Christopher Hitchens - [2007] - In Seattle discussing 'god is Not Great'
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 พ.ค. 2013
- June 7, 2007.
Found a better quality one that wasn't on youtube.
Christopher Hitchens is widely-published polemicist and frequent radio and TV commentator and contributing editor to Vanity Fair and a visiting professor of liberal studies at the New School. In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Hitchens makes a case against religion in God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. With a close reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which he believes religion is a cause of dangerous sexual repression and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos, and frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and reason. Presented by the Town Hall Center for Civic Life and University Book Store.
Credit to Town Hall Seattle: www.seattlechannel.org/videos/...
On a mission to thumbs up every Christopher Hitchens talk from the 2000’s. Wish me luck
Mr. Hitchens...closest thing to a hero I've ever had in my life. The world was made better because of him.
Yes.
WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
I'm just discovering him he was Great
@BruceStoufflet-yv3od
0 seconds ago
Not the way you perceive God nor is it true by what others belief about God. Waiting time on what clearly is poor poor contradictive writing to be true or not is some old 2nd grade school yard BS. Any grown ups want to talk about an existence of togetherness instead of a animal higher arche existence killer! 7 million years folks still peeing on things.
he is a second coming...
This December Hitch will be gone 10 years. I thank all the people out there who are still publishing his work and making these podcasts/debates/conversations, available to us who never knew him in life. I am eternally grateful as an anti-theist to have met Richard Hitchens albeit through media, as my life is richer today.
Impressive and inimitable Hitchens forever!!!!
His name is Christopher.
I'm very late to Christopher Hitchins. In perspective, I found him through Richard Dawkins. I've never looked back.
He has become the standard for me.
So you thank Hitch for being clueless like he was. He couldn't make it past creation, let alone what followed.
The 1LofT states that energy can't be created or destroyed, it can't happen naturally. One aspect of the 2LofT shows that the universe is winding down, usable energy is becoming less usable. It is clear creation had to be done supernaturally at some point yet it is still denied because people are just too proud to accept that, among other things.
@@2fast2block Well we dont know what happened prior to the big bang because none of us was around. The 1LoT and the 2LoT dont apply. They cant apply if the universe as we know it didnt exist. The models of the Universe we have are only a way to explain what happened and to predict what might happen. So far the LoT are much better at predicting outcomes than is the bible. The LoT are also better at predicting the past or what we might find in the geological record. Extraordinary in 2023 that you dont seem to get this
Miss you Christopher. In a world poisoned by religious tyranny , we need your brave voice more then ever.
🤣🤣
@@daviddeidasad loser
WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
I agree he was an amazing breath of fresh air
Christianity stinks
Miss this brilliant mind and sensible person. Still cannot believe he is gone. He is more needed than ever...
ikr? i see comments just like this in every comment section . so many people admired this splendidly roguish brit. R.I.P.. -- ye shall be missed 😢
Ricky Gervais is a good continuation from this great man.
@@borninlismore Gervais is a twat. He is making money off getting offended. He should have stopped with the second series of Extras
I'm 95% with you, except for the Hitch flip to islamophobia and alliance with u$a's militarism, both of which can be traced to u$a's elites' deliberate tactic to connect kkkristianity and kkkapitalism.
WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
A breathtaking speech by the best orator of our times
He supported the illegal Iraq war to find WMD.
holy shit! this is awesome. Im the questionnaire at 1:06:00. and this is one of the highlights of my life being able just to address him. haha
You mean the questioner?
Nice of you to let the gentleman on the other side go before you. I think we would have been better off not hearing from him at all but very kind of you sir. Your question also got a passionate response from Hitch as well. I would have to say it would have been a highlight of my life as well.
you lucky sob,,,,,would love to have seen him live!
Intelligence entails a strong mind, but genius entails a heart of a lion in tune with a strong mind Hitchens I Love You!
I'm back, I watch one of these everyday.
