Christopher Hitchens!

By Rich Kozlovich

I can’t end this year without commenting on the death of Christopher Hitchens. There have been a great many articles written about him that attempt to paint a nicer picture than I believe existed.

David Horowitz, who was, along with Hitchens, at the apex of leftism in the 60’s was an old friend and wrote openly, honestly and warmly about him. (I recommend reading the whole article...it is worth it.  If for no other reason than the article speaks so well of David Horowitz for his affectionate loyalty to their friendship.RK)

He wrote: “I did my mourning for Christopher when he was given his death sentence last July and appeared in public as a punished shell of his former self. For those of us who knew him, it was hard to watch and painful to think about. Christopher was a great entertainer and everyone will miss him for that. He was also an outspoken if inconsistent moralist, and a fearless champion of the right to think and speak one’s mind, and he will be remembered gratefully for that.”

I read one of his books (one was enough) and found that he had a quality that is usually totally lacking in leftists; consistency! He was just as virulent on anyone on the left as he would be to someone on the right who offended his sense of moral justice. Having said that, he was at best a leaky vessel when it came to moralizing against anyone. While railing against man’s inhumanity against man he actively supported a philosophy that is blatantly misanthropic. Dystopia follows leftism just as sure as Sancho Panza followed Don Quixote.

He once said, talking about Che Guevara, "His death meant a lot to me, and countless like me, at the time. He was a role model." To normal people Guevara’s life and actions shown that he was a psychopathic murderous monster and a coward. And that was his role model? And at his death all his monstrous acts of murder and his final act of cowardice came out about this godling of the left, and yet this still was his role model!

He claimed to be an atheist, but in reality he worshiped at the altar of Leftism and himself. His claims of atheism and his lifestyle suggest that atheism was as good a way as any of justifying his lack of any real moral foundation. As one person said; if you don’t believe in any ultimate moral authority then everything is morally acceptable. However, since Hitchens rejected higher moral authority and yet moralized unendingly he apparently decided that he would be the ultimate moral authority. Hitchens would now be the arbiter of right and wrong. Hitchens would now be his own god.

Horowitz also pointed out that “Christopher had a dark, mean side, which was not so likeable, and whose bile was directed at religious people and select conservatives like Ronald Reagan, and for some reason celebrities like Lady Di. But his wit and verbal bravura were irresistible and helped many to forgive him his transgressions.” So, because he was brilliant his virulence was acceptable? Please forgive me for speaking so ill of the dead, but brilliance wasted on fools is still waste.

Jon Ray, a man of many views and blogs wrote in Dissecting Leftism an article entitled, “De mortuis nil nisi bonum?” He writes:

“I am afraid I am going to disregard that bit of Roman wisdom. The recently deceased Christopher Hitchens has been rather eulogized in the press and elsewhere so I think the other side needs to be put.

His virulent outpouring of hate towards Christians deprives him of any right to respect in my view. If I were a Christian, I think I would see the hand of the Lord in moving him prematurely to his final destination. (For the record, I don’t agree with this last sentence. RK)

Since I am an atheist, however, I note that his death from esophageal cancer was almost certainly the result of his lifelong heavy drinking and smoking. And if he had had the comfort of religion he might not have needed such props to his mood.”

After having said all of that I feel that I cannot leave out the very touching piece his brother Peter wrote, in which he says; “Much of civilisation rests on the proper response to death, simple unalloyed kindness, the desire to show sympathy for irrecoverable loss, the understanding that a unique and irreplaceable something has been lost to us. If we ceased to care, we wouldn’t be properly human.”

Peter Hitchens is a believer who abandoned leftism at a very young age. He also abandoned the hate that is all encompassing with those who worship at the altar of Leftism.
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