{"id":713,"date":"2010-09-20T20:05:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-20T20:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/its-everybody-pray-for-hitch-day.html"},"modified":"2010-09-20T20:05:00","modified_gmt":"2010-09-20T20:05:00","slug":"its-everybody-pray-for-hitch-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/its-everybody-pray-for-hitch-day.html","title":{"rendered":"It’s “Everybody Pray For Hitch Day”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
I had the privilege of hearing Christopher Hitchens speak last spring about his new autobiography Hitch-22<\/i>.\u00a0 He seemed a little more worn-out than I expected, though still fascinating.\u00a0 He was very funny and very erudite.\u00a0 Just a few days later we all learned that he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Apparently today is officially (whatever that means) \u201cEverybody Pray for Hitchens Day.\u201d He talks about all of this and more in his October Vanity Fair<\/span><\/a> article.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
There is not much that I can add to what Hitchens himself has to say.\u00a0 I get the impression that the \u201cEverybody Pray\u201d declaration for today was done in the spirit of caring.\u00a0 I can\u2019t imagine someone like Rabbi David Wolpe having anything but good intentions.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
Yet I can\u2019t help but wonder why religious people always have to insert even their well-intentioned beliefs into the affairs of others.\u00a0 If they really respected Hitchens they\u2019d wish him a full recovery in the spirit of his own beliefs.\u00a0 They would not make a public statement that is so clearly aimed at challenging his world view.<\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
I share his world view, at least when it comes to beliefs in the supernatural.\u00a0 So I will merely wish him well and hope sincerely for his recovery.\u00a0 He has a wife and children who will be devastated by his loss.\u00a0 Selfishly I would add that he has been an inspiration to people like me.\u00a0 There are a great many people who would mourn his untimely loss.\u00a0 We\u2019re with you, Hitch.\u00a0 We hope you get well soon.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had the privilege of hearing Christopher Hitchens speak last spring about his new autobiography Hitch-22.\u00a0 He seemed a little more worn-out than I expected, though still fascinating.\u00a0 He was very funny and very erudite.\u00a0 Just a few days later we all learned that he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Apparently today is officially (whatever […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,24],"class_list":["post-713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogentries","tag-atheism","tag-liberal-judaism"],"yoast_head":"\nIt's "Everybody Pray For Hitch Day"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I had the privilege of hearing Christopher Hitchens speak last spring about his new autobiography Hitch-22.\u00a0 He seemed a little more worn-out than I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/its-everybody-pray-for-hitch-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It's "Everybody Pray For Hitch Day"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I had the privilege of hearing Christopher Hitchens speak last spring about his new autobiography Hitch-22.\u00a0 He seemed a little more worn-out than I\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theatheistrabbi\/2010\/09\/its-everybody-pray-for-hitch-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Atheist Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-20T20:05:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeffrey L. Falick\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeffrey L. 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