A wide and vague impression exists that so-called Eastern religion is more contemplative, innocuous, and humane than the proselytizing monotheisms of the West. Don't believe a word of this: try asking the children of Indochina who were dumped by their parents for inherited deformities that were attributed to sins in a previous 'life.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the oversimplified view that Eastern religions are inherently more compassionate than Western ones.
Christopher Hitchens challenges the stereotype that Eastern religions such as Buddhism or Hinduism are more peaceful and humane compared to Western monotheistic faiths. He highlights the harsh realities faced by individuals, like the children in Indochina suffering from deformities attributed to past-life sins, as clear evidence that such Eastern beliefs can also lead to suffering and moral dilemmas, contradicting the prevailing assumption of their benign nature.
In practice
In a debate about religion's impact on society, one might cite this quote to argue against romanticizing Eastern spiritual 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.
The usual false conclusions of mankind are these: a thing exists, therefore it has a right to exist.
If we do not use great care to mortify our will, there are many things which can deprives us of the holy freedom of spirit that we are seeking in order to fly more freely to our Creator, without always being bogged down with the clay of this earth. Moreover, there can never be solid virtue in a soul that is attached to its own will.
Because horror on Earth is real and it is every day. It is like a flower or like the sun; it cannot be contained.
We (Muslims) have no right, in our present misery, to boast of past glories. But we must realise that it was the negligence of the Muslims - and not any deficiency in the teachings of Islam - that caused our present decay.
Judges ought to be more leaned than witty, more reverent than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue.
Fate's arrow, when expected, travels slow.
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