Atheist, Naturalist, Secular humanist, Or None-of-the-above

PS. This is about the author, Mr. Christopher Hitchens. And, "Hitchens, one of our great political pugilists, delivers the best of the recent rash of atheist manifestos." Publishers Weekly, on his God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

"I loved it when Mr. Hitchens, prosemaster, stuck it to the smug Western cult of the Dalai Lama. But that was in 1998. Now, as Max Blumenthal reports, he’s reduced to following in the footsteps of Dalai Lama groupie Sam Harris with How Religion Poisons Everything, which I guess is supposed to be shocking. From the cover of his earlier book Letters To A Young Contrarian, the idea seems to be that he’s not afraid to be the cigarette-smoking guy in a detective coat, giving you a steely look and leveling with you about how it is. “Join me in the League of Contrarians, if you can handle the flames.” source: Behind the contrarian curve, @ John Gorenfeld’s blog

         

"As a self-declared and proud "antitheist" whose most recent book carries the subtitle "How Religion Poisons Everything," Hitchens has no reason to view human beings as different from animals in any essential way. It is a stance that can lead to things like Princeton ethicist Peter Singer's support for killing severely disabled babies and the unconscious elderly. As Professor Singer has explained: "The life of a newborn is of less value than the life of a pig, a dog or a chimpanzee." If antitheist Hitchens asserts some inherent human special-ness, he is not only insufferable but inconsistent." Source: Jewish World Review June 4, 2007 / 18 Sivan, 5766, Man or beast? By Rabbi Avi Shafran