Christopher Hitchens, the respected, though often controversial, journalist and skeptic, speaks at The Amazing Meeting at the Stardust Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, where he gives his talk based on the question "does credulity or gullibility matter in religion?" Does religion, and faith based belief in general, then exist, as a casino does, because of the fact that there are, always have been and always will be, gullible enough people out there? And if so, should we just live and let live, let people have their "fun" or should skeptics warn people against being suckered in?
This is a question often asked toward skeptics, be it in skepticism of the paranormal or so-called miracles, often under the assumption that gullibility is somehow satisfying over certainty and that we should not invoke skepticism when people are apparently in awe even if it is known to be under trickery or delusion. Why skeptics warn and caution people towards superstition and ring alarm bells when they hear fraudulent claims is well worth discussion, as Christopher Hitchens does here.
This meeting, organised by The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) sees other members of intelligentsia such as Evolutionary Biologist Richard Dawkins and well known conjurer and sceptic James "The Amazing" Randi himself.
Christopher Hitchens was undoubtedly a skeptic and free thinker par excellence.
His books were written not only to draw criticism but to get society to take more seriously the claims made by people, be it unjust appraisal, cruelty or simply counter to the foundations of civilization.
Nobody, no matter how popular or unpopular, was out of Hitchens' radar. Some of his opinions may have been unpopular however, like James Randi he was willing to give up, some personal comfort of conformity to expose the hard truth.
Christopher Hitchens died on 15 December 2011, from complications arising from his battle with oesophageal cancer.
He is remembered with highest respect by his family, his personal friends and by the millions across the globe who, mostly through the internet, have come to realise how rare a good critic like Christopher Hitchens really is and how much his criticism of accepted dogma can have an influence in time and space far beyond his own lifetime and experiences.
His message lives on.
8 сен 2024
