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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

At the crossroads of life

I see that my recent post on Christopher Hitchens garnered a lot of hostile attention from the Atheist Foundation of Australia as well as Reddit.com/r/atheism. I do want to thank them for all the crossover traffic.

One chap called me a “ pathetic bibleist.” Hadn’t heard that epithet before, but it has a nice ring to it. I think I should have a custom-made bumper sticker or brass plaque with “ pathetic bibleist” on it.



Before dealing with the particulars, I’m afraid that I need to state the obvious. Hitchens is a public figure. Moreover, he’s a public figure by choice. Some folks are thrust into the public limelight against their will. Not Hitchens. He courts publicity.

What is more, he’s been very public about his contempt for the Christian faith.

Finally, he has chosen to die in the public eye. He writes about his terminal cancer. He gives interviews about his terminal cancer.

He also uses the occasion to discuss his life and death from an atheistic perspective, and draw invidious comparisons with Christianity in the process.

If he chose to go quietly, to die a private death, in the company of close friends and family, I’d be happy to respect his wishes. I’d be happy to leave him in peace.

But that is not how he’s chosen to exit this world. He wants everyone to know that he’s dying. And he wants to use the occasion to publish his last will and testament for atheism.

He wants us to share his outlook. But that, in turn, invites my evaluation. If some frothing infidels are too blinded by their perpetual rage against all things Christian to perceive the evident parity between Hitchens’ parting words and my parting words, then that’s just another symptom of their immaturity.

As a matter of fact, your worldview is no better than how it looks from the viewpoint of the cemetery. That’s the final test of a worldview.

I’ll respond to some of the commenters, although it’s not always clear if they’re responding to my post, or to other commenters:

DAVID SAID:

Wow. Is this the true facade of Christianity? Mocking and insulting of those who believe differently.

Compare the tone of my post with the tone of god is not Great and ask yourself which one of us resorted to “mocking and insulting those who believe differently.”

ANDREW SAID:

No. Hitchens has too much dignity and confidence to do something that low…No, what Hitchens should do is go boldly and proudly into death's embrace…

Notice the cruelty of atheism. The emotional coercion. “Christopher, you must do us proud by the way you die. This is the true test of your loyalty to the team. Don’t flinch! Don’t let us down! Don’t make us look bad! Put on a good show.”

It’s a mark of their irrepressible insecurity that infidels pressure fellow infidels to keep up appearances to the bitter end. That doesn’t show any real concern for the dying.

Rather, that carries the implicit threat that we will revile you and disown you if you embarrass the cause by going soft at the end. It’s your duty to us to die an inspirational death for the greater good of godlessness. To set a fine example for posterity.

That’s the mob psychology of a suicide cult. “If you really love us, you will die with us. Prove your true allegiance!”

He is a champion for free thought, morality, and decency the world over.

He has no foundation for decency or morality.

What I don't respect is your devotion to forcing this opinion and unprovable belief upon those who, frankly, couldn't care any less about your religion or "personal savior."

That old trope is getting pretty frayed around the edges. We’re not living in Medieval Europe, where dissent is punishable by death.

Christians no more force their views on unbelievers than Hitchens and Dawkins force their views on Christians by writing books which extol atheism and assail Christianity. It’s a two-way street.

THE DREAMING LOTUS SAID:

I am fairly certain this post will get deleted, but lets see...You "christians" are self-righteous, and crude in your hate of a man who is dealing with a life-threatening illness.

It’s revealing how often infidels play the “hate” card. There’s a psychological term for that: transference.

For a people who claim it to be a sin to "pass judgment", you are a "judging" lot.

A nice example of self-reinforcing ignorance. It’s not a sin to “pass judgment.” It’s only a sin go judge hypocritically.

It is a shame that you ridicule a man simply because he has a different point of view, and especially one fighting for his life.

i) I said nothing in my post to “ridicule” Hitchens. By contrast, Hitchens says a lot to ridicule the “different viewpoint” of Christians.

ii) For that matter, I’ve seen infidels who ridicule Christians because they seek medical attention for a life-threatening condition.

iii) It's not as if I'm exempt from death and dying. 

I am sure that you would be "praying" for him if he were a "christian".

