Christopher Hitchens: Twitter Reactions To His Death

Vanity Fair's announcement that journalist and renowned atheist Christopher Hitchens, 62, had died on Dec. 15 of pneumonia, a complication of esophageal cancer, sent a shockwave through social media. His name quickly climbed into the top 10 trending topics on Twitter as fans and friends shared their remembrances.

View Twitter reactions to Hitchens' death in the slideshow below.

Comments

[Tsckey]

01:32 PM on 12/28/2011

Another brilliant, deeply flawed human being (sorry, I know that's redundant) bites the dust. It happens.

[snbmcn]

05:54 AM on 12/28/2011

Hichens' funeral: All dressed up and no place to go...

[bar1ed]

09:38 PM on 12/27/2011

I'll always remember Mr. Hitchens as a man that stood face-to-face, and toe-to-toe against Ignorance.

[Ergon]

07:06 PM on 12/27/2011

Humbug. He cheerleaded the death of millions and some have the effrontery to applaud his 'moral clarity'? 

Some public intellectuals wear no clothes.

[carmenalex]

12:36 PM on 12/28/2011

Yeah, it ok for millions to die if its in a gods name.

[Ergon]

01:18 PM on 12/28/2011

You assume wrong. Still, I'd like to know what moral standing Mr. Hitchens had?

[jackjmass]

04:29 PM on 12/27/2011

He lived a life true to his nature, his beliefs and principles. He was never at a loss for an answer, never stumbling or fumbling in his replies. His logic was unassailable, even when you disagreed with it. We have lost a great, great, one-of-kind thinker, and we are poorer for it. That he loved his scotch, his cigs and his women made him all the more human, all the more approachable. Goodbye, Hitch, you had so much more to give, so much more to teach us. I will truly miss listening to his voice of indubitable reason.

[Ergon]

01:50 PM on 12/28/2011

"He lived a life true to his nature, his beliefs and principles­" .

So did Stalin.

[BillyClub]

04:16 PM on 12/27/2011

Hitch will be remembered mostly for unfairly demonizing Mother Theresa and cheer leading, a la the Neocons, for Bush-Cheney's Iraq War.

[popsiq]

12:03 PM on 12/17/2011

"Hitchens is dead."
God

[jackjmass]

04:30 PM on 12/27/2011

Brilliant, brilliant post. Wish I had said that! Bravo!

[concolor1]

07:30 PM on 12/27/2011

Not that original, alas. Years ago I saw a bit of graffiti...

"God is dead."
-Nietzsche

"Nietzsche is dead."
-God

[wakawaka09]

07:45 AM on 12/28/2011

Hitchens is dead. How is attributing that the "god" in anyway brilliant?

[Robert Galyean]

07:31 PM on 12/27/2011

Sadly, you're not.

[Oonagh]

10:35 PM on 12/16/2011

A man who lived his life his way... an interesting man... RIP

[Paul Houston]

04:22 PM on 12/16/2011

I hope there are some decent obituaries, The Economist and the Daily Telegraph normally have good ones.

[TommyMcCarthy]

05:27 PM on 12/27/2011

Thank you for that reminder Mr. Houston......To date, those I have seen have been sorely lacking in the depth I believe is due such a prolific and eloquent writer....not to mention such a complex and interesting MAN.

Must say though, for pure trival absurdity....I can't imagine THIS article can be surpassed..
Photographs....of TWEETS.
Wonder what Hitch would make of that?
Perhaps:....."Tweets are for Twits"

I post this comment some time after yours..if you have a recommendation for a good piece feel free to pass it on...should time permit.

Regards
TM

[MACDONALDBANK1]

03:11 PM on 12/16/2011

There is no scientific evidence to prove any of the cross related bogus elements of christianity and other religions. Our early human ancestors; on this earth … go back more than 6 million years … 5,996,000 years before the Greeks, Romans and the Jews. Christianity is basically a 2012 year old fictional cult.
In the year 300 AD when Emperor Constantine, who to some was the first pope; went on to fabricate & market Christianity - a fantasy - which turned out to be one of the most hateful & evil concoctions ever perpetrated on the world.

[wakawaka09]

07:47 AM on 12/28/2011

Christianity is a fictionalized end of the world death cult with a smiley face.

[nascar521]

02:35 PM on 12/28/2011

Wow, talk about a fairy tale, that's a good one. Where did you cut and paste that from? "hateful and evil" you say; while the Chirstians are the ones feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and responding to crisis around the world and in their neighborhoods; helping people that no one else takes the time to notice. Next time I see an ape walking out of the jungle and applying for a social security number I'll start second guessing where we came from. Or perhaps it's as Dawkins says and we were brought here from aliens from another planet. Now those are some fantasys for you.

[MACDONALDBANK1]

03:10 PM on 12/16/2011

Hitchens was a man of courage.

www.BogusHocusPocus.com

[ibdhiker]

07:56 AM on 12/28/2011

He's gonna need it.....

[nascar521]

02:40 PM on 12/28/2011

He was an angry bitter man who lived his life for himself.

[RJGnyc]

02:47 PM on 12/16/2011

Even when I disagreed with what he had to say (which was often, especially during his appearances on Bill Maher's program) I loved the fact that he was always telling the truth. No statement was a lie delivered for dramatic effect, for entertainment or to shock. No argument went unsupported by logic. He meant what he said, and said it beautifully.

[Pablito Garcia]

01:13 PM on 12/16/2011

I'm not even totally sure what I expect...However, I'd like to see some of the remarks from his debate foils like D. D'Souza, W.L. Craig, A. McGrath, and the ilk. Heck, even Tony Blair.

I've set my desktop today to his image, going to listen to a chapter a day of my Hitch 22 audio book, and try Johnny Walker Black for the first time to mourn.

[Ergon]

01:52 PM on 12/28/2011

Check out his debate with George Galloway.

[MESGAIN26]

12:28 PM on 12/16/2011

Rip Hitchens ur intellect will surely be missed

[BlackYowe]

12:19 PM on 12/16/2011

He was for the Iraqi War and was viscous to anyone who challenged his position and he dumped his first wife and the mother of his children for another women. He smoked and drank himself to death and I think that says more about him than his writings sadly. He spent his last years trying hard to kill God. I admired his talent but he died a broken man.

[SteveSFM]

01:24 PM on 12/16/2011

No, he didn't.

[BlackYowe]

10:15 PM on 12/16/2011

Dying at 62 of cancer caused by poor choices and bitter and angry is pretty broken. Have you listened to some of the nasty comments he made in debates?. He was very nasty when someone disagreed with him on religion and on Iraq. He was a angry bitter person. I recognize his genius and his talent but he was not very good at coping with life and he died young because of it.

[turboe4truth]

01:28 PM on 12/16/2011

Sounds like you are describing gingrich......

[BlackYowe]

10:16 PM on 12/16/2011

Same kind of problems. Men who cheat on the women they have families with are pretty low in my opinion.