Christopher Hitchens - AAI 2007

Christopher Hitchens talks about his recent tour and takes questions at the AAI 07 conference in Washington, D.C.
atheistalliance.org/

[@stevebaish6128]

A Class Act who did more to encourage critical thinking than anyone in our lifetime

[@Kevo216666]

He's was so inspiring. I think he's made me a better person when it comes to the way I think about the world... RIP Hitch

[@yusufansari790]

Same

[@mrmustache7023]

the one person who I never get tired listening to

[@ChadTheCreator]

Man, I miss this guy.

[@avedic]

Hitch really was the sort of character in our collective human drama that only comes about once every generation or so. Rare and precious indeed.

[@Kevo216666]

He really was our Orwell - he was so incredibly well informed, and when you listen carefully his words were often prophetic, he saw it all coming. Wish he was still here, and I'm angry with him as his job was at least only half done. RIP Hitch.

[@calkane8480]

Well said mate.

[@avedic]

K Russell Very well put. In most contexts, comparing someone to _Orwell_ is quite a stretch....but in Hitch's case, it's utterly legitimate. He really was the sort of character in our collective human drama that only comes about once every generation or so. Rare and precious indeed.

[@Kevo216666]

cal kane Thanks :)

[@Kevo216666]

avedic Thank you. At the time, I expected to get a bit of grief making the comparison and I would have understood why. I wish he could have taken a little more care of himself - but that wouldn't have been the man. Regrettably, his brilliance is needed today more than ever. All the best.

[@Kevo216666]

***** ...Looks like you're carrying on his tradition then.

[@hackum1]

I love it when he does the "folded arms" bit.

[@Kevo216666]

It's all straight from the heart.

[@TKGriffiths]

He sometimes added an ad lib like 'Oh look, they're raping each other again' just to drive home the point.

[@TheStanley1000]

One of his best talk, good vibe and pure witt, Hitchens at his best

[@7timeless]

I have gained more knowledge and morality from listening to Hitch debates than from any religion. If only he was still with us in these trying times. RIP

[@Leibi83]

This is like a stand-up act he put together for his friends :D Thanks for the upload!

[@aliciam6725]

Damn you Hitchens! (not really and, let's face it, not possible). Every time you open your mouth, I have to hit pause and look something up...How can I ever thank you? Next best thing? I guess I can thank the person who took the time to perform this upload. Thank you.

[@rogerturbines4635]

+1

[@garretmontgomery186]

,

[@sweetshaman]

"Under the direction of religion there is no stupidity that cannot be advocated" 14:50

[@Brianrrs37]

I was at this convention.

[@yomilalgro]

I'm jealous, lucky you

[@burkedejanes5735]

Thanks for posting this. I hadn't seen this one before. Hitchens was an an inspiration to so many, myself included, and should not be forgotten but rather studied.

[@retire4444]

DUDE I've been looking for this one for so long. Thanks a lottery sire

[@Bluesnswing]

Amazing. I love the various ways in which he dismisses bad questions. Every single person spoke about 10 times longer than they needed to in asking their question. Thanks for posting.

[@carmenmccauley585]

Yes. Never give the questioner the microphone!

[@r.b.4611]

8 years later we're FINALLY beginning this debate.

[@ryan0348]

hitchens, hes a different kind of beast.

[@grumpyotter]

This is wonderful! Looks who is in that audience!

[@glenluders4366]

Happy Birthday Hitch. Heres hoping your family is coping as well as one can expect on this day twain with feelings of loss and fond memories.

[@Shiggystardust]

i love how confident, modest and brilliant hitchens was and yet never does a drop of arrogance ever came through in his words.

[@KeyOfTwilight777]

The strongest of our 4 horsemen.

[@stlstg]

I love this. I especially appreciate his dedication to confronting religious dictatorships wherever and whenever we can. "Its inescapable and just."