Another prejudicial statement. Christians routinely pray for the lost.

At the same time, I don’t think celebrities have a special claim on our prayers.

And to want to film and air his death....remember the Romans, their arenas, and their crucifixions?

Hitchens, not I, is the one “filming and airing” his demise. And, no, we haven’t thrown him to the lions, either.

You belittle yourselves, and make me honored to be an Atheist.

Back to the coercive rhetoric. Atheism has an honor-code. An atheist has a duty to die an honorable death. Must honor his fellow infidels by the way he dies.

Religion was created by man to put a "face" on what he, at the time, could not explain or understand. We now have science to remove that face, and regardless of how hard that is for the superstitious to face, it is going to happen.

The stale clichés.

And once it has, we can move on to what is truly important... accepting life as it truly is.

But what if your worldview renders life supremely unimportant? Then what?

And it is easy to be a "cocky" (the term you actually meant is "right") Atheist no matter what the occasion. Fear and hate are the hard things to cope with, and most of your comments here are full of it.

Compare my post, compare the remarks of the Christian commenters, to the comments of the indignant infidels, and ask yourself from where the “fear and hate” are emanating.

What we’re getting is a defensive reaction. The reaction of those who are very scared of death, and conceal their fear with furious, hortatory rhetoric.

We expected this when we heard of Hitchens' illness, and, indeed, you of "faith" came through in flying colors.

We didn’t merely “hear of it.” Hitchens wants us to know about his terminal cancer. He wants us to reflect on his terminal cancer.

You should all be above this nonsense. May Mr. Hitchens receive the proper medical care to treat his cancer.

Have Christians denied him medical care?  

15 comments:

  1. A short, rather well laid out book by author James S. Spielgel, 'The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief' could be very well be appropo in the case of Hitchens.

    Spielgel says: 'The descent into atheism is caused by a complex of moral-psychological factors, not a perceived lack of evidence for God's existence. The atheist willfully rejects God, though this is precipitated by immoral indulgences and typically a broken relationship with his or her father. Thus, the choice of the atheistic paradigm is motivated by non-rational factors, some of which are psychological and some of which are moral in nature.'

    He continues, 'The hardening of the atheistic mind-set occurs through cognitive malfunction due to two principal factors. First, atheists suffer from paradigm-induced blindness, as their worldview inhibits their ability to recognize the reality of God that is manifest in creation. Second, atheists suffer from damage to the 'sensus divinitatis', so their natural awareness of God is severely impeded. Both of these mechanisms are aspects of the noetic effects of sin.'

    He concludes, 'This combination of factors amounts to a deadly cognitive cocktail when it comes to religious belief. However, thankfully, even the atheist is not beyond reach of the redemptive power of God' (p.113,114).

    May our gracious Lord, still yet, pull Mr. Hitchens from the powerful clutches of Hell.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dying Testimonies of Saved and Unsaved by S.B. Shaw

    http://www.biblebelievers.com/dying_testimonies/index.html (I disagree with many things from this website. It just happens to have a copy of this book first published in 1898).

    Death-Bed Scenes; OR, Dying With and Without Religion by Davis W. Clark

    http://books.google.com/books?id=fy20dDbgu-MC&dq=deathbed%20scenes%20by%20davis%20clark&pg=PA3#v=onepage&q&f=false

    ReplyDelete
  3. "He wants us to share his outlook. But that, in turn, invites my evaluation. If some frothing infidels are too blinded by their perpetual rage against all things Christian to perceive the evident parity between Hitchens’ parting words and my parting words, then that’s just another symptom of their immaturity."

    The immature atheist.

    The angry atheist.

    The pseudo-intellectual atheist.

    Conclusion: Just Say NO to atheism.

    "As a matter of fact, your worldview is no better than how it looks from the viewpoint of the cemetery. That’s the final test of a worldview."

    It looks like Hitchens will fail The Test. Because Atheism fails The Test.

    "Notice the cruelty of atheism. The emotional coercion. “Christopher, you must do us proud by the way you die. This is the true test of your loyalty to the team. Don’t flinch! Don’t let us down! Don’t make us look bad! Put on a good show.”
    It’s a mark of their irrepressible insecurity that infidels pressure fellow infidels to keep up appearances to the bitter end. That doesn’t show any real concern for the dying."


