Christopher Hitchens tore apart Robert Wright, author of the Evolution of God, in a debate over whether or not "religious poisons everything" yesterday on bloggingheads. Al Sharpton put up a better fight against Hitch for the love of ...um, God (hard to get around that...).
Mr. Hitchens is too brilliant, in my opinion, to waste his breath in these debates about religion. He should focus on geopolitical issues or continue to expose right-wing duplicity.It's easy game going after extremists that blow up orphanages in the name of God. Yes, indeed that is wrong. We get it. But Hitch appears borderline obsessed with this religious thing.
What was quite amusing, I found, was how near the end of the discussion Wright resorts to pure name-calling, telling Hitch he's arrogant and pompous, etc., etc. Things I am sure he has never heard before - the last refuge of someone who feels they are losing a debate.
It is always a joy to watch a master polemicist in action, however, and Hitchens does perform brilliantly in this clip as well, but I'd rather see his acrimonious sophistry applied elsewhere.