However he was often very good at whittling down an argument to its most succinct points, and then stating them bluntly and with no apologies to those who might take offense.
Gotta love that about him.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
It's Sunday, so let's start the day with a little Chistopher Hitchens in honor of the Sabbath, shall we?
However he was often very good at whittling down an argument to its most succinct points, and then stating them bluntly and with no apologies to those who might take offense.
Gotta love that about him.
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You often heard those associated with a religion discuss personal anecdotes about how their faith, their surrender to God made all the difference.
ReplyDeleteFor me, it is simply surrendering our ego to the moment, centering ourselves and allowing ourselves to concede to ourselves that we may not be thinking clearly, that we have allowed our emotionality to cloud our judgment. Centering our mind, clearing it of fear and prejudice towards or against a certain viewpoint, can make all the difference but it does not necessarily have to be because of faith. It is simply an emptying out of negativity and allowing a natural buoyancy to return.
I do not believe in religion, but I do believe in the power of the human heart and mind. If we can accept problems, we can find answers. It is in the denial that we lose our way. Accepting that we often get in our own way by holding onto fear, anger, or agitation usually releases us to a state of mind that allows us to feel comfort, seek solutions, and see our way through our troubles.
When I was very young, the statements "The kingdom of God is within you" or
"The Buddha-head is at your center" meant, for me, that we have the intelligence, the vision and the peace we need within us if only we open ourselves to it. Centering and accepting the moment is not easy, but it makes all the difference, and does not require a religion, a church, or even a particular vision of divinity.
Just saying, it has worked for me all these decades and I have seen it work for others. Maybe, just maybe, we are or have within us what the masses call divine, and we don't have to worry about dogma, hierarchies or what others dictate as to how we should live our lives. Maybe we truly already know; we simply have to listen to ourselves.
-- ks sunflower
Your post is thoughtful and clearly expressed. Similar sentiments to the ones you quote from Jesus and Buddha resonate through many traditions. In my Catholic parish, I'm attending a series of workshops on the philosophy of Eckhard Tolle, specifically his series "Through the Open Door."
DeleteChristopher Hitchens could be irritating, as Gryphen pointed out, but he never pulled his punches, and I admired him when he volunteered to be water-boarded. The man was never boring, and he was sexy in a drunken reprobate sort of way.
Still, he had the same shortcomings as many atheists when they address matters of faith. He didn't define his terms. His attitude reflected a narrow fundamentalist take on all matters of faith. The mystical aspects seemed to elude him. At least he had the grace to sincerely thank all those who prayed for him as he faced his untimely death.
I never liked Hitchens much, because of his connection to the neo-con warmongers. However, for that very reason, he could be called a man with lots of inside connections.
ReplyDeleteAnd he was a Trig truther. He said he was amazed how many high level Republicans had told him that they were aware that Sarah Palin had not given birth to that child.
Been reading public comments over New Jersey Governor Chris Chrispy-cream's latest outburst at a guy telling him to take care of the teachers at the Seaside Heights boardwalk.
ReplyDeleteThey are giving each other high-fives over a man that 'tells it like it is,' 'isn't concerned about being PC,' 'and defends himself the way any American can and should.'
The same accolades are applicable to Hitchens. He does every single thing they celebrate about Christy. . .so why is it when he does it, it's unforgiveable?
And can they imagine Vice President Biden pulling that kind of rude and crude gutteral reaction on constituents? They'd lose their shit calling on Obama to fire him and to curb his first amendment rights.
I loved the clip on TMZ! Notice that he had "just ordered" the xxxl soft serve vanilla flavored "goodness", and three quarters of it was scarfed up, as he delicately balanced the remainder while throwing his interrupted hissy fit.
DeleteHey Christie, you tried to banish Snookie from the boardwalks for "giving NEW JoiSey a bad reputation". WTF??????
I loved "Hitch". The man was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteRelationships are entirely about faith, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteNo they are not. They are about trust. Different thing altogether.
DeleteThose who believe reason has little or nothing to do with faith should attempt to resolve Hume's attack on reason: These two propositions are far from being the same: I have found that such an object has always been attended with such an effect, and I foresee, that other objects, which are, in appearance, similar, will be attended with similar effects. I shall allow, if you please, that the one proposition may justly be inferred from the other; I know, in fact, that it always is inferred. But if you insist that the inference is made by a chain of reasoning, I desire you to produce that reasoning. The connection between these propositions is not intuitive. There is required a medium, which may enable the mind to draw such an inference, if indeed it be drawn by reasoning and argument. What that medium is, I must confess, passes my comprehension, and it is incumbent on those to produce it, who assert that it really exists, and is the origin of all our conclusions concerning matter of fact.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, as propositions are just ideas in our minds, we must first believe them to allow logic to allow us to use to them "prove" conclusions based thereupon, and that logic is only as valid as the propositions.
Hume, as an aside, was an atheist.
I agreed w/the Hitch thoughts on religion...never have understood how people believe there is a god, heaven and hell. We can experience heaven and hell right here on earth if we want to go that far in religious belief.
ReplyDeleteA god - that made me in his image? No way!!!
I love Christopher Hitchins, and didn't see eye to eye with him on some points, but the man was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteAs humans go, believers to atheist, and every point of the spectrum between, we're all flawed, nobody's perfect. Yes, he came across as brash and caustic at times, but there was no denying his passion.
We're the only animals capable of reason and cognizant that life is a temporary condition. Hutchins faced his mortality with courage and grace enough to thank those who acknowledged their kindness as prayer as the end neared.
Faith is blinding oneself. Some faith is necessary to survive day-to-day life - I need to have some faith in there being a lot more decent humans than monster humans, and in my children faring not too bad in life, to prevent myself from hanging myself right now.
ReplyDeleteBut completely blinding oneself, and surrendering one's own thinking to any association of fellow human beings, be them called "religion" or "party" or "club", that's where faith becomes an evil.
And before any religious person starts harping at me - I have no problem with religious persons who don't surrender their thinking to their group. Nor do I have any with organized religion ; the feeling of togetherness felt in Mass is a very valuable experience and it helps many people overcome dire problems in their lifes.
But religion is a private matter that should not infringe on the rights of the people, be them religious-minded or not.
Religions have no place in politics, nor in public morality. Groups of people can adopt any kind of private morals they want, as long as they do not try to impose its observance in the public sphere. Religious guidelines why not, it's folkloric, rules and laws no.