Best of Christopher Hitchens Amazing Arguments And Clever Comebacks Part 1

these are very serious matters and they're not to be laughed off by references to the occasional work of Catholic Charities but I draw your attention not just to the apologies ladies and gentlemen but to the evasive and euphemistic form that they take Joseph Ratzinger the current pope considered by some by Catholics to the Vicar of Christ on earth says of Indians of the Indians were massacred in the course of conversion in Brazil after the apology had been made to them he said nonetheless it must be remembered that before we came to convert them they were silently awaiting the arrival of the church I don't think that's a very genuine kind of apology to you in his comment one of the few he's made on the institutionalization of rape and torture and maltreatment of children in Catholic institutions he said it's a very severe crisis which which involves us he said in the following in the need for applying to these victims the most loving pastoral care well I'm sorry they've already had that and to say that this is the responsibility laid upon you by the horrific admission that you've already had to make is not accepting responsibility in any adult sense when I say child abuse was institutional how dare I say so how can I prove it how could I prove such a thing well I'll ask the Alaska's grace and are asking and Widdecombe where is Cardinal Bernardin or now where is he where is the Cardinal Archbishop of Boston whose resignation was indignantly demanded finally by fifty members of the church and by the whole area of Massachusetts who also demanded his prosecution for the promotion and protection and covering up and apology for and defense of people whose crimes against children are too revolting to specify and he's not in the jurisdiction of Massachusetts now as perhaps you know he's the Supreme Vicar of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome personally appointed by the Pope to that as well as many other important sin occurs and in 2005 this man a fugitive from justice and from and from complicity in the filthiest crime that it's possible for human beings to imagine was one of those voting in Conclave to decide who the next picture of Christ on earth will be neither of us can prove or disprove the existence of God the difference is between us I don't say that I'm an ordained minister and I don't think I could push it that far on the on the sick since you're evidently an agnostic which is a confession that I'm welcome to have not extracted for me but heard you make now here's the question you say these texts are misused I say that they are not the Old Testament says or does not say that Abraham was doing a noble thing by offering to sacrifice a son to prove himself loyal to God or to the voices he was hearing at his head it says there was a mobile thing for him to do he was rewarded for it by a great progenitor great for posterity and a great long life offering to murder his son because of hearing voices in his head this is not moral teaching to me is it not the case that the Old Testament says that the Amalekites must all be destroyed down to the last child every one among them not leave not one yes it does say that the bishop of land off in an argument with Thomas Paine once said well when it says keep the women as Paine had pointed out he said I'm sure God didn't mean just to keep me for immoral purposes but what is a bit of land or know about that says kill all the men kill all the children and keep the virgins I think I know what they had in mind I don't think it's moral teaching the same euphemism comes in the term some Christians that is used in all the apologies about the Crusades inquisitions the anti-semitic pogroms and all the rest of you said some Christians fell into error some Christians allowed themselves to be to be deceived in this way and to act against the gospel well anti-semitism was preached as an official doctrine of the church until 1964 do you think that might have something to do with public opinion in Austria and Bavaria and Poland and Lithuania that the Jewish people were accused collectively as a people of deicide of the crime of the murder of God in the figure of Jesus of Nazareth and that better Natha myrrh on them was not lifted until 64 well after the perpetrators of the Holocaust had stood trial in secular courts and been rightly punished for their actions how can this church say it has any moral superiority it has difficulty catching up to what ordinary people regard as common moral and ethical sense and it still can't make itself apologize properly religion gets its morality from us I think it's very easy to demonstrate that I do it from one of each of the two Testaments you Bagon testing Willy oh no well why don't you write a testify I spent a lot of time with my I spent lot of time in my Bible okay my babble I do I tell you how about we say caught in Dixie I do in the is a very famous parable in the New Testament where the alleged Jesus of Nazareth tells a story about a man from Samaria we call in the Good Samaritan who finding a fellow creature in enormous distress and pain goes well out of his way to alleviate his suffering and to follow up to make sure that his his sympathy hasn't been a waste of time is it to do that the after care if you like well we know one thing about this person from Samaria he cannot have been a Christian Jesus is telling this story about someone he's heard of who acted as far as we know from no other prompting with elementary human solidarity what other prompting do we need our species would not have survived we wouldn't be met here if we didn't have as well as many selfish instincts the need and often for our own sake to be of use to others to combine with them to take an interest in them to care for them and to and to worry when they're in pain no supernatural