By Christopher Hitchens
Arthur Koestler opened his polemic against capital punishment in Britain by saying that the island nation was that quaint and antique place where citizens drove on the left hand side of the road, drank warm beer, made a special eccentricity of the love of animals, and had felons “hanged by the neck until they are dead.” Those closing words—from the formula by which a capital sentence was ritually announced by a heavily bewigged judge—conveyed in their satisfyingly terminal tones much of the flavor and relish of the business of judicially inflicted death.
More: http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/christopher-hitchens-staking-a-life.php?page=all
What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof.
Join the discussion
Popular Posts
-
The DSK case and the silly stereotypes about American and European morals. By Christopher Hitchens "Why is that we cannot read any ... -
The administration's inadequate response to the crisis in Libya reveals a lack of courage and principle. By Christopher Hitchens ... -
In Stock. Ships from and sold by Amazon.com . Gift-wrap available. Product Description The first new book of essays by Christopher Hitch...
-
William Dembski debated CH at the Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, Nov 18, 2010. As some of you have noticed, the debate was upl... -
Time has come to publish the last post on this site. I've been posting links and articles for three years, and it's been great. I a...
-
Vanity Fair | January 2012 By Christopher Hitchens When it came to it, and old Kingsley suffered from a demoralizing and disorienting fal... -
The New York Times - Sunday Book Review Christopher Hitchens reviews ADVENTURES IN THE ORGASMATRON How the Sexual Revolution Came to ... -
In the battle for ideas, scientists could learn from Christopher Hitchens. By Michael Shermer " Although he has no formal training in... -
The great polemicist is certain to be remembered, but perhaps not as he would like. By George Eaton "Nothing concentrates the mind ... -
Our failure to respond to the Serbian atrocities prolonged the slaughter. By Christopher Hitchens "I suppose it is possible that t...
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Paine
Baruch Spinoza
George Orwell
Bertrand Russell
Leon Trotsky
Rosa Luxemburg
Socrates
6 comments:
Eloquent words from one of the heroes of reason, Christopher Hitchens (from Sewell interview). Thank you Christopher!
The great tradition starts with Lucretius and Epicurus who work out that the universe was made of atoms and is not created by any designer. It goes through Socrates, Galileo, Spinoza, people whose work is burned and despised by Jews & Christians & Muslims alike, through to Voltaire, to Darwin, to.. I'm abridging the story somewhat, this is almost the last chapter of my book, the better tradition, that of people who think for themselves, and who don't pray in aid any supernatural authority, thats what needs to be boosted, that's where you should be spending your life, is in spreading and deepening that tradition.
Lapham's Quarterly is a fantastic publication. Lewis Lapham's essays are almost as essential as the best of our man Hitch.
I strongly advise more people to read LQ.
Juan,
you are a monkey
@ beggar, thief, copyist
you are digging your own grave even deeper than before on the side of historical ignorance.
wake up christopher
just you and noam
listen
we're all working together on this one.
I found, and find, van den Haag’s position to be entirely repellent, and I am not alone.
cnx
about 2.4% of the following is true.
Arthur Koestler opened his polemic against capital punishment in Britain by saying that the island nation was that quaint and antique place where citizens drove on the left hand side of the road, drank warm beer, made a special eccentricity of the love of animals, and had felons “hanged by the neck until they are dead.”
Post a Comment