What was your reaction to Christopher Hitchens' death?

Very sad. I actually teared up a bit when I heard.

“We speculate that it is possible that, once people accepted the fact of their short and struggling lives, they may behave better towards each other and not worse.”

Chris Hitchens

Everything he’s said is just common sense. I’m so over those who speculate about how humans should work together, blah blah blah, let’s just do it already. So I’m not hating on what he talked about, I just feel we shouldn’t even have to be at this at this point in our society we’ve evolved far too much to be bickering about society still, but I guess that will be that. Good man he was.

I guess I’m not very cultured because the first time I’d heard of him was about a week ago, some shpiel about how women aren’t funny, including the especially ~brilliant quote:
“Most of them, though, when you come to review the situation, are hefty or dykey or Jewish, or some combo of the three.”

Not to say that it isn’t sad that he’s dead – and I don’t know much else about him so I’m sure he’s said something commendable – but from my perspective: Not any more upset about his death than any of the other people that die every day.

Guess we got off on the wrong foot.

WHAT? fuck me what a bag of shit, the world just got a bit more boring.

(I just found out now)

@poisonedantidote Me too. Wow this is so sad. I can’t believe it, I thought he would make it. :(

Oddly, I didn’t believe in every political stance he took yet I found him to be a voice of reason, almost heroically so. He spoke his mind. And he was not afraid to do so.

I think some small part of my mind has been in a subconscious state of wince, waiting for the inevitable headline anouncing his death.

Now it’s come, I feel a selfish sort of sadness.

Someone who I never met, whose books and articles I regularly bought and read, who positively influenced the way I interpreted the world (even when I disagreed with him), who I never thanked directly, is now dead.

I wish he could have lived longer, for my benefit, for societies benefit, and (most importantly) for that of his family and true friends.

I really enjoyed his work and I am sad that he is gone.

I believe my exact words were “Well, fuck.”.

My first thought was that he had been killed by pro-religious groups trying to silence him. I didn’t realize that he had been suffering from cancer.

He has been ill for a long time – I didn’t find it shocking, but I am sad to see him go. His was an important voice for those who were afraid to be openly atheist.

Complete lack of surprise considering the man’s health habits.

Also, can we please not canonize Hitchens? He was amazingly, amazingly wrong about the Iraq War. I think 9/11 broke something in his brain.

It was a trajedy. Very sad. A loss of a great thinker.

You can’t use the words canonize and Hitchens in the same sentence.

I wasn’t really surprised by his death because of his lifestyle, but it’s still sad to see a great man pass away. I really thank him for exposing swindlers such as Mother Theresa and the 14th Dalai Lama and teaching us that no one is truly “sacred”. RIP, my good man.
“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.” -Hitchens

@bkcunningham, LOL

All the more reason not to do so, even if you do like the fellow! He probably wouldn’t like it.

Good night, sweet Prince. And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

I didn’t always agreed with him, but I admired the way in which he said it.

An elegant an eloquent man, whatever his views. It really helps to understand someone before you can have a measured discussion or debate with him.

I actually feel a little something, instead of nothing. QQ
Who will replace his spot in the Four Horseman?

I “discovered” Christopher Hitchens about 10 years ago. He has kept me enthralled by his story telling ability, his unassailable logic, and his wonderful use of the English language.

As Mr. Hitchens said “Religion spoils everything” and I hope that there are none of those “deathbed conversions” associated with this truly wonderful man. The world is much poorer with his loss. Hopefully one of his students will rise to fill his place.

Personally (since i asked but not chipped in yet) I had mixed feelings for the guy, he wasn’t always honest in debates, punching below the belt and using the occasional well hidden fallacy, but he was a smart man and unashamed of his positions.

The world is poorer because of his death.

Didn’t agree with everything he said/wrote – but admired his no bull attitude and the fact he motivated me to rethink some of my previous opinions. So my reaction? Sad, cancer sucks, 62 yrs old is too young to pass away.

@martianspringtime He was great. Satirist people tend to always display a sense of stepping back, getting out of their shoes and putting themselves in the other persons shoes and then that way can justify why they “make fun” of a situation pertaining to an “odd” individual. He called it as he saw it, and you can’t blame getting on the wrong feet for that, just needed a little more background information.

Sad that our world has lost such a towering intellect, a truly free thinking mind.

shocked, but not surprised. I knew he had cancer for a long time. The time was going to come anyways.

No particular reaction, since I wasn’t familiar with his work. I guess “Hmm, maybe I should see what all these people are talking about and check out his work” is the closest thing to a reaction.

PZ on Hitch

http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/12/16/the-dark-side-of-hitchens/#comments

I have mixed feelings about him. While I can appreciate his intellect and religious skepticism, he was often politically inconsistent and quite a blowhard (of course, I understand that he appealed to many people for those very reasons). Also, like @martianspringtime I found that his ironically humorless article about women’s humor-or lack thereof-rubbed me the wrong way. Of course, even though I have mixed feelings about some of his views, I am still sorry for his suffering and for his family’s loss.