Authority as with the civil rights movement is required for this morality comes from us religion claims who invented it on our behalf then okay another example from the older Testament is it really to be believed that until they got to the foot of Mount Sinai the four words of Moses believed that up to land adultery murder theft and perjury were okay they're suddenly told oh hey we got some new ideas for you I don't think so it's a bit of an insult to the ancient Jewish faith of which a Jacob and I both rather disgraceful ornaments in our different ways I think our ancestors were smarter than that and even if they weren't smarter they wouldn't have got that far if they've been under the contrary impression the Golden Rule is something you don't have to teach a child there's no need to say and if you don't follow this rule you'll burn in hell forever that's immoral teaching now I hope I've made myself clear on the but I'm wondering if I have because you faced me Reverend with two very unwelcome thoughts either I have been completely an articulation to everything I've said this evening or you have misunderstood me I have to throw myself all these are not mutually exclusive and I should have seen that coming I think that there will be an apology for what happened in Rwanda the most Catholic country in Africa one of the most Catholic countries in the world where priests and nuns and bishops are on trial for inciting from their pulpits and on the church's radio stations and newspapers the massacre of their brothers and sisters and the papacy was silent on this appalling occasion and everyone in Rwanda knows it and there hasn't yet been a properly written apology for that disgrace staying in Africa I think it will one day be admitted with shame that it might have been in error to say that aids is bad as a disease very bad but not quite as bad as condoms of that or not as immoral in the same way I say it I say it in the presence of His grace and I say it to his face the preachings of his church are responsible for the death and suffering and misery of millions of his brother and sister Africans and he should apologize for it he should show him some shame call for condemning my friend Steven she'll try for his nature per se for saying you couldn't be a member of our church you're born in said there's a revolting piece of casuistry that sometimes offered on this point yeah we hate the sin only we love the sinner Stephen is I'm sorry to say not quite like other girls it's his nature actually he is like other girls in that he's when I last checked absolutely boy mad he's not being condemned for what he does he's being condemned for what he is you're a child made in the image of God oh no you're not you're a and you can't join your church and you can't go to heaven this is disgraceful it's inhuman it's obscene and it comes from a clutch of hysterical sinister virgins who have already betrayed their charge in the children of their own church for shame for shame indeed I believe people when they say that they have experienced miracles I believe that they think that they have I think I'm obliged to credit them if it comes to that as long as they keep it to if you like if I can put it like this modestly as I dare to themselves if I believed that I was saved because once a baby boy was born and before mutilated I just was made the extraordinary that he escaped the female birth canal mother was a virgin or at least the her birth canal was only one way that thus I was a sorry thing by the way religions just taste for these regions don't you find and something to put you on your guard suppose I thought okay now I know that that must prove his teachings are true which it doesn't seem to me that they do but suppose I did and I'm going to be saved by it I think there was a wonderful secret it would make me happy it should being happy doesn't make people happy they can't be happy - I believe it - my children must be taught this stuff no sir no ma'am no day no way no shape no form you keep your illusion private and I hope it does make you happy and this perhaps some reason why would but they were told me which a week with the Pope's authority to set up say you can't have a condom comes from his ability to certify miracle a disturbance in the natural order I think it was David Hume who put it slightly fatherly this was again about the virgin birth I think which is more likely that the whole natural order is suspended or that a Jewish minx should tell a lie Claire my question is to to Christopher is how you can justify why take something away from people from 95 that gives meaning to 95 percent of the American people and replace it with something that gives meaning to just five percent of the American people ha well I'm what an incredibly stupid question first first I've said repeatedly that this stuff cannot be taken away from people it is their favorite toy and it will remain so as long as Freud said within the future of illusion will remain that way as long as we're afraid of death and have no problem which is I think like diddly quite a long time second I hope I've made it clear that I'm perfectly happy for people to have these toys and to play with them at home and hug them to themselves and so on and share them with other people who come around and play with the toys so that's absolutely fine they are not to make me play with these toys okay I will not play with the toys don't bring the toys to my house don't say my children must play with these toys don't say my toys might be a condom here we go again I'm not allowed by their toys I'm not going to have any of that enough with clerical and religious bullying and intimidation is that finally clear have I got that across thank you yes mr. sharp against the motion Christopher Hitchens um those who ask confessions from other people should be willing to make one oneself I am obsessed with sex ever