Monday, October 08, 2007

WHY CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS IS WRONG

I read an article in the Vancouver Sun about Christopher Hitchen's visit to Vancouver. I disagree with his stance on the Iraq war because it is not well considered. I know in challenging Mr. Hitchens on his opinions on the war, that I might as well be ingesting poison hemlock for the efficacy of the conversation. However, since I have the personality that likes this kind of challenge ---the bravo gesture such as the time I took down a mugger--- here goes.
Christopher Hitchens is wrong in his support of America's war in Iraq because he thinks it will wipe out Islamic fundamentalism in that country. He is dead-on about that aspect of the war that is troubling. No one would like to see the imposition of sharia law in Iraq. No thoughtful person would want to see Iraq's oil riches in the hands of the Parties of God. However, there are similar "Parties of God" in America that cannot be entrusted to wisely use oil reserves. Politicians, of both the conservative and so-called liberal parties, in that country have strong theological biases. Religion clouds their ethical judgements and their public policies. If the United States captures Iraq's oil reserves , the result will substitute the supremacy of one theological world view for another. The moral equation does not change with an American win in Iraq, just the cast.

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