Hitch Dependency Syndrome

AKA: Why I’m going to miss that big lovely bastard

There’s almost no point listing superlatives about Christopher Hitchens. Not only have they all been uttered in the wake of his death, but it’s a certainty that any turn of phrase you could use to describe him would’ve been made 100 times better by the man himself. Hitchens was as eloquent as Stephen Fry, as intelligent as Bertrand Russell, and as outspoken as Roy Keane (I know I’ve cheapened the analogy by bringing a footballer into it, but nevertheless...)

To me he remains an inspiring figure. Just as I began to turn to philosophy, my main interest was in the debates of God. Dawkins impressed me with his calm rationality and persistent arguments, but Hitchens orchestrated a different dimension of respect. His willingness to say what needed to be said, his clear thinking and precise opinions, his superior wit: Hitchens was the master at what he did.

The videos of him on YouTube are what really blew me away. I spent hours just watching him speak. He would happily put himself into a debate, submerging into a hostile environment and come out looking the most reasoned by miles. Even when supporting points that even the most ardent of the anti-religious would fret over (such as the faith of Mother Teresa and Jerry Falwell’s death), Hitchens would at least rationalise his approach and would come out stronger for ignoring the usual taunts of the opposed (One frustrated priest laughably offered to ‘take it outside’ during one debate).

One of my favourite videos of Hitchens is him having a live discussion with a rabbi. The rabbi facetiously remarks that his son ‘cried more over his first haircut than his circumcision’. Hitchens goes quiet as the audience laughs, before launching into an impassioned tirade about the repulsiveness of such practices and the fact that they can lead to infection and death. His raise in tone showed that behind what initially appears to be a cold and stony exterior laid a heart that burned for the wellbeing of humanity.

He’s become a popular figure on YouTube for his impenetrable speeches and magical putdowns. The ‘hitchslap’ as it’s known by supporters is a running trend on YouTube, and I’m happy to be the amount of Hitchslap videos must be well into the hundreds. It seems when somebody speaks with such vigour, the scent of that aura is impossible to resist. Hitchens speaks proudly and fiercely, and destroys any track of reasoning that doesn’t satisfy him. The jugular vein of an opponent remains in his sights at all times.

It’s easy to speak highly of someone you agree so much with, but Hitchens had certain political opinions that I differed to. His support of the Iraq war and the Bush presidency (albeit only “slightly”) was perhaps a surprising conviction for a man who seemed so far away on the political spectrum. However, he was a man of priority, and he held in highest regard the protection of citizens from the forces of terror. There was method behind his unexpected thinking, whether you considered it right or wrong (the answer is wrong, by the way).

Despite being diagnosed with cancer last year, Hitchens continued to discuss, write and debate. His discussion with Tony Blair was a wonderfully intriguing bout. Both showed their class, Hitchens moreso in spite of his clear and distressing illness. It’s a poignant summation: Hitchens was a battler. He made the almighty force of religion look ridiculous, he fought under the banner of socialism in a country where it’s scoffed at, and he was an almighty power in the arena of debate.

I wrote the last half of that paragraph in present tense at first. I guess it’s still strange to know that Hitchens is now gone. He was an inspirational figure to me, and to many. His philosophy will live on in the people he influenced. Hitchens deserves his to find a place in his own personal heaven... for him that’s nothing at all. Here’s to his tremendous past, and non-existent afterlife.

RIP The Hitch.