A Tribute To Christopher Hitchens - The Anti-Theist
June 30, 2012 at 12:30 am
(This post was last modified: June 30, 2012 at 12:31 am by zgregz.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnYHDCjboIc
I think a lot here will appreciate this video I made
Comment welcome.
Christopher Hitchens died this year of cancer. He was a well known provocateur, known for his strong zelous take on atheism. Later in his life when he was near the end he got the most comfort from one of his few religious friends, who acted as his doctor for the last few months of his life.
A noted critic of religion and a self described "anti-theist", he said that a person "could be an atheist and wish that belief in external gods were correct", but that "an antitheist, a term I'm trying to get into circulation, is someone who is relieved that there's no evidence for such an assertion." According to Hitchens, the concept of an external god or a supreme being is a totalitarian belief that destroys individual freedom, and that free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization. His 2007 book, God Is Not Great, sold over 500,000 copies.
He was not a scientist but a science journalist, and had some very controversial views. Implied in this speech playing now from his best friend (full version: is that sometimes he sensed an irony in his actions, a lot of the time he was playing devils advocate. For educational stimulation and to see how well the persons religious argument holds up to scrutiny.
The person speaking here is Lawrence Maxwell Krauss, a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism, science education, and the science of morality.
.
I think a lot here will appreciate this video I made
Comment welcome.
Christopher Hitchens died this year of cancer. He was a well known provocateur, known for his strong zelous take on atheism. Later in his life when he was near the end he got the most comfort from one of his few religious friends, who acted as his doctor for the last few months of his life.
A noted critic of religion and a self described "anti-theist", he said that a person "could be an atheist and wish that belief in external gods were correct", but that "an antitheist, a term I'm trying to get into circulation, is someone who is relieved that there's no evidence for such an assertion." According to Hitchens, the concept of an external god or a supreme being is a totalitarian belief that destroys individual freedom, and that free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization. His 2007 book, God Is Not Great, sold over 500,000 copies.
He was not a scientist but a science journalist, and had some very controversial views. Implied in this speech playing now from his best friend (full version: is that sometimes he sensed an irony in his actions, a lot of the time he was playing devils advocate. For educational stimulation and to see how well the persons religious argument holds up to scrutiny.
The person speaking here is Lawrence Maxwell Krauss, a Canadian-American theoretical physicist who is a professor of physics, Foundation Professor of the School of Earth and Space Exploration, and director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University. He is the author of several bestselling books, including The Physics of Star Trek and A Universe from Nothing. He is an advocate of scientific skepticism, science education, and the science of morality.
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