Hitchens and Boteach Debate on God

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Hitchens and Boteach Debate on God

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Whenever I come across a debate concerning the idea of God I like to pull up a chair so to speak and have a listen. I can listen to these kinds of debates for hours and hours. It is what I like to do and I think it is when I am the most happy. My mind is being provoked and it is being exposed to both sides of the argument. What better way to keep your mind in shape than to listen to a good discussion on religion and God? I, personally, cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing as regards to educating my mind.

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Mr. Hitchens started out with his presentation which lasted just under 20 minutes. But, part of that time was consumed with introductions and the like, so it really was not twenty minutes of course. His basic strategy was to outline the physical makeup of the universe and to let us know that it is acting like any natural thing would do; it is acting within its own laws which have nothing to do with a god. He details for us for us that galaxies are on a collision course and that there is nothing that we can do about that. So, what kind of a god would allow something like that to happen? Another piece of his argument is that there have been over 10,000 gods created by man, so what is another one or two? The god of the Christians of course is just another creation of the human animal. He is also of the opinion that man would be much better off without a god to believe in.

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Rabbi Beoteach is next on deck. He criticizes Hitchens right off the bat and his book " God Is Not Great. " He refers to Hitchens as a " Secular Fundamentalist Fanatic. " Christopher Hitchens hates religion and God and hope. According to Hitchens man is just a base animal with simple human desires. But, the Rabbi claims that man is a spiritual being as well. He goes on to glorify the Torah and circumcision as well. He says that God is the source of right and wrong and that the human animal is born innately with morality. He also hints that there is a designer at work and uses the human brain and eye as examples. He employs the term ' cognitive dissonance ' to those who would deny the creation of man.

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Christopher Hitchens comes back and states that he does indeed hate the Christian religion and does not want to love his enemies as the Christians are asked to do. He refers to the violence in the Bible and that gentle Jesus comes along and sings a different tune; hypocrisy. " If you want to saw off the end of your penis you are welcome to do it, but you are not to do it to a child..." It is wickednesss to mutilate a child's genitalia without their consent. He makes fun of Judaism and prefers the likes of Epicurus and Lucretius who thought that life was to be enjoyed.

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At approximately 45 minutes the Rabbi returns. He acknowledges that in the past religion had a closed mind, but who has the closed mind now? He hints that Hitchens is hurting Israel and Zionism with his language. He then goes on to discuss evolution and focuses on mutation as a feature of it. Mutation is highly improbable and takes a lot of time to occur in the human animal. Just how old is the earth and how much time would be required to transform man? The Rabbi believes in evolution, but with guidance. " If you want to see the evidence of design all you have to do is to see how smart Christopher Hitchens is. "

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Just after 56 minutes it is Hitchens turn to speak. The format is changed and he will deliver his comments sitting down. " Einstein was for a state for Jews, but not for a Jewish state. " He talks about evolution and contends that the famous Stephen Gould did not deny this fact.

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It is the Rabbi's turn again and he returns to this hate theme and the idea that Christopher Hitchens invents things. The name Baruch Goldstein is entered into the picture. This is the Jewish doctor who massacred innocent Palestinians. The Rabbi, in defense of Goldstein he says that no Jewish court anywhere would deny non-Jews to be treated on the Sabbath. He says that Hitchens thinks Jews are racist; he attacks Israel non-stop; he doesn't even know Judaism.

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There is a question and answer period occuring at approximately 1:09 minutes.

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There is some discussion concerning the ' Choseness ' of the Jews and anti-Semitism.

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Here is the video:

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