The subject was God and religion, and I served as defender of faith against the prosecutorial efforts of Christopher Hitchens.
The audience was there to hear Hitchens at the peak of his powers, and I was the New Jersey Generals.
The lesson I took from that experience was simple: Trying to defeat charismatic men with facts and logic is a fool’s errand.
Hitchens’s “religion poisons everything” account of human history was a mixture of balderdash, historical caricature and barely-veiled anti-religious bigotry.
The lesson I actually took was, Ross, you blew it, do better next time.
Persons:
Christopher Hitchens, Hitchens, Ross
Organizations:
New, New Jersey Generals
Locations:
Nantucket, New Jersey