This world is less without the late great Hitch 😭
Then you watch paint dry?
@jeffforsythe9514 are you stupid on purpose?
I was at this Seattle Town Hall talk and was happy to see that he filled this quite large venue.
who was he supposed to be debating?
@@woodytheduke No debate. This was a book tour for promoting “God Is Not Great”. Although there was a Q&A session in the last half hour or so.
@@deirdre108they said at the beginning it was supposed to be a debate but his opponent backed out "at the last minute". Who backed out? And what was edited out at 13 minutes about Falwell?
@@carmenmccauley585 I know in the local Seattle media there was an open invitation for a theist to debate Hitchens, but I don’t know who took the challenge and then backed out at the last moment.
At the 13 minute mark, I think Hitchens said “matchbox “ referencing the fact that Jerry Falwell was so full of shit that whatever was left of him after the enema could be buried in a matchbox (or something of that size).
Interesting that Hitchens said that in his tour of the south that he spoke in some relatively small venues, bookstores etc. I think the number at Seattle Town Hall was around 850. In essence, he was “preaching to the choir” here.
Converse
Miss you Christopher, we need another one like you.
Please....Christopher, never Chris. Cheers.
Neil O'Matic Or Comrade Hitchens :P
Matthew Austin One of the silliest things that I've ever read. Thanks for the chuckle!
Not in any offense but I was hoping someone would beat me to correcting you on his behalf. If he heard that he would have immediately insisted you call him Christopher. When it came to a nickname or friendly short of his name I only recall him allowing "Hitch" & only from his close friends regardless of age, IIRC.
Again, no offense. I actually only replied b/c I have a similar situation. I have a nickname given to me the exact day I came home after being born. My Sisters gave it to me. To this day, well into adulthood, it stuck & ZERO friends/family call me by my birth name but the nickname. Not my siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. Heck, my nieces & nephews never know my birth name until they turn about 10 or so & it blows their minds every time! A few still are too young to know, Ha. None had/has any idea my name was actually "Uncle Daniel" instead of "Uncle --".
Anyway, I get why he corrected people so seriously & quickly in his life (those that called him Chris).
I also choose who gets to call me by my nickname from infancy to this very day. When new people hear it & try to adopt it without my permission I immediately correct them. Not rudely but immediately & with the same insistence. In school or professional environments, its any form of Daniel (don't care which, kinda prefer Danny). When someone gets close enough I award then the right to call be by my nickname if they'd like, lol. Its odd but I know exactly how he felt when he corrected someone, insisting on Christopher.
/end not a cool story, bro (ha)
Christopher Hitchens always said he "promised his mother" he wouldn't allow anyone to shorten his name that way.
Seen pretty much all his debates etc but this is my new favourite. At his best.
So fortunate to find a new Hitchens gem, I'm tempted to just take the rest of the afternoon with a bottle and enjoy the show!
What amazes me is that he gives these speeches without apparently reading off notes or a cue card - incredible
To be fair he did say he started the book tour 6 months prior.He'll have fine tuned it by this😃
No, off the label of a bottle.
Possibly the finest orator there is. Sorely missed, it would be fascinating to hear his view of the current world...
Hard to believe he would be gone approx 4 yrs after this presentation
I try not to think about this scenario because it’s so depressing.
WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
i cant believe they have a warning at the beginning this man speaks nothing but the truth and has traveled more than most.i truly miss him
Love and miss the late great Hitch 💙 my perennial regret is that I never got to meet this wonderful man 😭😭😭
Cheers🍷🍸🍹🥃 to forever Hitch
This world is less without you 😭
Hitchens really was the absolute best.
He could have been a comedian. He gets his timing so right. Taking a sip of water when he’s getting cheered or clapped.
If you have not already, please see "Christopher Hitchens stand up". Amusing and precious!
@@bethh.9647 Brains, wit and humour indeed, he is/was the best.
If you could make it that God does exist, would you?
