Dear Christopher Hitchens

Currently watching: Debate between hitchens and hitchens

Dear Mister Christopher Hitchens,
You are currently fighting cancer and though i hope you stay with us on this planet in this life for longer, we all eventually die. You have contributed greatly to the discourse that has raged for eons and your voice is very special.

I haven't read your book "God is not great: How religion poisons everything" But i get your point and i suppose i agree, but that doesn't matter at all. But in the debate at Jew U, you stated that the afterlife was an ploy for enticement for religion which traps the mind and psyche, and that since death was a one-way trip, it was impossible to know.

I watched a fascinating Biography Channel program interviewing several people who were dead for under five minutes and they described their lives. I had a similar experience myself, and am very excited to live this life fully and then to die. I'm certainly in no hurry, because perhaps i get recycled right back into life anyway. I'm not sure. But nevertheless, its not impossible to know However, that sort of knowledge can only be personal knowledge.

Also, my initial issue with your stance was resolved for me once i was able to differentiate between spiritual pursuits and religion. When you say religion poisons everything, you are referring to the dogmatic "I know this and must look no further" mentality that often accompanies the stubborn know-it-all attitude of the religiously devout.

I am not an atheist. I believe in a cosmic consciousness beyond that which we experience in our own bodies, and a frequency of love that has been named God and Allah. But though you are atheist and i am 'a believer' we both share an appreciation for the mysterious wonder of natural phenomena.

When you die, i am excited for you to experience, perhaps for the first time in your life (haha) the spiritual experience of forgiveness and love. You may think you have nothing to be forgiven for because of a strong ego and a life-long vigilance of defending your inherent worth, but we are all imperfect, selfish assholes. So in the moment you realize that you're a wretch you simultaneously feel forgiven and humbled by that immense forgiveness and feel so grateful and thankful. And as you walk up the mountain or down the red carpet or whatever imagery your Understanding builds up for you, you will feel exalted. Humbled, yet exalted.

And you will be patted on the back for how well you did, how perfectly you fulfilled your role and how courageously you moved forward.

You were raised in a time and place where the image of God was presented as an authority figure, a heavenly father who sat on a throne and punishes and warns people not to trespass and sin. And sinning was unavoidable and thus the rules set down were impossible to follow.

Based on my understanding, the bible was written in a time when Kings were the highest thing you could be. Thus God was presented as a King and a Lord. Also, the word 'sin' originally means to miss the point, like an archer missing the mark. Do you see? Oh~ But its not important to you. And thats fine! Whats important for you is to fight the injustice in the world, and to create a better world. And that is wonderful!!! You go, hitchens.

God isn't egotistical. That cosmic consciousness doesn't care if you believe in him or not. In some way or another, you do believe in god, but just give it another name . You believe that there is good in the world, and you are inspired by it. Thats all it is, silly goose.

And you're right. Getting caught up in language, story, myth, and tradition is destructive and stupid. But surely you can understand how the less spirited of us meager humans will be tempted by comforts of having solved the mysteries of the universe, and all the scariness of the unknown!

I'm sure you're much more reasonable (less black and white) in person than you are in debates. You have a great sense of humor so i'm sure we'd get along really well. I'd laugh a lot and think you were marvelous and you'd feel really great about yourself. So keep on fighting your confused cancer cells that have forgotten how to die. Another mystery, but much less wondrous.

Thanks for Everything


PS

Now i'm watching This video which addresses Morality and atheism where you ask a great question: Try to think of a moral action that cannot be said by an atheist, now try to think of an evil that can only be committed by a religious. So to say that the eradication of christianity will create chaos and immorality will take over is null and void.

Love. That.

But throughout this whole debate there is an underlying misunderstanding that seems to create tension between you and your brother. You refer to and think of 'christians' as a group and your brother (taking that personally) sees the individuals who benefit from christian thought/story/teachings. What you could do, as a brother, is to acknowledge without a follow-up joke that he'll interpret as mockery, that the bible and the teachings of jesus (which are very simple and sweet) has helped many lost and suffering individuals.

Anyway, i think its fascinating that the organization of the church is crumbling in the collective consciousness and i think thats a good thing and i think you and your thought has been an integral part of this development and i thank you.