After the rampant outrage that resulted from President Barack Obama coming to campus last year, I'm surprised that no such protest has mounted against an even more egregious enemy to the University's mission — Christopher Hitchens. Among the things that Mr. Hitchens has said and stands for:
* Called Mother Theresa the "Ghoul of Calcutta" and wrote a book, quaintly titled The Missionary Position, that sought to be an exposé of Mother Theresa's political opportunism.
* Is a self-proclaimed Marxist. Not like in the way that Obama is a Marxist, but like a Karl Marx Marxist.
* Considers himself not a mere atheist, but an anti-theist. He is the author of such books and articles as God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything and "The Great Catholic Cover-Up: The pope's entire career has the stench of evil about it."
The difference between President Obama and Mr. Hitchens is not merely a difference in degree; it is a different in kind. Whereas President Obama happens to be a supporter of policies that run counter to church doctrine, Mr. Hitchens is openly and vehemently antagonistic toward the institution of the Church as a whole. The God Debate is supposed to be exactly that, an open and fair debate. If, using the power of relativistic logic, Mr. Hitchens were to overwhelm his theist opponent Mr. D'Souza, could the vehement Mr. Hitchens possibly be allowed to win; though, I suggest we bring an assortment of mirrors and shiny objects to the event so that we can distract Mr. Hitchens with reflected light in order to prevent this outcome, just in case the debate gets out of hand. So the question we have to ask ourselves is this: At what cost to the Catholic integrity of our University do we advance our liberal education, or "illiberal" as D'Souza would call it, by inviting someone who is a vainly proud enemy of the Church? Is bringing someone who deals solely in antagonistic polemics really a responsible means to bring about intelligent and open discourse on the campus of America's most revered Catholic university?
Well, yes.
Sy Doan
junior
Stanford Hall
March 23