I love Hitch and have always loved him. Miss him so much
Thrilled to see Hitchens give a thumbs up and say "excellent" to Doctors Opposing Circumcision. Thank you indeed. And thank you for pointing out the original motivation for circumcision, which is to lessen sexual pleasure. What a great way to end a great talk.
Yes indeed. I remember him pointing out, in one of his talks or books, how we would never allow the genital mutilation of children and young adults if it wasn't for religion...
I can not even understand the mindset of the rabbis he talks to in some debates, when they start defending this disgusting act with the claim that it has no effect on the man's sensitivity and that it poses no threat whatsoever to the individual. This usually comes following the claim that religion gives us morals.
im glad im circumcised - actually its a fact that circumcision reduces std rates and infections etc according to the AMA-- plus every girl ive been with preferred cut guys atleast according to them- however im atheist and feel children should have the choice - otherwise I almost completely agree with hitchens on almost every point
I urge you to look with a more critical eye at whatever you think proves that circumcision reduces std rates. Remember the AMA belongs to a nation of circumcised men. If you compare data of cutting and non-cutting nations, non cutters have better genital health. \ /,, Thanks for the support of rights!
I'm perfectly fine with my wonderful foreskin-less penis.
And that's WONDERFUL for you. Some women are also fine with their labia-less vulvas. The point of course, is not to use who's fine or who's not as a decider of someone else's rights. Everyone has a right to their whole healthy body despite anyone else's opinions.
I must say, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I CAN'T BELIEVE I DIDN'T FIND THIS CHANNEL, SUBSCRIBED AND CLICKED ON THAT BELL, WOULD WANT EVERY BIT OF HITCH I CAN GET. mEaNwhile YOu ArE doinG good WORK
Christopher Hitchens lectures are like a Stevie Wonder song.Your favorite is the one your listening to at that moment
Totally Agree :-)
Stevie is black on the outside and Hitchens black on the inside, better analogy. WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
I love how he debates himself better than any of the ridiculous frank tureks in the world they throw against him.
Totally - he speed-bagged Turek, which was amusing.
good for you,,,for not taking any effort to hit the caps button when mentioning frank
Hitch was, in many ways, a one man show. I miss him terribly
Turek was in shambles in the debate I saw with Hitchens. He (Turek) was one angry man.
If you could make it that God does exist, would you?
Finding new Hitch content. Priceless.
Can’t believe I’d missed this one. One of his best!
I am happy that this brave. eloquent person appeared in my home town of Seattle!...I have noticed though, that his on tour presentations are quite repetitive in content, right down to the jokes!...at least we get fresh perspective responses when he takes questions.
I'd withdraw too if I had to debate against Hitchens......
I've seen virtually every Hitchens video on here and this might be my favorite. Hitch is sharp, lucid, perhaps a few JW Blacks in but not too many, and most of all a very enthused and involved audience which you can tell pleases him greatly.
This is one of my favorites of his. He was the best of the Free Thinkers, IMHO.
Thanks much for the high quality version. You're the man, man!
1:00:10 - "tous jours la politesse" - "politeness every day" - an example of how Hitchens could drop into a different language without a second thought
I can understand why any debater would opt out of taking on Christopher Hitchens, His arguments are unassailable.
"If you are invited to debate with Christopher Hitchens, decline." -Richard Dawkins
@@TheEternalOuroborosyes. Someone informed his opponent "at the last minute".
A Master at his craft because he put the work into it. The books, the work and the time onto it. Will we get another Hitch ? NO
Sorely missed Christopher Hitchens.... Wherever you may or may not be...
Delivers like a comedian. He will be sorely missed.
Hitchens forces us to question everything. Here's a good question:
Where is the next Christopher Hitchens? Why are there so few. Shame on us.
sweetshaman agreed!
sweetshaman Hitchens was unique. We have his books and the TH-cam videos. We will have new champions of reason against the lunacy of religion. Let's embrace and support their fight against the forces of dorkness.
sweetshaman
What did we learn from him, and that is what we must carried on for his remembrance. As I will express his and my opinion and thought about all of the repressing mind less religions controlling entity.
