Another Hitchens Slap-Down

Disclaimer:  I am not a fan of some of Christopher Hitchens’ political views, most notably his support for the war against Iraq.  However, his views on the ridiculousness and dangers of religious faith are very much on par with mine.  Hitchens has become a go-to guy on the rare occasion when a news program wants a representative of the godless point of view, thanks mostly to the publication of God is Not Great.  He’s also always been a target for the more strident religious organizations (understandably so), and is often asked to debate one apologist or another at various universities.  Hitchens doesn’t always come out on top – I sometimes think he doesn’t really care that much to really hone his debating skills, and more than one commenter has put forward the proposition that Hitchens sometimes drinks – heavily – before his appearances.  Frankly, it’s one of the things I like about the guy – he drinks, he smokes, and he doesn’t really care what you think about it.

What Hitchens can do better than most is run circles around the smug godbots who seem to think their faith can somehow best his intellect.  Case in point:  the incredibly annoying Todd Friel, former-comedian-turned-huckster-for-God, interviewing Hitchens as part of his “Wretched Radio” program (and oh, yes, it is wretched).  Friel uses an old, tired tactic to try to pin Hitchens down:  “What if there is a God?  And if there is a God, what if his rules are what you should be living your life by?  And if that’s true, have you lived your life according to the rules?”, etc., etc.  The problem with the “What if?” game is that it all falls apart if you don’t accept the basic premise.  It’s a variation of the infamous Pascal’s Wager, which tries to justify belief in God but which creates more questions than it resolves.

 

But even when Hitchens acknowledges the “What if?”, he proceeds to dismantle Friel’s feeble apologetics.  So what if God exists and gave us life – does that mean He is justified in expecting us to be His slaves out of gratitude?  And then there are the questions that Friel has the bad taste to ask, believing his superior faith excuses his chutzpah, such as “Have you ever committed adultery?”  Hitchens’ response is short, to the point, and very appropriate.

Friel is an adherent of a common fallacy among the religious:  that human beings need to have a moral code imposed upon them from the outside in order for them to behave in a civilized manner.  Which reminds me – I’m late for murdering my neighbors ⁽¹⁾, stealing their land ⁽²⁾, killing their firstborn children ⁽³⁾, and releasing plague bacilli ⁽⁴⁾ throughout the town.  I’m an immoral atheist, after all; God knows that such things could never be justified within the pages of the Christian Bible.

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(1) I Chronicles 20:3, I Samuel 15:2-3, among many others.

(2) Joshua 11:15-23, among others.

(3) Exodus 12:29-30.

(4) I Chronicles 21:12-14.