Can Civilization Survive Without God?

Can Civilization Survive Without God?: A debate

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If it wasn't the philosophical equivalent of the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral, the distinguished journalists who waited in eager anticipation around the square-shaped table at the offices of the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life on Washington's M Street in late October may well have anticipated fireworks. The Washington Post's Sally Quinn, the Economist's Peter David, the Guardian's Timothy Garton Ash, the Washington Examiner's Michael Barone, and a handful of others had been invited to witness an unusual public debate between Christopher Hitchens, enfant terrible of the New Atheism and author of the best-seller God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and his brother, Peter Hitchens, author of the more recent The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith. The two brothers had clashed in public debate before, often acrimoniously, but this event was special: it was the first major discussion between them in public since Christopher, 61, was first diagnosed with metastatic (usually fatal) esophageal cancer in June 2010. Would natural fraternal sympathy prevail over the two men's deep, and long-lasting, philosophical disagreement?