The all thing is that we must tell everyone about.... REALITY. To live on the now, with out any after life promises, because that is the big problems of now days
sweetshaman I had hopes for Sam Harris, but he hasn't stepped up much. I really like Aron Ra and Matt Dillahunty, but they have yet to break out of a somewhat limited audience. I don't think people take Bill Nye seriously enough, and that might be Lawrence Krauss' problem as well. Neal DeGrasse Tyson doesn't want the job, and Richard Dawkins doesn't have the "vinegar," as Hitch would say.
Sadly, there will simply never be another Christopher Hitchens.
+sweetshaman i look to sam harris now, but the media keeps fucking with him... but in a way, the media fucking with him makes me think he's actually taking care of business
god is NOT great! But Christopher Hitchens is, may his golden voice continue to educate mankind until human extinction.
Wow well said, I think he would appreciate that 👍
Brilliant! Thank you for sharing this video :D
Wonderfully brilliant man who can present knowledge with great whit and humor.I know of no one to compare him to.
He was the greatest orator of the last 100 years
WE are here to learn truthfulness-compassion-tolerance, not to be know-it-alls..............falundafa
12:35 "His failure to levitate his ghastly, tubby form into the heavens with the rapture."
Sooo missed. I can listen to him all day.
He thought we live on a "cooling planet, Baby" (1:01:10). Such obnoxious ignorance.
2020 and Christopher lives on😘
RIP, friend.
This might be my favorite Hitch video on youtube...
Absolute brilliance.
"I'm a great admirer of Sam Harris even though he turns out to be a bit of a Buddhist"
lmfao
Sam and his jewish friend learnt religious meditation (vipassana) & non religious (Samatha) meditation from buddhist society.They didnt convert to buddhism, dude.
They just learnt meditation
@@Kamisama77 His recent work is a work of filth, but the joke was made whether it went over your head or not.
6 months into his book tour, he knows all of the arguments and delivers the replies, making his counterpart obsolete. An intellectual life spent as a literary reviewer and critic, author, political commentator and globetrotter created Hitchens. We haven’t seen anyone else even come close to understanding the world and humanity as him.
Miss you, brother.
Him in a discussion with the pope would be the greatest discussion ever seen !
The world was a better place with Hitchens and we need millions of equally-clear thinkers like him to survive the Bronze Age Fairy Tales that continue to divide us.
unedited undiluted Hitchens. perfect
Around 2007 I have read the book twice
And now in 2022 during our looney times I'm gonna read it again.
The Hitch is being missed dearly.
I haven't watched telly for some ten yrs now and Stephen Fry appears to be extremely quiet concerning the present biggest toppics . . .or am I mistaken ? Fry used to be also fighter just like Christopher was.
This is an amazing upload. However, I'm a bit upset that you decided to censor a man who so detested censorship.
Agreed. It is blasphemy to edit Hitchens.
37:38 My god, that was so good. Third time watching and I just got the joke. Wow
His videos should have been shown to me as education as a child. :)
Here in 2023 we see the advance and organizing of the "Christian Nationalists". We Need a Hitch more than ever
I. Love. This. Man!
It’s also too bad that so many audience members at these events couldn’t ask a concise question.
Q and A at these events is always torture. People have lost the ability to speak intelligently.
Great Hitchens as always. Thanks man for putting that here.
It's a good thing there was no opposing party, I hate fast-forwarding the video.
"Give him an enema, you can bury him in a shoebox."
d e v a s t a t i n g
That’s not bad ,I’ve heard some folks he really dislikes could be buried in a match box !
I can't imagine the amount of research people like hitch had to do. That makes them some kind of scientific saints.
