I was sorry to learn this morning that the great writer Christopher Hitchens—and I mean I wish I had half his talent and ability—has died. I believe he was the best crafter of the magazine essay of our times, with whom I agreed more than occassionally, but most often, not. (I have not read any of his books.) From what I could tell from his public life and from the tales of those who knew him well—I never met him—he was a man of fiery integrity, wit, sarcasm, and intelligence. And that showed clearly in his writing and public life.
He has also been the subject of discussions here in the context of how to best support an adamant, one might say, proselytizing atheist, in his time of extremis. We discussed how he understood that the reality of death gives focus to life. We debated whether it would be right to publicly proclaim or tell him that one was praying for him and more recently, debated an essay that speculated publicly that the was close to converting to Christianity. Apparently not.
Now, I thought it would be interesting to discuss how to best honor his memory. For example, my original headline was “Christopher Hitchens, RIP.” I took that out because as a materialist atheist, he didn’t believe in “Rest In Peace,” but that when his life ended, it was simply over and out. So, I rewrote the headline because I thought using the term RIP would be inserting my beliefs, in a sense, at his expense.
Here is how former Prime Minister Tony Blair put it, and I think it hits just the right tone. From the Telegraph story:
Among those paying their respects were former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who debated religion with Mr Hitchens last year. “Christopher Hitchens was a complete one-off, an amazing mixture of writer, journalist, polemicist, and unique character,” Mr Blair said. “He was fearless in the pursuit of truth and any cause in which he believed. And there was no belief he held that he did not advocate with passion, commitment and brilliance. He was an extraordinary, compelling and colourful human being whom it was a privilege to know.”
Everyone can, of course, pray for him if that is their wont. And I just heard a caller on the Dennis Miller Show say he hoped Hitchens is “delightfully surprised,” by Reality, a view that I retweet. But I don’t think we should use Hitchens’ passing to score points for our own creeds, rather, that we should remember him as he would want, for his shining writing and his robust living—and continue to discuss and debate his ideas, the good, the bad, the ignorant, and the ugly. He was a one and only. A great. If there is a “rest,” it will take care of itself.
By the way, I spent some time searching for the right image to embed in this post. The one I chose, I thought, best captured the in-your-face and funny vibrancy of Hitchens’ brand of living. I included it with the utmost respect.
