A hitch in time.

So as not to bury the lede, let me start by saying God is Dead. 

If one were to look at the current situation in America, and around the world, one could safely make that argument. It certainly stands to reason, even to the most myopic of viewers, that god did not bless America. To the contrary and simply observing the cruel, sadistic, racist and misogynistic behavior of our elected leaders, he or she or the Flying Spaghetti Monster itself, cursed America.

But allow me to return to the man pictured above. If you're a non-believer, like me, you certainly recognize Christopher Hitchens. An incredibly thoughtful and articulate man who I discovered some thirty years ago. Now I see him everyday on my social media feed. Such is the nature of clicking one video snippet, whether it be Christopher Hitchens, a woman in a bikini or a cat on a robototic vacuum.

I'm going to assume you are not the target of his enthusiastic and brilliant views on the Lord/organized religion and most importantly, logic. 

So I'd like to offer a primer on Mr. Hitchens, keeping in mind that I have neither the eloquence or the brilliance to do posthumously do him any justice. But that kind of modesty has never stopped me before and it won't stop me now.

To begin with, there is an accepted principle "one cannot prove a negative." The infallible Google AI machine insists that it is possible to prove a negative, though inordinately difficult. 

To that, Hitchens delighted in telling audiences that it is not the responsibility of the Atheist (with a capital A) to prove god does not exist. It is up to the theist to offer evidence that he/she/Spaghetti Monster does exist. And to date, in the thousands of years mankind/womenkind/theirkind -- I still support DEI -- has  never produced one scrap of evidence for the existence of any deity. Personally speaking, that lack of evidence in theism only reinforces my atheism.

Theists will squirm and offer up the "something can't come from nothing" logic pretzel. "How did we all get here?" "How did life begin?" "Something must've created it?" To which Hitchens, as well as many other philosophers retort, "suppose I buy into your creator theory, then who or what created a god?" Which undoubtedly brings about a weak sauce response of, "Well, god has always been here."

Not only does this disprove the original assumption of origination, it begs the question what was god doing before exhaling through his/her/divinepastalike nostrils to put the forth the time/space/matter/energy continuum? The boredom, not to mention the Nothingness, is incalculable, even to the wisest clergy among us.

Hitchens advances the ball even further, stipulating that all of us are atheists. How you may ask? 

To date, there have been more than 3500 gods that have captured the unfailing adoration of billions of human beings. This includes the Abrahamic gods we know, Jesus, Mohammed, and Yahweh, plus the 3000+ that have fallen out of favor, or in Trumpian terms, "got terrible ratings" like Thor, Odin, Ra and so many more.

That you choose to believe in one, means, by definition, you don't believe in the 3499 other gods. 

While on the lecture circuit, Hitchens obliterates the folklore that defines many religions. In the interest of not offending friends, family and colleagues who subscribe, I won't pursue this line of attack, though the fruit is incredibly low and deliciously fantastical, including flying horses, burning bushes, and virgin births.

My favorite Hitchens argument is more holistic and overarching.

Are we to believe that god created the universe, which science tells us spans more than 93 billion light years across (a concept our minds are not equipped to comprehend) and is more than 14 billion years old, then waited until about 6000 years ago, singled out an illiterate sheep herder in the desert landscape of Canaan, on a planet among trillions of other planets, and whispered in his ear...

"Hey Abe, I need you to do me a favor and kill your son. Can you do that for me Abe?"

I'm sorry, count me out.