From an exchange between Christopher Hitchens and Maryiln Sewell, a Unitarian minister:
Maryiln Sewell: The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make and distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?
Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.
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After reading the transcript, which has been neatly edited, and listening to the full interview, I'm not sure I grasp the full silliness of this.
How many times does one need an aethist to confirm that one is not a Christian before one eventually admits to being an agnostic, while continuing to hold fast to the belief that one is a Christian?
There are so many issues here that are deserving of debate, but I'll stick to agreeing with your original thought here, Todd.
Hitchens is difficult to dislike. Easy to disagree with, but difficult to dislike.
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