[@AFMMarcelD]

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, faster, more complex and more violent. It takes a great touch of genius and courage to move in the opposite direction, such man was/is my hero Christopher Hitchens, an inspiration to freethinkers everywhere, miss him dearly. 💐

[@vinders.v.7343]

Be at peace Mr Hitchens You are greatly missed

[@spragism]

yes, not just anyone but EVERYONE!

[@jestermoon]

Take A Moment Standing on the shoulders of giants. Genius.

[@MrBBOTP]

We must use and enjoy what he left us and build from there.. He is difficult to match yet easy to understand. Without the podium we have to start small...

[@1waitasec]

i miss Christopher....

[@zibies]

Yes hello... We are still lisining

[@NewGoldStandard]

regarding his end satement: I'm not sure he could have been more correct. it's too bad we don't have a voice like his in the US government (or anywhere in the west) right now. RIP Hitch much love, and, as much as you'd hate it, godspeed.

[@robertgendron4683]

39:36 He gave her a different kind of Hitchslap.

[@Kevo216666]

Good audience.

[@MattSingh1]

*Apart from the regressive leftist asshole at **52:17**, who Hitchens wonderfully demolishes.*

[@jameswest8280]

Friend: What was it like 100,000 years ago? Me: IDK, I was just little kid back then.

[@olivia1954]

Me to

[@manusha1349]

Oh how right he was about criticism of Islam becoming impossible to express in western society! But the push-back has begun! Miss Christopher every day ❤

[@bunnieskitties293]

The God Slayer.

[@r.b.4611]

Is this conference recurring?

[@tyleranyways]

18:00 23:20 great parts

[@fishfingers8441]

41:30 lol

[@Charmagh110]

51:00

[@r.i.p.volodya]

Who do we have to follow in Christopher's footsteps in these matters?

[@whirledpeas3477]

Richard Dawkins mabe?

[@r.i.p.volodya]

R.D. is great - but he never had the rhetorical punch of Hitchens.

[@woodytheduke]

Sammy Harris is not bad

[@richarddavis1163]

KZbin/ Google has really screwed the pooch. I'll move on, as it is impossible to explain to the people responsible exactly how stupid the move was. The inmates have indeed taken over the asylum.

[@Hairmetallurgist]

It's a shame that Ms. Hirsi-Ali has recently claimed Xianity as her new substitution for the superstition she left in Islam. Trading one weird addiction for another is a sad direction she has taken with little to no irony.

[@karinaandersen2618]

he mentions a word that sounds like 'annquie' but I don't understand, has anyone any idea what Christopher is saying?

[@Kaleid7]

karina andersen 'Ennui'

[@clarkelaidlaw1678]

Ennui.. boredom

[@vicentevik9352]

Did anyone else notice sam harris and his wife, Daniel deleted and his wife richard dawkins and his wife when hitch poses the question to dawkins of how long homosapians been on the planet

[@Aja-Christian]

That man who disagreed with Hitchens about "evolution" versus "spiritualism" or whatever. . .what the hell was he trying to say? Nothing he said made any sense, I just heard a bunch of aggressive words mushed together. What exactly was his point? What was his argument??

[@matlord8799]

+CxHxRxIxSxTxIxAxN He didn't have a real argument, because their isn't one... lol

[@jeffreydumaplin3690]

Pure babble. haha

[@adamthapazz4137]

CxHxRxIxSxTxIxAxN his question is very properly answered in Richard Dawkins the selfish gene. That is if his question was what I think it was.

[@Shiggystardust]

deadly serious. wat is arrogant about anything he has ever said about religion? he always gave his opponents a chance to view their opinions. he only destroyed people who made absolutely bold and ridiculous statements that offended him to his core. nothing arrogant about this man. he just speaks the truth and promotes critical and free thinking

[@Charmagh110]

36:00

[@thedoctor.a.s1401]

worddd

[@shanedonaghy1596]

@deathbringer00141 No it doesn't. It is a belief that church and state don't belong together. There are many religious secularists

[@rytmen]

iraq was not a one man problem

[@FatDenimDan]

Huh, so that's why all the Borders book stores closed in my town.