since I discovered that my god-given male member was gonna give me no peace I decided to give it no rest in return seems clear to me now two people asked me to be very quick and do world poverty and the Holocaust and I'll do that there is only one cure for world poverty that's ever been found or ever will be and it's very simple it's and it can be phrased very simply - it's called the empowerment of women go to Bangladesh or Bolivia I have to ask you to hold your applause though I love you go to Bangladesh or Bolivia give women control over their reproductive cycle give them a throw in a handful of corn if you can but make them not just the the beasts of burden and the beasts of childbearing that they become and the floor will rise it just will it never fails anywhere against this one solution the Catholic Church has set its face the efforts of the missionary church in the third-world mean more people die not less it's as simple as that more famine more disease more ignorance more random and avoidable death to the Holocaust sir that the church preached that the Jewish people were collectively responsible for the death of Christ until 1964 till nearly 20 years after the Nuremberg trials may or may not have something to do with the availability of a reservoir of anti-jewish hatred in countries like Poland Spain Italy Germany Austria and elsewhere I think it does have something to do with it okay the 10 commandments three of them are all inspiring they're about being afraid of a totalitarian figure three of them ordinary morality we know of no code of ethics ever found that the archbishop bears me out on this that recommends murder theft or perjury putting adultery on the same level as that may not be morally advisable saying that covetousness should be considered in the same light as a crime in other words a thought crime you'll condemn now for something you're thinking and it may be something that leads you to enterprise and emulation that's forbidden - that's very very if it seems to me and there's a very iffy part of it which lumps those you mustn't covet in with the animals and the chattels and your property and those who it lumps in are your women folk and do you I do seriously expect you to be taken seriously if you say that that commandment doesn't reduce women to beasts of burden and child bearers and Chapel has nothing to do with the appalling position of women not just in poorer societies but in ours as well the gain for shame if you can feel it now unanswered questions amazing I asked where is Cardinal law bernhard law and why i have an authority here he ducks the question and Widdecombe sorry i've got one more thing to say for now he also says that the church advises against homosexuality it teaches against it nerd doesn't anymore than it teaches against divorce or contraception where it can it bans these things and punishes them and writes them into the criminal code if all you were doing sir ma'am were offering advice we could probably be fine with it no wonder where they asked repeatedly would say whether they thought Stephen Fry my friend was in a state of mortal sin or not they wouldn't tell you something about the question brought out they're in a coward well I say that homosexuality is not just a form of sex it's a form of love and it deserves our respect for that reason that if when I when my children were young I'd have been proud to have Stephen as their babysitter and I told them they were lucky and if any one came to my door was a babysitter wearing Hurley orders I call first a cab and then the police and and it's your fault sir ma'am it's your thought that that's true and that everybody knows it's true now you can live with it I don't know now relativism I thought we were agreed but and welcome says slavery has to be considered in context what's more relative than that but there were people at the time Thomas Paine Benjamin Franklin do enumerable humanists and sectaries who said slavery is is evil the church wouldn't agree now which is it then is it that the church is wrong or even more suggestive that God has not yet revealed that it's wrong to them or did God support it all that all this yes and then change his mind from it from a beginning point of absurdity you arrive at a terminal point of absolute moral chaos and I think you've at least done us the favor of making that plain this evening God in short God did not make man in his own image it is precisely to the contrary mammals and primates made many gods and many churches in their own rival images and that would explain if these churches and faiths were invented by primates who were only half a chromosome away from a chimpanzee which happens to be the case it would explain a lot would it not I can't offer you absolution not in my power to do it Stephen can't offer you absolution first of all we think we believe with more or less no there's no such thing but if you confess your sins specifically if you name them and don't just make them general if you do so truly repenting of them without any purpose of evasion and if you make a firm purpose of amendment you might be able you might be able still while this time to live with your conscience is I wish you all the luck in the world in pursuing that course of action audience you've all voted again now the moment of truth panel let me remind everybody that before the debate when everybody came in this is how you voted for the motion that the Catholic Church is a force for good in the world 678 against the motion 1102 and the undecided the don't knows were 346 this is how you voted subsequently for the motion that the Catholic Church is a force for good from 678 it's gone to 268 I'm sorry against the motion it's now 1876 and you can see that doesn't leave very many don't knows it's 34 undecided so commiserations Archbishop and Anglican congratulations Stephen Fry Christopher Hitchens thank you

