Christopher Hitchens : Death of An Atheist

Christopher Hitchens

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA           DECEMBER 23 , 2011           01.30 A.M.

Christopher Hitchens , writer , columnist , journalist , public speaker , world-famous atheist and iconoclast died on December 15, 2011 at the age of 62 in Houston , Texas , USA .

I am a theist . I am a believer . I do believe in God . I do believe in  my culture , my traditions ,  rituals of my religion and have unflinching faith in above mentioned things .

But still I admire and have utmost regards for every iconoclast , every atheist and every non – believer .

During my childhood days , I read a lot about Charvaka , an atheist of yore , who was a non – believer .  Standing on the staircase of the temples , he used to criticize God and exhort and urged the people not to believe in God , while believers were going for Darshanam . No one hurt him . No one ever criticized him . He was not banished from the city by the king of the day . He was not persecuted for his iconoclastic views . Instead he was called Maharshi Charvaka by people and was revered . He was called an atheist philosopher and was given place in the pantheon of Indian Godhead . His works were not banned by the government of the day . People in India , who know Sanskrit , still remember his famous Shloka , which preached his atheistic and hedonistic views :

यावत्  जीवेत्  सुखम्  जीवेत् ; ऋणं कृत्वा घृतम पिवेत ;
भस्मी भूतस्य देहस्य ; पुनरागमनं  कुतः  ॥

[ As long as you are alive , live with opulence and pleasure . Even if you have to take loan , lead a life of fulfillment and luxury . after death , when your ephemeral body will be burnt , you wont return in this world . So the question of re – payment doesn’t arise . ]

Maharshi Charvaka fascinated me . So whenever I read about a new atheist , a new iconoclast , I am driven towards him , even though I would never follow him .

So  when I heard about Christopher Hitchens , I was intrigued . Most famous for bashing Mother Teresa as a fraud , he was very critical of Henry Kissinger , Bill and Hillary Clinton and Royal Family of Great Britain . Christopher Hitchens was admirer of George Orwell , Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson .

 

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Though my behaviour would seem to be incoherent but I firmly believe in the saying of Voltaire :

” I disapprove of what you say ; but I will defend to the death your right to say it . “
I follow theism but I will always admire atheists , because you need guts to not believe in God and swim against the tide . Only Christopher Hitchens could have written ” God Is Not Great ” . You need courage to write this kind of book . Only he would have said this for Mother Teresa : ” She was not a friend of the poor .She was a friend of poverty .She said that suffering was a gift from God .She spent her life opposing the only known cure for poverty , which is the empowerment of women and the emancipation of them from a livestock version of compulsory reproduction .”

 

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It needs guts to support Salman Rushdie and oppose Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini . It needs courage to oppose Vietnam War but support Iraq War . It needs gumption to oppose Bill Clinton but support George W. Bush . He was a true iconoclast who regularly contributed in Vanity Fair magazine .

I deeply mourn his death and pray for his soul , though he would not have liked it .

May his soul rest in peace !

Amen !!

I know  your views Mr. Christopher Hitchens . You have every right to adhere to your views but so am I .

So , rest in peace gentleman ! And don’t get angry for my prayers .

VIDUR

MUMBAI – MAHARASHTRA – INDIA

www.vidur.co.in

www.vidurfilms.com

www.twitter.com/VidurChaturvedi

www.jaibhojpuri.com/profile/VidurChaturvedi

 

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