On 08/07/2013, at 10:45 AM, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote:
> On 7/7/2013 6:56 AM, Bruno Marchal wrote:
>>
>> On 07 Jul 2013, at 07:28, meekerdb wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> http://www.salon.com/2013/07/06/god_is_not_great_christopher_hitchens_is_not_a_liar/
>>
>>
>> I love Christopher Hitchens. I agree with many points. He is more an
>> anticlerical than an atheist to me ...
>
> Everybody called him an atheist. He called himself an atheist. I think you
> just don't like the term.
>
> Brent
>
Forgivable though, don't you think? I used to call MYself an atheist too -
until, bless me, I ran into the machine theology of one B. Marchal. Atheism
seemed rather dull after a while, compared to this exciting new perspective on
reality which ties in with quantum mechanics, mathematics, logic, computer
science, and, as the Americans say, "Christ knows what all". The reason some of
us don't want to call Hitch an atheist is because that tars him with the wrong
brush: the brush of public religion - IF you can handle the comp definition of
atheism as a sibling public religion of the Jesus cult. I mean - either you
believe in Big Daddy, JC and Spooky or you do not. If you don't believe in that
trio, then you have no right (if you are an Englishman, that is) to believe in
Mohammed and flying horses etc. An Englishman (essentially a racist entity) is
going to have to bite the bullet and be an Atheist if he can't stand Xtianity.
Public religions are about ethnicity and the power-groups that arise from
tribalism - do not be fooled. Public religions are political parties; it's just
that they do not appear on ballot papers because "God Always Wins".
Let me clarify: there is organised ('public' or 3-p) religion (Jesus and his
pals, Mohammed and his pals, Yaweh and his pals, Buddha and his pals and - for
many - there is always football.) And, there is personal (1-p) religion. Every
single one of us, even if we don't know it or believe it to be the case - has
the latter because the only authentic definition of 'personal religion' is
"what you believe".
I do not "believe" that any two people can Believe the exact same thing in
terms of ultimate things, because there is only a very little shareable
component to ANY first person experience, right? We can't even agree whether
some bloody thing is green, turquoise, aquamarine or blue let alone shake hands
on what some unseen supernatural Sky Daddy is all about.
Hitchens was religious only in the personal sense, but then we all are - it's
impossible not to believe something. Hitchens' signing on to the public
religion of atheism was the same as my acting AS THOUGH I am a devout atheist
in my daily public doings (I slag off at theocrats, clerics and the whole
pedophilic secret-enclave corporate structure of the Catholic Church - exactly
as the Late Great Hitch did so punishingly and eloquently whenever he could)
yet, in private - and talking to you lot (which, strangely enough seems to be
much the same thing) I will admit to "leaps of faith" with regard to my
personal beliefs, but now that I understand why I have to make these LOF
(that's thrown in for John Clark) I don't get embarrassed by them anymore.
Kim
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