Why the Antitheists Go Too Far.

While on vacation from TLWR, I'd come across a clip of Christopher Hitchens, who is the author of the book, God Is Not Great (which no, I have not read), and among other things, is a vocal atheist that speaks out often and quite abrasively against organized religions.

Mr. Hitchens, who's courage I do at times admire, is a frequent guest on many talk shows, so one may not be surprised if you've seen him on tv, or, as it is now called, Youtube. One clip in particular caught my eye as I was browsing through the place.

Here it is for mass consumption.

Personally, I don't watch Hannity & Colmes, I've been left unimpressed by Sean Hannity on the few occasions when I've been exposed to his brand of professional television journalism.

That said, and speaking as a confirmed agnostic (if there is such a thing - how does one confirm not really knowing much?), I find that Mr. Hutchins (and he is hardly alone in his scathing opinion of faith in general and of religious leaders) does not help the cause of secularism and tolerance.

It is striking to me that the very basis on which people of no particular faith take objection to religion in it's organized form, as Mr. Hutchins illustrates in that clip, is that most religions and moreover religious organizations, are unbending and rigid. They have and do create discord among peoples, and in many cases, as in the case of Falwell, do promote intolerance and even hatred.

Yet all proponents of faith cannot be judged by the same yardstick.

Moreover, the point being made here is this: How can one attack religion, on the basis of breeding intolerance, while at the same time, being so callous towards the sensitivities of those to whom you preach tolerance?

Clearly, in the clip, Mr. Hitchens has no regard for the sentiments of the countless people that did hold Jerry Falwell in high regard, and it would be a gross injustice to define them all as bigots, racists and other such labels. This attitude is disturbingly common among atheists, more so in the Middle East, though here they are careful to keep their views where few will hear them, because yes, someone like me might get shot for writing something like this, which is in no small part the reason that this blog is operating with its author's usage of an alias.

There cannot be tolerance without mutual respect and mutual understanding. There cannot be tolerance without an unspoken accord that allows for respectful dialog without attack or persecution.

I often feel that we that are not of faith have had to suffer in these latter years as the Christians did in their infancy. And in doing so, we have developed a sense of bitter vindictiveness, we do not care about your sensitivities as we have been forced to put up with your lack of consideration for ours.

Which, in a tit for tat world, is only fair. But we, the secularist, claim a higher moral ground, a higher ethical ground, in that we are the people of the people, that we struggle against hate, and against intolerance. We seek a world for all.

But in that vision, there is no room for hate, and no room for anger. The resentments and injustices of the past must be put away.

Perhaps what Christopher Hitchens said about Jerry Falwell was true. It doesn't matter. What matters here is that he could have expressed those truths, he could have expression those thoughts, in a manner less designed to inflame and incite. For a man of his education, it would have been no great feat.

He chose not to.