The museums of medieval Europe, from Holland to Tuscany, are crammed with instruments and devices upon which the holy men labored devoutly, in order to see how long they could keep someone alive while being roasted. It is not needful to go into further details, but there were also religious books of instruction in this art, and guides for the detection of heresy by pain.
Interpretation
This quote critiques the cruel lengths to which medieval religious practices went in the name of faith, emphasizing the dark side of human history.
Christopher Hitchens reflects on the horrors of medieval European practices where religious figures devised instruments for torture and prolonged suffering. It highlights a grim aspect of history, examining the intertwining of religion, morality, and inhumane actions, suggesting a critical view of the misuse of faith and the obsession with heresy detection. The reference to 'holy men' shows a stark contrast between faith and cruelty, prompting deeper reflection on the consequences of extreme beliefs.
In practice
In a discussion on the ethical implications of historical religious practices.
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.
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.
And the end of the fight is tombstone white with the name of the late deceased, and the epitaph drear, "A Fool lies here who tried to hustle the East."
In real life, coincidences happen all the time. In novels, they are leapt upon with fury.
All of us have to deal with death at one time or another, but to have in one's heart a solid conviction concerning the reality of eternal life is to bring a sense of peace in an hour of tragedy that can come from no other source under the heavens
Sometimes the shadow stays next to the Light. Sometimes it disappears into the Light
Religion is comparable to a childhood neurosis.
States organized for war will make war as surely as hens will lay eggs.
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