Christopher Hitchens, for those of you who are new to the Internet, was a writer, a drinker, and famously an atheist. He just died of cancer, after failing to have the deathbed conversion to religion that many people predicted he might.
In that thread, so far we have:
You people are dicks and are not making me think highly of your religion, which I assume is Christianity, although if it is some other religion, please let me know so that I can lose respect for it also.
I would love it if either of those posts were made ironically and this was a big whoosh, so please, by all means, let me know that I just missed the joke here.
And before anyone comes in to bitch that a RIP thread isn’t sacrosanct and that people have the right to post whatever they want to: I know. I am not saying that people don’t have the right to be dicks. I am just pointing out their dickitude. There’s a difference.
Oh, he expected nothing less than outright gloating–he’d been listening to it ever since he took ill (and defended himself brilliantly, of course). I’d be shocked if no one rubbed his hands together gleefully in Mr. Burns fashion.
Yeah, I suspect the appeal of Christianity for a lot of the faithful is not the heavenly reward they have in store for themselves, but the idea that other people will suffer eternal damnation. They pratically give themselves Jesus boners thinking about it.
I don’t really get why you quoted Shodan’s post. I suppose it’s not unreasonably to assume that it was meant unkindly, but it’s not like Hitchens would have cared.
Look, I don’t harbor any particular animosity toward Hitchens. I think he was wrong in his atheism, but that doesn’t make him different than millions of other people, doesn’t make him worthy of disrespect, and I appreciate his intellect, wit and literary skill. I tend toward compassion toward any who dies, and their families. I even protested what I thought to be tasteless celebration of Bin Laden’s death, and Hitchens was a saint next to him.
So I’m not saying this because I get any pleasure at all in Hitchens death:
I dont’ see anything particularly dickish in the posts quoted in the OP. No glee, no handrubbing. From the POV of any Christian, someone dying without knowing God is a tragedy, not a victory, and I took both comments to be expressions of genuine compassion and not gloating.
I’m sorry for Christopher’s death, and I do truly pray that he finds mercy in God’s love; which is also what I pray for myself.
Do you also wish that a Jewish person finds solace in Jesus after he passes? He’s not going to meet any god, but knock yourself out if it makes you feel better.
It’s not like Hitchens was respectful toward the religious, even in memoriam. I think he’d be perfectly pleased to be remembered in a harshly adversarial way; it’s how he lived his life.
Specifically mentioning God, or your hopes for a deathbed conversion, in a thread about the death of a prominent atheist is not demonstrating compassion or love or good will or any other thing besides, “Look at me! I’m a Christian and I need everyone to know that I am a Christian and that I disapprove of Hitchens’ belief system!”
If Shodan or Pandabear had wanted to simply express compassion/condolences/whatever, they could have said, “Sorry to hear about this,” or “Very sad” or any other non-religious expression they liked. Instead they went with being attention-whoring dicks.
And I know Hitchens probably would have been laughing his ass off at these clowns. It was one of his more charming qualities, in my opinion.
I’m sure Hitchens would honestly hope that you’ll stop wasting your life on bronze-age nonsense and live unfettered by delusion for a time. Since this life is all you have, and you’ll end utterly when it’s over.
My post was partly, although not entirely, ironic.
Part of the irony is to contrast this with what Hitchens is alleged to have said when Jerry Falwell died, which is quoted in the thread, as well as the general assholery demonstrated on the SDMB when any prominent Republican dies.
Of course, if you are going to take offense at a wish that God be merciful to one of His best-publicized enemies, then I am not so sure I am the one being the dick.
MsWhatsit, the whole point of bring a atheist is that you don’t have to give a fuck about what religious people say because you know they’re wrong. If somebody showed up at Hitchens’ funeral to blabber about God, it would be dick, because it would pretty obviously be a look-at-me move. Posting about it in a message board thread is a bit different.