Remembering Christopher Hitchens: Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!
On this day, we commemorate the life and legacy of Christopher Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011), the fiercely intellectual, unapologetically outspoken writer and polemicist whose defence of free speech remains as vital today as it was during his lifetime. A prolific author, journalist, and debater, Hitchens dedicated his career to challenging dogma, dismantling authoritarianism, and upholding the principle that open discourse—no matter how uncomfortable—is the bedrock of a free society.
At a time when censorship, “cancel culture,” and ideological conformity threaten dissent, Hitchens’ arguments resonate with renewed urgency. He famously asserted that free expression must extend even to the most offensive viewpoints, not only to protect the speaker’s rights but to preserve the audience’s right to engage with challenging ideas. His razor-sharp wit and uncompromising stance on secularism, politics, and human rights made him both revered and reviled—but never ignored.
This article revisits Hitchens’ most incisive critiques, including his defence of hate speech as a necessary frontier in the battle for liberty, his dismantling of religious and political orthodoxy, and his warning against the dangers of allowing any authority to dictate what can or cannot be said.
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