Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

[Cosmic Ape]

God is not Great...Christopher Hitchens is

RIP

[Erinome]

What Hitchslap said!!!!!!

[JollyForr]

He was a great man, and I'm sure we've all watched Hitchslap videos for endless hours on Youtube; I've read God is Not Great and Hitch-22, and they are both brilliant He will be missed! One thing I never understood though, is how he maintained a dislike, or prejudice towards people from Yorkshire. I mean it's just silly. It would have been better knowing that if I met him he would have liked me :/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykRVUk7zAFc

Probably my favourite Hitch moment.

[Ryft]

You're a dick.

And you go for the personal attack. Says it all, really.

I was pointing out how absurd it was to say that people couldn't challenge your fuckheaded piece of prose on a discussion forum that exists solely for the purpose of discussion and debate.

Yes? And who said that people cannot challenge me on this discussion forum regarding what I have written? As a matter of fact, nobody at all said that. I should rather they don't do so in this particular thread, but exactly what has that to do with the forums themselves? Ah, that's right: nothing at all. In fact, one could even do so right here in this very thread. Just because I would prefer that they not do so, and even ask them not to, that does not somehow prevent them. (It does mean I will not answer them, however.)

You don't want to deal with it? Don't post such stupid horseshit. Or close the thread, as I suggested. Easy.

The fact that I don't wish to deal with it in this thread means I don't want to deal with it at all? This is how your cognitive faculties work? Bloody hell.

[ElDinero]

And the way your cognitive faculties work is that people should have to create a new thread to take issue with your post, which is so ridiculous it hardly even bears considering. So as I pointed out earlier in the thread, perhaps I'll make a thread titled 'Ryft is a wanker and I disagree with his stupid Hitchens article', and then ask that nobody responds with a dissenting opinion, and that if they wish to do so, they start a FURTHER new thread. It's no more ludicrous than your position.

Posting a thread doesn't give you control over the replies, you fucking idiot. You have posted something that most people here consider to be, at best, boring, and at worst, deeply insulting to the memory of the man you're supposedly trying to honour. It's also worth noting that this argument which you supposedly don't want to have here has only been prolonged because you dragged it back up again long after it had died in the first place. So, do you want me to create my new thread, or what? Bearing in mind if you want to reply to it, you'll have to create a third thread.

[Ryft]

What I find especially entertaining is that you're not even embarrassed about what you wrote.

[Tiberius]

My two cents:

I love Ryft and respect his right to post his opinion on these forums.

[Edwardo Piet]

I respect that right too, and I also respect the right of anyone wanting to respond to Ryft's tribute.

[Epimethean]

"I love Ryft and respect his right to post his opinion on these forums."


Fair enough, but that doesn't mean that this thread didn't have a skewed purpose in its ultimate end. It was like a sermon and the audience was not allowed to respond.

[Tiberius]

Yet it seems like the audience has indeed responded. I don't see what your complaint is here. You know the rules of the forum don't allow people other than mods to enforce restrictions on certain threads. Ryft isn't a mod, therefore any restrictions he might try to put on a thread out of respect for Hitchins aren't going to be enforceable by himself or any of us.

This thread was supposed to be in memory of Hitchens. Sure, Ryft might have posted some controversial views (though certainly not controversial from the perspective of the Christian he is), but that doesn't mean everyone has to turn on him in a thread that was dedicated to remembering Hitchens the man. We don't have a limit on the number of threads that can be posted here, and we certainly don't have a limit on the number of Private Messages that can be sent. You could have debated this subject elsewhere and kept this thread to heartfelt messages as it should have been, but you didn't.