Thirsty For Chicken

When news of Mr. Hitchens’ death hit, I will admit I was sort of surprised by how often it popped up in my news feed on Facebook. Either I forgot how many people I know were familiar with him or perhaps he was better known among my friends and aquaintances than I suspected. Hitchens’ death didn’t shock me though, it’s something we all saw coming. That didn’t make it any less emotional a moment, to hear someone you admire and whose work resonated so deeply with you had passed. Still, some people didn’t know who he was but it’s opened up the door for them to ask about him and I’ve taken some joy in getting to explain, briefly, who he was and what he had accomplished.

If you’re still unaware, Christopher Hitchens was an author, journalist and most importantly, a philosopher. In my opinion, the greatest philosopher of our time. He was a wordsmith, speaking and writing so eloquently that you couldn’t help but become mesmerized while reading or listening to him on any variety of subjects. Probably best known in recent years for his book, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, he seemed to spearhead a new awareness of atheism, becoming a formitable if not incredibly intimidating opponent in countless debates. And while many will remember him souly for his part in the atheist movement, I will remember him for far more.

At a glance, you might consider Hitchens to be arrogant or angry. And maybe he was, at times. But if you stopped to listen, put any and all prejudice aside, you’d find him to be not only supremely intelligent but compassionate and empathetic as well. But his was a very sharp tongue, when he needed it, and that alone spawned a new term in his honor - the “Hitch Slap”. There’s a litany of Hitch Slap moments available on YouTube, and not all of them are related to religious discussions. Hitchens was a lover of literature and great philosophers who came before him. He was humble in all regards to his place in the world and in it’s history. He understood the violent, unpredictable yet calculated direction the cosmos is heading in, and still found beauty and meaning in even the smallest parts of nature and everyday life. He lived his life “livingly”, as Vanity Fair put it, and had probably put more into his 62 years than most of us will in our entire lifetime (however long they may last).

Hitchens asked us not to only question the world and all it’s dogmas and superstitions, but he asked us to question our very selves and not take anything for granted. I never had the pleasure of meeting Christopher Hitchens in person, nor did I have the honor of sitting in on one of his lectures or debates, but I knew a part of Christopher Hitchens through his work, which I treasure and continue taking in on a regular basis. I won’t call Hitchens my hero, because he would detest the notion of anyone needing heroes, but I am a dedicated fan and while I can always come back to his books and watch videos of him on YouTube, I mourn his passing as an admirer and I’m thankful that Christopher Hitchens lived as “livingly” as he did.