    The cruel atheist.

    The cruelty of atheism.

    Just Say No to the lies of atheism.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'll take one of those bumper stickers.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Notice the cruelty of atheism. The emotional coercion. “Christopher, you must do us proud by the way you die. This is the true test of your loyalty to the team. Don’t flinch! Don’t let us down! Don’t make us look bad! Put on a good show.”

    Surely atheists say these types of things to each other out of kindness to encourage one another. Not realizing that it's the way to eternal death. Reminds me of Proverbs 12:10
    "A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast: but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

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  6. Annoyed Pinoy,
    Fascinating sources from Shaw and Davis. Only had a chance to cursively peruse the pages of these 19th century books from the URL's you posted, but what I saw was stand up biblical.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "Compare the tone of my post with the tone of god is not Great and ask yourself which one of us resorted to “mocking and insulting those who believe differently.”

    Ah yes, the 'he did it first!' argument. I'm sorry, what was it you were saying about the immaturity of atheists?

    Of course as a public figure, Hitchens is fair game in the marketplace of competing ideas. It's just that Xians tend to say they operate by a higher standard, when in reality - it's the same standard as everyone else.

    Any belief system that warrants eternal torment as just punishment for unbelief is morally bankrupt in my opinion, and I would guess Hitchens would agree.

    ReplyDelete
  8. "Any belief system that warrants eternal torment as just punishment for unbelief is morally bankrupt in my opinion, and I would guess Hitchens would agree."

    Opinions have consequences.

    -------

    Atheist: There is no God.

    Christian: There is a triune God and Jesus is our Lord and Savior.

    The atheist is delusional or the Christian is delusional. The atheist tries to persuade the Christian that the Christian is delusional. The Christian tries to persuade the atheist that the atheist is under a delusion as well.

    Me? I'm a Bible-believing Christian because it's true. God loves me despite me being a degenerate, depraved, and unworthy sinner and I have responded to His Sacrificial Love on the Cross by acknowledging my sinfulness and repenting of them and acknowledging His Great Love, His Great Mercy, and His Lordship over me.

    I gratefully submit.

    Atheists say I'm delusional.

    I say "Fine" and that they're delusional and that I hope they cease being delusional before it's too late.

    ReplyDelete
  9. David said...

    "Ah yes, the 'he did it first!' argument. I'm sorry, what was it you were saying about the immaturity of atheists?"

    Thanks for illustrating your illiteracy. I didn't use the "he did it first!" argument. Rather, I drew *contrast* between his rhetorical register and mine.

    "Of course as a public figure, Hitchens is fair game in the marketplace of competing ideas. It's just that Xians tend to say they operate by a higher standard, when in reality - it's the same standard as everyone else."

    What higher standard was violated, exactly?

    "Any belief system that warrants eternal torment as just punishment for unbelief is morally bankrupt in my opinion, and I would guess Hitchens would agree."

    Assertions can't do the work of arguments. So your opinion is worthless.

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  10. "Assertions can't do the work of arguments"

    I couldn't agree more

    "So your opinion is worthless."

    Is that an assertion?

    I'm afraid I just can't justify any more time be spent with the "I'm right and you're wrong ... because I said so" crowd.

    Buh Bye

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  11. In other words, you can't make a reasoned case for your position. You simply emote.

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  12. 'Any belief system that warrants eternal torment as just punishment for unbelief is morally bankrupt in my opinion, and I would guess Hitchens would agree.'

    Ah, yes, the amoral belief system calling the one of foundations for morality, 'morally bankrupt'. I can see the consistency in this.

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  13. Steve. I'm reading the book by Hitchens's brother now and quite enjoying it. His brother has also demolished his opponents when he's been on "Unbelievable." Have you heard or read him any?

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  14. I've read some of Peter Hitchen's stuff. He's enjoyable to read.

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  15. "I'm afraid I just can't justify any more time be spent with the "I'm right and you're wrong ... because I said so" crowd.

    Buh Bye"

    aka "I'm a total coward hope you believe my cover story buh bye"

    ReplyDelete