Hitchens, Falwell and Death

     What would Christopher Hitchens want others to say about him in his death? Would he want others to romanticize his life? Would he want his enemies and adversaries to say disingenuously kind things about him? Would you expect Hitchens, on his deathbed, to issue a worldwide apology for offending those with religious beliefs?

      As we remember Christopher Hitchens today, I can’t help but recall the performance he gave on the Hannity and Colmes Show back in May, 2007 upon Jerry Falwell’s death. Hitchens was unrepentant for his lack of sympathy for Falwell and when challenged that his harsh comments may actually cause harm and pain to Falwell’s grieving family, Hitchens buckled down even more and said, “He established a business, a racket in my opinion. He was a religious entrepreneur…He left the business to his children. It’s a hereditary job. Let that console them.”

      Hitchens told Hannity: “You invite me here to give my opinion of the departed, I give it to you, and then you say,‘Well, might that not upset his family?’ I said it while he was alive. Why might that not have upset his family, too?”

      For those of us that admired Hitchens we can take comfort in the fact that Hitchens immortality is found in the writings and commentaries he left behind. For those that despised Hitchens and his views I think it is safe to say that you do him no honor to sugar-coat what you believe to be true about him now. If he did not make a confession of faith in Jesus, you believe that Hitchens left this world of pain and suffering and entered and even more ferocious and eternal one. There’s no need to gloss over your belief. I don’t think Hitchens would have wanted it any other way.