[@Gregoryismnz]

The photographer with the flash should have been restrained

[@djbrissette]

we need more people like him to put people back in their place when they don't know what the hell they're talking about

[@aegeanzigitty2737]

If only Hitch knew what a disappointment Hirsi Ali would be with her weird embracement of Christianity recently

[@thedoctor.a.s1401]

I agree with the sentiment of your frustration, but i think ayaan is just mistaken and can be recovered.

[@vicentevik9352]

Do

[@AdolfHitler-lq2vf]

I enjoyed this video but i would've enjoyed it much more if it had Hitch slapping a few theists every now and again....and again....and again....and

[@planetvegan7843]

Groupies!

[@Jack458111]

Wonder what he would think of her ridiculous Christian “conversion” recently.

[@antitheistvegan]

Such a disgrace to his memory that she would exemplify such cowardice and ignorance.

[@skronked]

Think of his take on Rushdie's stabbing this late? OMG

[@AdolfHitler-lq2vf]

So instead of saying may or might he says will @ 41:40 and it seems Christopher knows one day he will need blood for sure.

[@IamtheLordofDoom]

I do wish the poster of this video would acknowledge that it's edited, and rather badly at that... there are various chops and changes that inflict an unfortunate and annoying discontinuity to the dialogue that isn't apparent from the camera work. Questions get asked to which we hear no answer - so why include the question then? Yes, nice to see and hear The Man doing what he does best - give voice to his great mind, I just wish this video had done greater justice to him in turn.

[@moduscorp]

True you can feel something profound, but there is nothing more that clerics and soothsayers from the Bronze Age have to expound upon it than you or I do. Rather search for meaning in this life instead of fabricating mystical answers or adhering to dogma. And I don't believe this is a failure of atheism which is simply a negation of what all other religions have put forth to us. The failure seems to lie within religions which claim that they have already found the truth, and to search no more.

[@ronartest7748]

shriveled old bat lmao

[@djbrissette]

Yeah I deeply feel meditation is missing from our western culture. It's not a matter of belief, it IS literally good for our mental and physical health. I feel like it should be taught from the earliest school years onward. I should start doing it everyday myself

[@lowlypeasant]

you can't be serious.

[@djbrissette]

I understand the impulse too but why fill it with superstition and hate and credulity and servility? Can't we channel this "visceral need" into something inherently good and that does not violate the modern views of science and morality? It's a hard question : HOW, but I'm convinced it's worth having

[@ritchieway4886]

As much as we need fairy tells

[@vicentevik9352]

Di

[@vicentevik9352]

Did anyone else notice sam harris and his wife, Daniel denet and his wife ,richard dawkins and his wife when hitch poses the question of how long homosapians been on the planet

[@01denese]

He should not have left Borders. That's like leaving someone to the bullies. He should have stayed with Borders and spoken at every opportunity about the poor choice they made and what they should have done instead - and he should have brought his friends along with him. If Borders could be swayed, then sway them towards knowledge and not leave them alone with the bullies.

[@woodytheduke]

Iyan just converted to christianity,,,,,,,Hitchens would not be impressed

[@Tsnore]

Hitch had a neocon Achilles Heal.

[@jonathandrake8640]

That'd be "Achilles Heel", you stupid twit.

