Ideas have Consequences: wisdom from Peter Hitchens

I first met Peter Hitchens in 2008 when I bumped into him by accident in a coffee shop in Moscow, Idaho. After I got over my surprise at seeing this award-winning British journalist in a provincial village in the Idaho panhandle, we began to talk. It turned out that this former Marxist turned conservative journalist wanted get a grass-roots perspective of the political tensions at the time, and he had chosen this small town as his observation point. Although I was scheduled to return home later that afternoon, Mr. Hitchens persuaded me to stay until the evening so I could hear a talk he was giving at New St. Andrew’s College.

 

I was glad I decided to stay for the talk. Hitchens spoke about the upcoming election, but I was particularly interested to hear his perspective on the “culture wars” in America and England. Being a former socialist and the brother of bestselling atheist author Christopher Hitchens, Peter was able to give a unique glimpse into the strategies and goals of those who are working to undermine the Christian heritage of the West. He explained how ideas have consequences, urging that the rejection of God cannot help but bring a legacy of cultural desolation in its wake.

The notion that ideas have consequences is one of the themes in Peter Hitchens’ latest book, The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith.

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