Chris Hedges Warns of Dangerous Threat Posed by Fundamentalist Atheism

Posted by Manila Ryce, The Largest Minority at 2:15 PM on April 11, 2008.

Chris Hedges hits the nail right on the head in this interview with Thom Hartmann while promoting his new book, “I Don’t Believe in Atheists”. In Hedge’s previous book, “American Fascists”, he railed against the new breed of Fundamentalist Christians monopolizing the poor of America. Now Hedges explains why learning about people like Jerry Falwell prepared him for the equally dim mindset of Fundamentalist Atheists like Christopher Hitchens.

Christopher Hitchens is a narcissistic pro-war bigot whose God is his own ego. He attempts to deny human nature by externalizing evil as a byproduct of religious philosophies. Hitchens drives such a hypocritical wedge of superiority between his philosophy and those of theists that he ends up arguing for the infallibility of his own group.

It is important to recognize that history’s worst persons were just as human as you and I. Failing to accept the commonalities of human kind has allowed freedom-loving Americans to stand behind a fascist government and Israelis to defend Nazi-style tactics against Palestinians. Likewise, it’s the same mental dichotomy of “me versus everyone else” which prevents Hitchens from realizing the similarities between him and the religious fanatics he condemns.

Hitchens’ fascist quest to forcibly bring Muslims into “reason” is identical in all respects to the most radical fundamentalist preachers who call for a new Christian crusade in the Holy Land. The most striking difference, however, is that Hitchens is actually taken seriously on shows like Real Time, as if his agenda had more merit than Pat Robertson’s.

Just as Fundamentalist Christianity uses religion to achieve the most un-Christian ends, so too does Fundamentalist Atheism use the spirit of agnosticism to foster intolerance and justify dominance over non-converts. Hitchens’ followers worship the personality of their jingoist god just as much as he worships himself. In my opinion, anyone who confuses Hitchens’ condescending wisecracks for honest intellectual inquiry would do well to read more than just Vanity Fair.

The role of philosophy, religious or otherwise, is to provide assistance in a person’s ongoing quest for truth, not to allow a suspension of rational thought by providing you with a final and absolute answer.

Then again, I could be wrong.