[@edwardTisk-ix8nj]

Too bad his dialectical turned into drag shows in primary schools. 😢

[@lordthicknipples6633]

Two examples of organized egotist domination are the American Republican and Democratic parties. American collectivity, all as one whole, could be achieved if their American Gnosticism was absorbed through a revival of archaic Yahwistic religion. That was the goal of Joseph Smith, but he was betrayed by his church after his death. Because collectivity would be achieved, and that collective egotism itself is sustained by habitual lifestyle with original development in spiritual and intellectual culture it would be a united version of Nationalism. By "spiritual" I simply mean previous collective experience, or the reproduction of that. Absorbing a unifying factor from the past is of course imitation, but imitation itself really is long-distance reproduction. Consider the dimension of time to understand the relevant context. The collective's associative reflexes would be maximized, making it stronger, and it will build up a tolerance to the reactions that determine the objective mood it will have towards other collectives like other countries and nations. There is no unifying factor that is scientific among the different groups with their composite personalities. Because of that, I do not expect socialism to be formed in this country.

[@psycho6542]

Thats one big bowl of word salad

[@fritzteetsel9007]

Not so much a salad as just unlettered. The words march nowhere desperately seeking a theme or a point, or a subject. I read two paragraphs but found the composer to not be a writer, it’s just gibberish.

[@billyclone4289]

@@fritzteetsel9007 ill bet it was early AI testing before it worked right lol

[@Our_Sole_Pusch]

Secular means that you DON'T follow a religion, look it up!

[@pasainchina97]

It is quite clear that 'The New Atheists' even from their conception tried to formulate a subjective morality. Many years later the issue is as subjective as ever, and no more near a satisfactory result. Mr Hitchens was a humorous yet very unhappy individual with no real answers and yet more questions. Atheism at it;s very best is firstly not able to sustain itself, and secondly untrue at it's very core. It's claims of being evidence based and faithless is very often the second and less of the first.

[@RAREDEATHMETAL]

You fail to grasp the definition of atheism. You could be a mass murderer, a truly awful human being, and still be an atheist. Atheism is just taking the standpoint that religions have failed to prove the existence of god. Answers? Who says they owe you any. Just be cause religion makes tenuous offers of absolution it doesn't mean atheists need to. You didn't mention which religion or god you are feeling disgruntled on the behalf of, but imagine how you feel about all other religions apart from your own. Atheists just believe one more to be untrue. I'm not sure how you can claim to know if Hitchens was unhappy, but I do know that there is never anything wrong with asking more questions.

[@pasainchina97]

I am a Christian i and many millions alongside me KNOW there is a God. We are asked to believe by faith, you are demanded to have evidence. Trouble is you are using i deny, reject, on the basis of lack of evidence, ''just another word for unbelievers really ! Peter Hitchens knew his brother well, and if you saw them together it is quite clear to see Christopher was a depressed human being.

[@MattSingh1]

@@pasainchina97 *You're a simple-minded buffoon, with little intellectual capacity. Christopher easily disproved your world view, and you'll likely never recover from it.*

[@ritchieway4886]

It is understandable in the absence of proof of God's existence that you would be asked to believe based on faith. Some leaders have asked the same with not so much as a suggestion that they were God and with devastating consequences.

[@RocketKirchner]

Hitch was pro war . Never forget that . That was his religion . He was only right about one thing : defend the first amendment .

[@FlyingSpaghettiMonster2000]

He believed in removing saddam Hussein yes. He also warned of the parties of god ruining Iraq. He was right.

[@MattSingh1]

*You're a babbling fool. Hitchens was pro war in regard to fighting Islamofascism, whereas the likes of you are in favour of making excuses for such forces. You're a hack, and Hitchens defeated all of your intellectually-inferior water-carrying excuses for Islamofascism.*

[@ritchieway4886]

LOVING ONES ENEMY''S ACCORDING TO HITCHENS IS NOT EXPEDIENT TO ONE OWN SURVIVAL. ADVOCATING THIS APPROACH MAY BE EQUAL TO. LEADING PEOPLE TO THEIR DEMISE. IN THIS RESPECT U BELIEVE HE IS MIRE PRO WAR THAN SELF DEFEATEST.

[@woodytheduke]

I wish he lived long enough to see trump as president,,,,he would of flipped out