Christopher Hitchens Debates Kenneth Blackwell About Religious Influence In America (VIDEO)

Christopher Hitchens was a guest on Hardball tonight along with Kenneth Blackwell, from the Family Research Council, to discuss Newsweek's recent cover story titled "The End of Christian America." The story highlighted a poll showing that while 62 percent of Americans considered the U.S. a Christian nation, a staggering 68 percent say religion is losing its influence on American life.

Hitchens debated Blackwell about this, with Hitchens declaring a crisis of faith in the country, one that shows a decisive tide is turning against the forces of religion. Blackwell disputed this, arguing that the influence of religion ebbs and flows but won't ever really fade away because we are fundamentally a Christian nation going all the way to the Founding Fathers. Hitchens vehemently fought back against this notion.

As usual with Hitchens, the debate was heated and interesting. Watch it below.

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Comments

[MarsAmbassador]

Hitchens schools yet another.

[justins79]

Blackwell professes the same old line about morality coming from Christianity, as if it was exclusively a Christian thing. He's wearing his horse blinders in front of his eyes, not the side.

[ElPerro]

Wow, Blackwell really did prove himself to be a i-diot

[MarsAmbassador]

As far as I can tell, there are two types of Christians. Those who believe in a God of love, truth, compassion, forgiveness and peace, as exemplified by the New Testament teachings of Jesus. And those who believe in a God of wrath, death, punishment, Hellfire, damnation and war, exemplified by the Old Testament. And those of the God Of Love are good people who will accept the fact you don't believe what they believe. But those of the God Of Wrath seek to stamp out and destroy anyone who does not believe what they believe. And as far as I can tell, the type of God a Christian chooses to believe in says more about them than the nature of God they purport to worship. And that's when one realizes that God has nothing to do with it. There's really just those two types of people in the world. People who can get along with others in a world of ideas different from their own, and those who can't.

[ladyvader]

If they are reading out of the Old Testament then IMO, they are not Christians, but closet Jews.

[CommonSenseBob]

It's fun watching Blackwell getting beaten to a pulp by Christopher Hitchens on a national television debate about Christianity in America.

The religious right is losing ground - people are better educated and have access to more information, thus hear arguments based on reason, rather than fear of the unknown – the greatest selling point of all religions – “trust us – we have all the answers…?

Personally, I can respect people whoelieve that God created mankind. But they can't respect me for my observation that mankind created God.

Where oh where, is a politician like the late Barry Goldwater... Instead we are stuck with their spokesmen, Rick Warner, and pseudo TV pundits such as O’Reilly (the master of hypocrisy) “talk-radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and the deeply unsubtle Sean Hannity" who profess to represent “real American values”. The best news is that they are preaching to a shrinking constituency of inward looking intolerant deeply religious bigots.

In fact, a bit like the Pilgrim Fathers, who left Britain to “escape” religious persecution. What jingoistic historians cleverly neglect to mention, was that the persecution they left behind, was the ban on Witch burning, stacking and drowning…

Welcome to the new world…

The religious right has the same self-righteous approach to life.

The slip into political joke status of America's religious right has been stunning and a joy to watch. (The Economist again...)

[JohnBryansFontaine]

Atheists are far more likely to commit suicide:

http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/abstract/161/12/2303

http://www.adherents.com/misc/religion_suicide.html

RESULTS: Religiously unaffiliated subjects had significantly more lifetime suicide attempts and more first-degree relatives who committed suicide than subjects who endorsed a religious affiliation. Unaffiliated subjects were younger, less often married, less often had children, and had less contact with family members. Furthermore, subjects with no religious affiliation perceived fewer reasons for living, particularly fewer moral objections to suicide. In terms of clinical characteristics, religiously unaffiliated subjects had more lifetime impulsivity, aggression, and past substance use disorder. No differences in the level of subjective and objective depression, hopelessness, or stressful life events were found.

CONCLUSIONS: Religious affiliation is associated with less suicidal behavior in depressed inpatients. After other factors were controlled, it was found that greater moral objections to suicide and lower aggression level in religiously affiliated subjects may function as protective factors against suicide attempts. Further study about the influence of religious affiliation on aggressive behavior and how moral objections can reduce the probability of acting on suicidal thoughts may offer new therapeutic strategies in suicide prevention.

[JohnFromCensornati]

Oh, this explains why they enlist atheists rather than religious nuttbarrs like you as su-icide.bommerz.

