A Hitchless World

The Weekly Standard ^ | 16 Dec 2011 | Matt LaBash

[Rummyfan]

No secrets are being divulged when I report that Christopher Hitchens liked a drink every now and then. Preferably now. He wasn’t sloppy about it. In fact, he always seemed in perfect control. (I once saw him steer a beach bike through the streets of Key West without spilling his Scotch.) He just liked to keep the machine well-oiled so he could get on to more important things, like liberating oppressed peoples of the world, knocking out his 1,000 words a day, or starting fights with God, assuming there is one, which he didn’t. In some ways, his affection for drink brought us together, setting in motion my most vivid memories of him.

[Rummyfan]

One more for Christopher Hitchens, this one a personal remembrance.

[originalbuckeye]

Hitchens had mellowed a bit over the years. I will miss his spot-on observations and acerbic wit. He was one in a million.

[Lazamataz]

He died? I’m sorry.

[miss marmelstein]

Thanks for the article! He was quite a guy. Today is a dark day for me knowing that he’s no longer in the world.

[luvbach1]

I was saddened to hear of his demise. He was an intellect who was not a hypocrite. No death bed conversion for him. Politically he was a a liberal (more in the true sense of the word than those who call themselves progressives), but also had veins of conservatism running through his granite.

[luvbach1]

I will miss his spot-on observations and acerbic wit.

You're right. He was virtually Oscar Wildeian in that ability.

[DeaconRed]

Sorry to see him gone.
He wasn't your typical Liberal.
He now knows the truth about GOD. . . . .

[Old Teufel Hunden]

" The lines from T.S. Eliot caused Hitchens to flash his pearly yellows. “You see, only in India do people really bother with English literature anymore,” he beamed"

Hitch, you were spot on with a lot of your observations. Unfortunately, you're finding out the hard way about whether there's a God or not. One last thing Hitch, T.S. Eliot was born in St. Louis Missouri.

[icwhatudo]

“No death bed conversion for him.”

Sad if true.

[sand lake bar]

I will miss him. May he rest in peace. W.F. Buckley respected him greatly. His rational mind shone through during Clinton’s scandal.

[luvbach1]

Maybe Hitch was trying to be complimentary by including Eliot in English literature.

[srmorton]

Don't be too sure. We did a study in Sunday School a couple of years ago that pointed out that NO ONE knows what happens between the heart of a person and God in the final seconds before death. The minute I saw the news about Hitch's death I breathed a prayer that he found his way to Him and is even now in the presence of Jesus. Not even those who were there at his deathbed know whether he did or not. When we get to Heaven, we will see!!

[Antoninus]

I was saddened to hear of his demise. He was an intellect who was not a hypocrite. No death bed conversion for him.

First off, you don't know that. Secondly, if true, it is no virtue. The inability to admit even the possibility that you are wrong is a sign of a lack of humility. And despite our culture's obsession with it, overweening pride is not a virtue and never will be.

[luvbach1]

No death bed conversion was reported, thus that’s what I based my statement upon. That also indicated, to me, that he was not a hypocrite. You can characterize it as a virtue, or not, as you choose.

[Antoninus]

No death bed conversion was reported, thus that’s what I based my statement upon. That also indicated, to me, that he was not a hypocrite.

LOL. So if he had made a conversion on his deathbed, that would have been a sign of hypocrisy? How stupid.

In my opinion, that would have been a tremendous sign of personal humility and God's grace. There is no sin worse than final impenitence.

[Dawgreg]

Very sad. When I heard of his passing that’s the first thing I thought of. He may see there’s a true and living God....now. :(

[Rummyfan]

[Malesherbes]

Politically, for much of his life, Hitchens was a Trotskyite. Trotsky was as much a monster as Stalin but not as wily.

In his attacks on religion, Hitchens picked easy targets, including those who would never fight back like Mother Theresa.

He had an encyclopedic knowledge of literature and he was clever. That was his charm and appeal, but anyone who does not allow room for the transcendental is essentially shallow.