My own opinion is enough for me, and I claim the right to have it defended against any consensus, any majority, anywhere, any place, any time. And anyone who disagrees with this can pick a number, get in line and kiss my ass

Today, or rather last night, the world lost a living legend.

Christopher Eric Hitchens, better known as ‘Hitch’ died after much publicized battle with esophageal cancer.

While best known staunch enemy of religion and psedo-science, Hitch was probably most respected for his master of the English language, encyclopedic memory and biting wit.

His writings on Mother Teresa, North Korea and the Middle East are also, I feel, required readings along with his memoir Hitch-22 and of course ‘God is not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything”

His influence in the anti-theist and literary community will last decades, as will the numerous quotes and anectdotes he has provided over the years.

He often said that above all he wished to be vindicated in his lifetime. While that hasn’t quite happened yet, I can only hope he went knowing that vindication is not far away.

I do not wish to take the focus away from the man by expanding on the influence he has had on myself and others, but he will be missed and remembered.

Below, taken from Vanity Fair, Hitch suggests new commandments to replace those ‘other‘ ones:

Do not condemn people on the basis of their ethnicity or color.

 

Do not ever use people as private property. Despise those who use violence or the threat of it in sexual relations.

 

Hide your face and weep if you dare to harm a child.

 

Do not condemn people for their inborn nature—why would God create so many homosexuals only in order to torture and destroy them?

 

Be aware that you too are an animal and dependent on the web of nature, and think and act accordingly.

 

Do not imagine that you can escape judgment if you rob people with a false prospectus rather than with a knife.

 

Turn off that fucking cell phone—you have no idea how unimportant your call is to us.

 

Denounce all jihadists and crusaders for what they are: psychopathic criminals with ugly delusions.

 

Be willing to renounce any god or any religion if any holy commandments should contradict any of the above.

 

In short: Do not swallow your moral code in tablet form.

Rest in Peace Hitch.