For Knowledge

“I want to live my life taking the risk all the time that I don’t know anything like enough yet …”

You may have missed it, but two weeks ago one of my contemporary inspiring figures died at age 62. Christopher Hitchens, author, journalist and best known for his atheist writings, debates and harsh language, left his last breath after a long battle against cancer.

Next to Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris I think he was the leading voice in a new form of atheism that’s not only trying to leave religion alone and taking distance from it as we saw happening in the late sixties but actually attacking organized theocratic religion. Because it does serve a purpose, unlike many liberal thinkers who think it’s better to just leave it alone.

‘God is Not Great – How Religion Poisons Everything’ – his bestseller explains in a very narrative yet documented and brilliant way how religion is the main source of hatred, discrimination, abuse, and oppression. It explains how it’s impossible and completely irrelevant for atheists to disprove God. How can you disprove something of which the existence hasn’t been proven? Think of the Flying Spaghetti Monster Metaphor of Dawkins. I simply hate when you go into the debate “But you can’t prove there’s a God either”.

I recently had a talk with somebody that pointed out to me to say “I believe there is no God” is actually also a form of religion since you do believe in something. That’s absurd. First of all, even though I don’t need to disprove the existence of God because somebody else claims the existing (see above), I am simply convinced there is none. It’s not a matter of faith; it’s a matter of rationalism. Second of all, you can’t put atheism on the same line as other religions since it does not require a supreme being in any way.

Thank you Christopher, for showing more people to way into true knowledge, morals and existence.