Hitchens & Twain

<< Twain's remark that Ray witlessly refers to reminds me of a response Christopher Hitchens gave to the question: if you truly believe there's no God, what light is there in the life of an atheist? Hitchens responded: “Well, I can only answer for myself; what cheers me up? I suppose mainly gloating over the misfortunes of other people, I guess that has to be it: crowing over the miseries of others. It doesn’t always work, but it never completely fails. And then there’s irony - which is the gin in the Campari - the cream in the coffee; sex can have diminishing returns but it’s amazing…that’s pretty much it, then it’s a clear run to the grave.” >>

That’s one thing I liked about Hitchens. Now and then he was blatantly honest. Mark Twain was too when it came to the subject of sex, but he whined when it became a mere memory as he aged. Then he too, like Hitchens and the rest of us, headed straight for the grave.

Hitchens was a clone of Mark Twain. They both had a sharp tongue and a venomous attitude towards God. Of course Twain wasn’t silly enough to be an atheist, even though atheists mistakenly believe he was one of their kind. He wasn’t. He was an intelligent man who hated the God that demands moral accountability, and so he made up his own make-believe god. That’s what we tend to do until we repent and trust Jesus. Then we come to know God, and the truth make us free (see John 8:31-32).

Photo: Derek Harper