Christopher Hitchens loves writing paragraphs like this. And it’s fun when you come across them.
How dispiriting to see, once again, the footage of theocratic rage in Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif. The same old dreary formula: self-righteous frenzy married to a neurotic need to take offense; the easy resort to indiscriminate violence and cruelty; the promulgation of makeshift fatwas by mullahs on the make; those writhing mustaches framing crude slogans of piety and hatred, and yelling for death as if on first-name terms with the Almighty. The spilling of blood and the spoliation of property—all for nothing, and ostensibly “provoked” by the corny, brainless antics of a devout American nonentity, notice of whose mere existence is beneath the dignity of any thinking person.
Postscript: As has been pointed out in the first comment, a better heading would have been ““Hitch 22; god yet to score”
On the same subject by the same author “Heinrich Heine’s famous observation about book burning—that where books are burned, people also will be—was actually first made about the torching of the Quran. The Spanish Inquisition used to delight in putting heretical works “on trial,” and zealously convicted the Muslim holy book before feeding it to the flames in what is one of Christianity’s oldest traditions.” The irony of the current “book burner” being a white southern baptist is not lost.
“Hitch 22” and “Love, Poverty, and War” by Hitchens, the latter a collection of essays, provide intellectual as well as copious comic relief; especially as I read them while traveling through Utah, Nevada and Arizona.
Hitchens is battling stage four metastasized esophageal cancer, there is (as he says) “no stage 5”. Given the scope of his writings I don’t want to feed his image as merely a high profile atheist, as is so often the case, nonetheless I (in the spirit of the grafitti artist), would like to slightly amend the title of his memoir with a simple addendum
“Hitch 22; god yet to score”
It sounds like a typical day in Mr Jensen’s clerical office.
Oh there’s no doubt Hitchens is a great polemicist; a delight when you agree with him and infuriating when you didn’t. It’s a pity his polemics were not always on the side of the angels, but the world will be a bit duller (and hell a bit livelier) for his passing.
Can’t disagree with that DD.
I think I’d take that as an obit for myself (not that it would be on offer!), frankly, doesn’t sound half bad.
no point being agreed with all the time!!
Yeah, a twat more distinguish for hot air than substance. This is not the fellow that did good journalism back in the nineties.
I’d love to shove his fat carcasse into an upbringing in a perpetually war torn, poverty stricken village and how well he turned out, as well, insensitive clod that he is.
I think that God is about to score in extra time. He always does – the bastard.
As Woody Allen says, it’s not so much that God doesn’t exist – it’s that he’s a major underachiever.