His ability to recall it all at a moments notice is doubly impressive
The opening comments about cats and dogs reminds me of a quote from Churchill and not coincidentally, the chapter from "God is not great" "why heaven hates ham." A dog looks up to you, a cat looks down on you but pigs treat us as equals.
The loss of such a great man makes me ask the question: "how can so much nothing come from something"?
Hitchslaps will echo in Eternity
How great would it have been to watch The Life of Brian when it first came out with The Hitch.
love ya Hitch!
"The pinched and flabby faces of the faithful!"
Suspiciously Terse - as in brief and concise
What a lame disclaimer at the beginning! We are far too scared of the kooks who believe in nonsense!
efransophoto i thought the same thing
Hitch knows his Monty Python
True, the other version is somewhat better, but both of them were recorded at such a low volume that even the improved one is still hard to hear!
My question is why do some videos have this problem in the first place? Is it so hard to give the originals a reasonable volume setting??
The first thing we should all argue against is the first slide - mentioning ‘inappropriate content’.... what coward authorised that?
Yeah, he does. He has also been to meditation retreats. At the Beyond Belief Conference - I am not sure if it was 2007 or 2008 - he kind of hinted at the (I suppose) intriguing nature of the afterlife and that sort of stuff...You should be able to find it during the panel discussion.
My feelings precisely.💔
Always loved his sense of humor!
This man was a true gentleman and intellectual. Meant to be a teacher
If you could make it that God does exist, would you?
@@jeffforsythe9514 no, I don’t see the draw of a celestial dictator threatening everyone w eternal torture if we don’t love him unquestioned, slave like desires,
@@dennisd3258 God, not Jesus, does not want us to love Him, He loves us. He does not threaten us He warns us, rules are rules. Like a mother warning her child not to play with fire,.purely out of love. Look at the world today, everyone broke all the rules.
@@jeffforsythe9514 sure thing Jeff, the bronze age ghost stories of cave people "rules" that no one can make up or down of, because they make zero fucking sense, kewl story bro.
The part about the guy on Fox gives me the best laugh 53:30. 49:50 55:25
It's happening alright, Hitch. Secularism misses you...
And such a wonderfully biblically-inspired audience that did not countenance the voice of women to be heard in any of the questioners.
What was that at 13:04? A censor's edit? It comes at an odd place to be anything else.
Christopher said of Jerry Falwell family that they could give JERRY an enema and they would only have enough material to fill a matchbox. That would simply mean the rest is nothing but sh¡r.😂
@@divinewon73 or full of it
I find it interesting that a disclaimer like this isn’t used to preface “religious” content.
The profusion of religious factions in the world is almost as mind boggling as their absurd constructs.
lol 54:00 Hitch is such a sharp guy, great respect to him.
Hitchens understands the implications of the Abrahaic religions better than most people, even most believers, but that's why a majority of believers are moderate.
An accurate summation - And which is then why when presented with the true face of their brutal, iron-age doctrine they then argue explicit meaning with a softening interpretation and apologetics.
problem is the moderate ones provide cover for the lunatic fringe
@@SNORKYMEDIA
Thats it.
now i know why seattle won the super bowl.
i hv always had the feeling sam harris likes buddhism , now this confirms it
I love this man ❤
want more from hitchens
The centuries old debate of dog versus cat has finally been settled. Mic drop. 😂
Miss the Hitch 👍🏴
13:00 "give him an enema and you can bury him in a f**king shoe-box!" Still laughing ten minutes after. Civility is definately overrated.
I agree, sort of. I think civility is overrated face-to-face, and underrated online.
THANK YOU!!!? It's edited out now and I couldn't figure out what he said.
It's actually a match box which is even funnier.
