[Peace-discuss] I'm embarrassed...

[C. G. Estabrook]

Mort--

At the heart of Hitchens' apostasy (it was Rick Esbenshade's term) is his
notion that theism is murderous. His vestigial historical materialism
drops away in favor of his reductionist reading of "Enlightenment values"
as opposition to religion.  Read the Frontpage articles.  They're replete
with evidence.  And of course he's vigorously opposed to Israeli policies,
if for mistaken reasons, viz., that he thinks Israel is a theocracy, and
he's opposed to, etc., etc.

And I think you're quite wrong about Cockburn, who as a consistent man of
the Left notes here the serious matter of the intolerance and
patronization of liberals toward evangelical Christians -- attitudes that
undeniably exist, even if one deplores the theology and/or politics of
evangelicals.

Regards, Carl


On Sun, 5 Dec 2004, Morton K.Brussel wrote:

> Carl,
> 
> I believe Hitchens' apostasy, as you put it, does not have such simple
> roots as you portray. He doesn't, for example, fulminate much against
> the "born again Bush" and his born again allies as you might expect.
> 
> Also, your humanists are not so uniform as you seem to suggest. You
> might consult publications such as "Free Inquiry" or "The Humanist".  
> You will find there quite a variety of views, including some from the
> religious traditions. You will also find varying political opinions,
> the latter publication being quite a bit more to the left, opposing
> Israeli policies and the various U.S. wars, than the former (to which
> Hitchens regularly contributes).
> 
> As for Cockburn, what he writes here is pure bombastic rhetoric,
> devoid of serious content.
> 
> mkb
> 
> 
> 
> On Dec 4, 2004, at 11:25 PM, C. G. Estabrook wrote:
> 
> > 
Hitchens' reasons I think were finally
> > theological.  His rabid support for the "war on terror" comes from his
> > notion that the enemy is "Islamic theocracy" -- a slightly peculiar 
> > way of
> > putting it, but then for him 9/11 was "clerical aggression" -- 
> > indicating
> > his opinion that the source of al-Qaida's crimes is a belief in God.  
> > He
> > has for year written for "humanist" (i.e., anti-religious) 
> > publications.
> > Even his critique of Israel, which you mention, is based (mistakenly I
> > think) on his view of Israel as a theocracy.  (I once started an 
> > article
> > on him with the title "Little Christopher and Big God" -- from Anthony
> > Burgess' wonderful autobiography, "Little Wilson and Big God.")
> >
> > Never, ever, would you find from Hitchens anything like this recent
> > paragraph from his former friend Alex Cockburn, commenting on the post-
> > election divisions in the US:
> >
> > "Even though the highest reading on any chart of intolerance is that
> > nourished towards Christians by secular liberals (after all, Christians
> > believe in forgiveness and the possibility of redemption) I suppose 
> > we'll
> > have to put up with much earnest journalism from sensitive liberal 
> > writers
> > driving into the Christian heartland to inspect and commune with the
> > natives. I read one patronizing prospectus from a Californian 
> > free-lancer
> > that sounded like an application by an anthropologist in 1925 for 
> > funding
> > to inspect an African tribe."
> 
>