It was sad to hear that Christopher Hitchens passed away yesterday. He was a great journalist, writer and essayist.

He argued that the concept of god or a supreme being is a totalitarian belief that destroys individual freedom, and that free expression and scientific discovery should replace religion as a means of teaching ethics and defining human civilization. He wrote at length on atheism and the nature of religion in his 2007 book God Is Not Great.

Hitchens often spoke out against the Abrahamic religions, or what he called “the three great monotheisms” (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). He said: “The real axis of evil is Christianity, Judaism, and Islam”. In his book, God Is Not Great, Hitchens expanded his criticism to include all religions, including those rarely criticized by Western secularists such as Hinduism and neo-paganism.

Listen to this debate between Tony Blair and Christopher Hitchens:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LP6R3R_UIH0