Channel: Agatan Foundation

Views: 2,499,611

Rating: 4.9005342 out of 5

Keywords: one, Best, of, Amazing, Arguments, And, Delivery, Atheism (Religion), Atheist (Religion), Antitheism (Literature Subject), Debate (Quotation Subject), Religion (Literary Genre), Philosophy (Professional Field), argument, funny, Science (Literary Genre), great, nice, cool, Good, Fun, debate, comeback, answer, Christopher Hitchens (Author), anti-theist, anti, theist, clever, intelligent, bright, smart, Catholicism (Religion), catholic, church, al, Al Sharpton

Id: uqjfGFHes0w

Length: 21min 5sec (1265 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 03 2014

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VIDEO	VOTES - COMMENT
Best of Christopher Hitchens Arguments And Clever Comebacks Part Two	31 - Here's part 2 if anyone is interested:
(1) Christopher Hitchens vs Rabbi Shmuley Boteach in this debate (2) Christopher Hitchens vs Shmuley Is There An Afterlife ? (3) Christopher Hitchens, Harold Kushner and Peter Gomes - God: Big Questions... Bigger Questions [2009] (4) Debate: Atheist vs Jew (Christopher Hitchens vs Rabbi David Wolpe)	27 - Here's four off the bat 1,2,3,4. I may be able to find more if you're interested.
Best of Sam Harris Amazing Arguments And Clever Comebacks Part Three	12 - There's a Sam Harris version that's pretty good as well.
Best of Christopher Hitchens Arguments And Clever Comebacks Part Three	8 - And part 3!
Josh Zepp interviews Suey Park.	2 -
[2 Hour Version] Christopher Hitchens & Stephen Fry - Intelligence Squared Debate [2009]	2 - Here is the actual debate. It is worth a watch. The audience voted at the beginning of the debate on the Motion ("The Catholic Church is a force for good in the world"), and then they voted on the exact same question after the debate. Thos...
Hitchens 2010: In Love with Argument	1 -
Debate - William Lane Craig vs Christopher Hitchens - Does God Exist?	1 - Here's a good debate
Christopher Hitchens on Hannity & Colmes about Rev. Falwell's Death	1 - My favorite was on Fox news after they yelled over him a bunch he said "If you gave Jerry Falwell an enema he could be buried in a matchbox." Right before they cut the feed. Clip

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[u/Djs3634]

There's a Sam Harris version that's pretty good as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW2y1z_ReVk

[u/Baroness-Isak]

Love me some Hitch.

I imagine if he wouldn't have gotten into literature he could've made one of the most feared and sought after lawyers/legal scholars there ever was. His logic and deduction was amazing.

[u/kylelibra]

Here's part 2 if anyone is interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBPCiQakKPk

[u/bearCatBird]

"I am obsessed with sex. Ever since I discovered that my god given male member was going to give me no peace, I decided to give it no rest in return."

[u/Heineken_jamm]

I miss him :(

[u/LolFishFail]

It's a damn shame he's not with us any more. I miss his work like I do George Carlin's stand up. I don't think I've heard anyone argue so eloquently and as articulately as Hitchens. Though he was a drinker and a smoker it eventually caught up to him, one of my favourite quotes of his; "I burned the candle at both ends and it often gave a lovely light.".

[u/Lucifuture]

My favorite was on Fox news after they yelled over him a bunch he said "If you gave Jerry Falwell an enema he could be buried in a matchbox." Right before they cut the feed. Clip

[u/Masuerta]

Forget Hitchens, i'm more interested in those percentage change figures at the end. Can someone explain why they're correct?