I thoroughly respect this man, and I read his book, "God is not Great." I can say this from my hybrid theist position, it doesn't matter in the end if we believe in God or not. If it hadn't been for C. Hitchens, I probably would have never been haunted by the question, "Why do atheists throw out the baby with the bathwater." That is, why do atheists disbelieve in God because of the failing of the Church. Why don't they just modify their theism into something that makes more sense? And I believe that's what I've done. But it was because of writers like Hitchens that I did that.
He talks about how in the end, if dementia or drug related delirium should cause him to utter a religious statement that we shouldn't believe it. I can tell you this, I've seen several people take their last breath after a long battle, and leading up to that, I've never known anyone to pray, or talk about God, or talk talk about heaven, not even religious people. In fact, they don't even seem to be afraid of dying. They just get weaker and weaker, and then they sleep more and more and then they stop breathing as often, their 02 sats fall, and eventually, they don't breath anymore at all. Then they go into asystole.
Hitchens will go that way, too. And there won't be any heaven or hell waiting for him. He will sleep; he will dream, and then from that dream he will gradually wake up until he realizes he's making the whole universe happen.
There's no theology in that all. It is a simple implication of consciousness being external to us, and monism being the state of reality. Now, if I'm wrong about those two things, then I suppose he will simply blink out as if he never was. But I don't think that's the way it works. I think he will indeed cease to exist, but he will cease to exist the way we all cease to exist as we grow from a child into an adult. He will cease to exist the way a doughnut ceases to exist as it turns into a coffe cup in topology theory.
I'm curious as to what atheists think will happen to him.
He talks about how in the end, if dementia or drug related delirium should cause him to utter a religious statement that we shouldn't believe it. I can tell you this, I've seen several people take their last breath after a long battle, and leading up to that, I've never known anyone to pray, or talk about God, or talk talk about heaven, not even religious people. In fact, they don't even seem to be afraid of dying. They just get weaker and weaker, and then they sleep more and more and then they stop breathing as often, their 02 sats fall, and eventually, they don't breath anymore at all. Then they go into asystole.
Hitchens will go that way, too. And there won't be any heaven or hell waiting for him. He will sleep; he will dream, and then from that dream he will gradually wake up until he realizes he's making the whole universe happen.
There's no theology in that all. It is a simple implication of consciousness being external to us, and monism being the state of reality. Now, if I'm wrong about those two things, then I suppose he will simply blink out as if he never was. But I don't think that's the way it works. I think he will indeed cease to exist, but he will cease to exist the way we all cease to exist as we grow from a child into an adult. He will cease to exist the way a doughnut ceases to exist as it turns into a coffe cup in topology theory.
I'm curious as to what atheists think will happen to him.
