Soul Laboratory

It may seem odd to have the first substantial post to this blog be a eulogy, but the death of Christopher Hitchens announced today affords me the opportunity to introduce a few key concepts that are at heart of the Soul Laboratory.

Christopher Hitchens was a freelance reporter, most know for his work at Vanity Fair, his opposition to the Vietnam War, his liberal and socialist political positions, his advocacy of the war in Iraq, and most recently his fervent advocacy of atheism, or anti-theism as he put it. It is only his positions on the destructive nature of religion that concerns us here. He leaves behind a wife and three children, and I send my deepest sympathy to them. His wit, intelligence, and dedication to his cause is lost to the world. I regret that I began this blog too late to engage him directly.

As an advocate of anti-theism Hitchens identified religion almost exclusively with the theology of religious institutions, which he decried as inherently irrational and explicitly destructive. I will not defend religious institutions here or anywhere else. Indeed Hitchens ideas are so excellently argued that they are worthy of a lengthy description that I will provide in a later post. For now let’s just identify three points to which I’m opposed: 1) Rationality is not what Hitchens thinks it is. 2) Spirituality is not religion. 3) Human dignity is not served through attacks, even if the target is deserving.