[JohnBryansFontaine]

As far as terrorist - as well as atheist - states go, Stalin's Soviet Union and Mao's People's Republic murdered hundreds of millions of innocent lives. Not to mention the high levels of killing committed in North Vietnam and North Korea.

[Cambridge9]

Hitchens had himself water boarded so that he would have a working knowledge of the argument before he was part of a similar discussion with regard to torture. He's weird, but I can't argue that he is a clever debater and it just so happens that I mostly agree with his point of view.

[marxmarv]

It is weird to actually do your homework and research anything first-hand anymore. Too bad.

[SimplyBkuz]

I really wish the mainstream media would stop using Hitchens as the one and only representative of Athiests. This is one thing I happen to agree with Hitchens on, but on so many other things he is wrong (first and foremost, war). In addition to his obvious alcoholism, his crazy opinions on other topics makes him lose credibility. I really wish they would start interviewing Sam Harris or other athiests who have much more credibility than the drunken war mongoring Hitchens.

[duchamp2008]

I'm always impressed by Hitchens. He's very articulate for a guy with a drinking problem.

[norkas]

Religious leaders today are often ego driven and have NO idea what it is to be a spritual person.

I respect every religion and know everyone is my brother and sister. Many believe in G-d very strongly but will not go to church or any other religios insitution because of the lost ways of almost all religious teachers and leaders.

MONEY, MONEY , MONEY, MONEY GREED AND EGO has caused enough discourse with religious leaders and perhaps they will wake up one day .

Do they not see today how the worlds people are changing of course not.

Do they not see a very spritual path is being take by the many very rich as well?

Soon almost everyone will see most religious leaders are lost souls who often been teaching anything but a spritual path

[GodIs]

Because infidels reject God, their transgressions are not forgiven and they are subject to eternal de.ath. Men are condemned to he|| when they sin against the light of nature and their conscience. Rejection of God greatly intensifies the sinner's guilt, but it is not the source of the guilt. If not believing were the only sin of damnd souls, then the heathens who are unaware of God’s Word would have to be excused by a just God, but sin is not a physical ailment. It’s an im.moral choice. The wicked are without excuse. God is just.

[GreyFlcn]

That's fine. Believe whatever you want. Just keep your imaginary friend outside of politics.

[Sepulchre]

Wow... God doesn't give you unconditional love? That's pretty sad because you can get unconditional love from a dog.

[pjburke]

I myth your point entirely... you are using words, but they say nothing which has any actual content or meaning.

[SimplyBkuz]

You're scary.

[Cambridge9]

Whose god are you talking about? Are you referring to the Christian (expand that to a multitude of sects) god, or maybe Muhammad, or maybe mother earth, or the golden calf, or Jehovah, or any of a dozen or more gods believed in by people of diverse countries and backgrounds. And does this god require that he/she be worshipped in a man made edifice or can i walk outside my kitchen door and be in his church, and do I have to kneel in order to talk to him/her?

And just who are the INFIDELS? Can I assume they are those of us who don't pray to YOUR god??

[leeman79]

Get religion out of politics, once and for all.

[AlwaysaLiberal]

Hitchens is dead on but he's going to be questioned because he's British. They should have had someone like Thom Hartmann or Bill Maher do this.

[arabianway]

There is a distinction to be made between organized religion and spirituality. I have sampled numerous belief systems and denominational gatherings over the years for purposes of curiosity and sometimes entertainment. Believe me when you attend a "tent revival" and see people hurling themselves to the ground being "slain in the spirit", and talking in tongues, it's entertaining! Also, evangelical Christianity and Catholicism are two very different things. So, having done my homework so to speak, I have no use for organized religion of any kind. Too much hypocrisy. Evangelical Christians seem to believe that, having been baptised and "accepting the lord" they, and no one else will see "Heaven". Then use this free pass as an excuse to sin (oops! I was raised Catholic). What goes around, comes around, The Law of Karma, and, from the Bible, you reap what you sow. No dichotomy anywhere there.

[norkas]

GREA POST ARABIANWAY. THANK YOU

[SouthpawSass]

One man's religion is another man's fantasy. Live and let live.

[dm10003]

i'd be happy to let christians be if they'd let me be. they don't bother me until they attack me and interfere with my life as if it is indistinguishable from theirs.

[papapj]

Religion is not as benign as you indicate - it is mental slavery and is the basis of more discord among mankind than anything else.

[SimplyBkuz]

Amen.

[alltwisty]

Thank God for secular enlightenment ... and Christopher Hitchens.