Nowhere To Go

Stop the taunting, and let's have a real debate about the Iraq war.

By Christopher Hitchens - Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2005 - Slate.com

The Iraq debate does not need to become less rude or less intense. It needs to become much more bitter and much more polarized. As I never tire of saying, heat is not the antithesis of light but rather the source of it.

When my conservative friends ask why I continue to talk with liberals, Christopher Hitchens is my defense. I love his fire and passion. Hitchens and I don't agree on everything, but we agree on; the superiority of America over islamofascism, patriotism is a good thing, representative democracy beats all other forms of government, it is ridiculous to accept the concept of moral equivalence between good and evil, the people of Iraq deserve to be free of Saddam . . and a few other things. We disagree over the value to the world of capitalism and the free enterprise system.

However this is a disagreement over how to do good. I am glad to discuss those things with someone who has proven his integrity as Hitchens has. I don't agree with him on these economic issues, but I respect his right to his opinions, since his arguments are over how to do good. I do not respect those on the left who are opposed to the war in Iraq. I am sorry, but on this issue you are not disagreeing over what is the best way to accomplish good, you are siding with evil. That is all the difference in the world.

We also disagree about the value to society of religion. On this one I think Hitchens is over blaming the group for individual actions of the few. He is right that the few who do evil in the name of religion are too often those who are the leaders of the religious groups. However I do not think again that we are arguing about the goal, which is to do good. Hitchens just has a different opinion about how to do good. I still respect his opinions even if I do not agree. He is not advocating evil.

Read this article by Hitchens. It is excellent.