Saturday, December 17, 2011

In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens (1949-2011)

I found out about Hitchens' death yesterday morning, when I wake up and came to my PC to check for news, new stuff while sipping my morning coffee. All day yesterday, and it seems today as well, the internet has gone viral with the sad news of Christopher's passing.

I offer my small tribute to a great personality with this blog post. I am offering my sincerest condolences to his family and friends. A lot of people around the world, including me, were hoping that he would manage to fight his cancer. I was hoping to catch him in Melbourne in April, in the Atheist Convention.

I first learned of Hitchens when I came out as an atheist. My story is not very long nor very interesting, and definitely not important at the moment, but for anyone who would like to read it, the blog post is here: God? No, thank you. I first read Prof. Dawkins' book "The God Delusion", and I started frequenting the RDF forums. There I learned about the Hitch and other prominent skeptics and atheists. Needless to say, I bought his book "God is Not Great", and I also bought a copy for my sister as a present.

I liked his style. I may not have agreed with everything he said, especially some of his ideas in politics, after all, nobody agrees 100% with everyone else; however, I agree about his stance against religion and any kind of bullshit out there. Staying silent or being respectful of bad ideas is not the answer. Going against bad ideas, explaining why and not being condescending but fighting actively is the way to do it.

Christopher was quite a character. He had a unique personality, he knew how to talk and write, and he left us a big legacy. I am saddened by his death, but I rejoice in the fact that he will always live in the memories of people like me, and like you. He left us his writings, his debates and talks, but most importantly his ideas and stance on life. Let's embrace life, let's live it to the fullest of our abilities. That's what he did, and that's what he would want everyone else to do.


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