole.
I'll let things go. I don't agree that he was brilliant. His arguments left me underwhelmed, even when he wrote about things on which we agreed. He should have spent much of his adult life in jail. He has ruined many people's lives by being emotionally abusive to those around him. I hope those who knew him finally get a sense of relief.
ReplyDeleteChubby: I blame you for the coffee sprayed onto my monitor.
ReplyDeleteHitchens was very good at nailing certain targets (Henry Kissinger, Mother Teresa, the first Bush admin.), but he lost the script during the Clinton administration, then drifted into Crazyland during the second Iraq War. He was an interesting person, but hard to live with. I'm sorry he's gone because he was such a pissant.
ReplyDelete