In honor of the good man Christopher Hitchens, a friend and I spent more money than we anticipated ($9 each) on shots of Johnnie Walker Black. Neither of us is big into hard alcohol by any means, but a YouTube video revealed that this particular brand and type was Hitchens’ favorite. We just had to have a toast.
Of course, we couldn’t have a toast without a proper discussion of the man. We mostly meandered about his intellectual prowess and stunning vocabulary, stepping into his views on women and freedom and religion, but for due respect we brought with us each a quote. First, by my good friend:
That which can be asserted without evidence, can be dismissed without evidence.
A spin on Sagan, which was a spin on Laplace, which may have been a spin on Hume, for sure, but nonetheless potent. And mine:
It could be that all existence is a pointless joke, but it is not in fact possible to live one’s everyday life as if this were so.
This seems to be a rather pragmatic defeat of all theist attacks on atheism, but I’m still chewing on it.
Filed under: Atheism/Humanism | Tagged: Christopher Hitchens, Johnnie Walker Black |
For the Sake of Science 
Also my favorite by happenstance. $9 dollars does seems a bit steep, but you get what you pay for. I’m not sure it is the best blended whisky of all time, but it is damn good and indeed, the breakfast of champions.
$9 is a bit steep. $30 or so will buy you the whole bottle. Here in Tulsa, $10 a glass will get you Balvanie Doublewood, my personal fav.
Love the quotes. He was an exceptional thinker, and even if you thought he was wrong you always had the sense that he could make a damn good case for why he was right.