{"id":1095,"date":"2007-05-09T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-05-09T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/chatteringmind\/2007\/05\/another-atheist-in-foxhole.html"},"modified":"2007-05-09T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-05-09T14:00:00","slug":"another-atheist-in-foxhole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/chatteringmind\/2007\/05\/another-atheist-in-foxhole.html","title":{"rendered":"Another Atheist in the Foxhole"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Oh, this is great fun. Read Laura Sheahen’s interview<\/a> with writer\/atheist\/furious former Trotskyist Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.”<\/a><\/p>\n

Here he is, in all his charming contrariness. An excerpt:<\/p>\n

How do you think atheists should get along interpersonally with people of strong faith? Obviously, if they’re trying to convert you, that’s one thing, but if they’re just…<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don’t mind them trying to convert me at all. I welcome it. I’ve proved to be as difficult to convert as I am to hypnotize. <\/p>\n

How many people have tried to hypnotize you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh, several. I really ought to give up smoking. So not only did I try it, but I sort of wanted it to work. I wasn’t resisting. I was really hoping it would happen, and nothing did. It seemed to come to snake oil to me, but to take a step back, a lot of my religious friends have a habit that they don’t realize irritates me, of saying that I wouldn’t…write about [hating religion] as much as I do if I wasn’t secretly a rather religious person. And that I’m really just a seeker in disguise. I basically know that’s not true of me myself. <\/p>\n

Yet you’ve made a swing politically from the left at least somewhat to the right. Do you think there’s a chance you would swing from unbelief to faith?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’d rather not put it like that, but I know what you mean. It would have to be the equivalent of undergoing some transformation of the chemistry of my brain. I might have a stroke or become an epileptic and become religious, I suppose. But it would take that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oh, this is great fun. Read Laura Sheahen’s interview with writer\/atheist\/furious former Trotskyist Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Here he is, in all his charming contrariness. An excerpt: How do you think atheists should get along interpersonally with people of strong faith? Obviously, if they’re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nAnother Atheist in the Foxhole - Chattering Mind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/chatteringmind\/2007\/05\/another-atheist-in-foxhole.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Another Atheist in the Foxhole - Chattering Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Oh, this is great fun. Read Laura Sheahen’s interview with writer\/atheist\/furious former Trotskyist Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Here he is, in all his charming contrariness. An excerpt: How do you think atheists should get along interpersonally with people of strong faith? 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Read Laura Sheahen’s interview with writer\/atheist\/furious former Trotskyist Christopher Hitchens, author of the new book “God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.” Here he is, in all his charming contrariness. An excerpt: How do you think atheists should get along interpersonally with people of strong faith? 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