Be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world

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Today, a special edition of the podcast, a rebroadcast of a classic monk debate that launched our series on the world stage. The motion, be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world.

Religion forces nice people to do unkind things and also makes intelligent people say stupid things. When you look at

the 20th century and you see the great scars of political ideology, fascism, the communism of Stalin, Absolutely at their heart was the eradication of religion.

The two debaters were two of Britain's most famous sons, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had recently converted to Catholicism, arguing for the motion. His opponent, the late, great Christopher Hitchens, an avowed atheist and author of several bestsellers, including God is Not Great, argued, naturally, against the motion. Mr. Hitchens had been diagnosed with esophageal cancer not too long before this debate was recorded. He died a little over a year later. Needless to say, it was an unforgettable debate. Two great minds wrestling with one of the biggest issues of our time. Do we need God to be good? As with all our live monk debates, the audience voted on the resolution prior to the debate. Initially, 25% of attendees voted in favor, 55% against, 20% were undecided. We did another poll at the end of the debate to find out how the evening had changed people's minds. But before we reveal the final vote results, let's jump into the debate with Christopher Hitchens' opening remarks, arguing against the motion, be it resolved, religion is a force for good in the world.

Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much to the Monk family. great philanthropists for making this possible. Seven minutes, ladies and gentlemen, for the foundational argument between religion and philosophy. It leaves me hardly time to praise my distinguished opponent. In fact, I might have to seize a later chance of doing that. I think three and a half minutes for metaphysics and three and a half for the material world won't be excessive. And I have a text. And I have a text, and it is from, because I won't take a religious text from a known extremist or fanatic, it's from Cardinal Newman. Recently, by Mr. Blair's urging, beatified on his way to canonization, a man whose apologia made many Anglicans reconsider their fealty and made many people join the Roman Catholic Church, and is considered, I think rightly, a great Christian thinker. my text from the Apologia. The Catholic Church, said Newman, holds it better for the sun and moon to drop from heaven, for the earth to fail, and for all the many millions on it to die in extremest agony than that one soul, I will not say will be lost, but should commit one venial sin, should tell one willful untruth, or should