There are people in my life, that I feel I owe them great deal; Hitch is one of them. I owe Dostoyevski who showed me to question divine justice; I owe my high school Physics teacher Şükrü Kapucu who showed us the light of Reason and to stand firm against religious bigotry, and so on.
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| Christopher Hitchens 1949-2011 |
Hitch was known for his razor sharp intellect, his superb oratory but above all he should be remembered for his “honesty”.
What I learned from Hitch was to confront bigotry. We don’t have to “respect” the ridiculous nor unreasonable nor superstitious; we don’t have to put up with religious bigotry, and more importantly we don’t have to tolerate the intolerant.
Religions reigned far too long; and despite the agony and misery they inflicted in people’s lives they are still shown undeserved ‘respect’. Hitch until the end looked at us in the eye and taught us to confront religious dishonesty without blinking. He spoke on behalf of abused men and women who suffered in the hands of religions.
I can’t help thinking what a super-honest, fine, decent man he was, Hitch. Even with his death he demonstrated us how to die with his decency, his honesty and his integrity intact. Shall I have the same courage like him when I die?
