Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way — because it’s had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But you’ve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the evolution of religious discourse and the power dynamics that have historically surrounded it.
Christopher Hitchens highlights the radical change in the way religion is discussed in society today compared to the past, emphasizing that the openness we now have is derived from a historical context where such conversations could endanger lives. He warns against forgetting the oppressive nature religion exhibited when it wielded significant control and influence, suggesting a critical examination of its power and historical behavior is necessary even when it presents itself in a more benign manner.
In practice
In a debate about the influence of religion on modern society.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
I boldly assert, in fact I think I know, that a lot of friendships and connections absolutely depend upon a sort of shared language, or slang. Not necessarily designed to exclude others, this can establish a certain comity and, even after a long absence, re-establish it in a second.
Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance.
The discovery of personal whiteness among the world's peoples is a very modern thing - a nineteenth and twentieth century matter, indeed. The ancient world would have laughed at such a distinction.
And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.
The shadow escapes from the body like an animal we had been sheltering.
Eating is an act of activism for me; it's politics.
Almost anything carried to a logical extreme becomes depressing.
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