"If your brother, your father’s child or your mother’s child, your son or daughter, your beloved spouse, or your intimate friend entices you secretly, saying, “Come, let us serve other gods,” whom you and your ancestors have not known,
8
any of the gods of the surrounding peoples, near to you or far away, from one end of the earth to the other:
9
do not yield or listen to any such person; show no pity or compassion and do not shield such a one,e
10
f but kill that person. Your hand shall be the first raised to put such a one to death; the hand of all the people shall follow.
11
You shall stone that person to death, for seeking to lead you astray from the LORD, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
12
And all Israel shall hear of it and fear, and never again do such evil as this in your midst." (Deut. 13)
This is one of the many criminal orders the god of the bible issued in his his holy book. Someone said here that CH was sick. If he was sick, what word should we use to derscribe a god who issues this kind of orders to his people?
Doubt is inappropriate. Questions are inappropriate. The truth is most certainly inappropriate. Hail Freedom!
Is there a link somewhere to the interview referenced here: 53:29?
Oh yes, the beginning! I truly am also here because of his sexual charisma :-D a man with his linguistic abilities. intelligence, wit, reason and charm IS attractive. big bonus his brittish accent and soothing voice! I really liked his book, also I´m now on his other, Hitch22 (audiobook read by him, of course). As fellow anti-Theist I even went to Jehovas Witness twice last week just for the sake of debunking in my mind and notepad. Their more delusional then other christians I knew. Had to go to christian camps in childhood, a stupid nightmare, brainwashing, abusive nuns. I thoght hey, let´s check out religion again,, now with the adult reasoning skills, daaaaaamn, Hitch is so right! also this time I "missioneered" and made 1 an atheist LOLThanks for uploading those Hitch vids, as I´m German and untill last year I never heart about him. really really glad I can enjoy his legacy, also improve my english :-)
You'd adore me :)
Another arsehole who suffers an inferiority complex for anything British. Shit, too, stupid?
wow Lloyd, so hostile. Jealous much??! XD
then i must help you improve and tell you the difference between their and they're.
i wanna be as witty as him >_
What is the meaning of life?
The meaning of life is to make sure we join the "right" religion & pray to the "right" God, then we get heaven
What we do in life doesn't matter - if we pray to the "wrong" God or join the "wrong" religion we get hell
That's Christian philosophy for you - Islam as well
What is most disconcerting about this fact is how it applies to all the people born well before Abraham or Christ. All of our ancestors are either in purgatory or in hell.
Why?
They had no access to this "divine revelation". An all powerful, all knowing and loving God sent everyone on Earth who wasn't a Jew to Hell or Purgatory all the way up to Christ's birth and then almost everyone after as well.
He did this not because they were ignorant of his commandments, or that they were somehow inferior beings, he just didn't bother to use his unimaginable power to reveal his commandments to them.
Instead he decided to talk through a person, who could only spread his word at the speed of a person, to other people who could only do the same.
Ask yourself which is more likely, a person made up a story to back his moral philosophy and added in all the facts of the day to give it credit (many of those facts have been proven wrong, i.e. the sun going around the earth)
OR the creator of the universe was uncaring or unable to spread his commandments to more than one person at a time.
Hashishin13 exactly
But the sheer callousnous of christians & muslims dumping the rest of humanity - we are talking women, children, entire families - into hell!
Their crime? Religion! Wow!
And when the likes of ISIS or Hitler set apart people by religion, they call it evil
But part of the blame lies with us as well - hindus, buddhists, atheists - why do we keep silent? Why dont we speak up?
I love him :(
Great talk, great answers as usual.
I thought he might have done a better job preparing for the question with the guy asking about "what can we do to generate the sense of community that the religious have?".
A good part of the reason people get sucked up in religion is because they might be brought up in it, and even if they don't have faith in it, they don't want to leave the community they are familiar with.
It provides a false sense of support, and a provisional, conditional sense of acceptance (provided you can accept the conditions of rigid conformity and suppression of your self).
But still, that false sense of belonging (to a cult) is a big drawcard for some lonely or non-independent people out there.
I didn't feel Christopher really answered this question at all.