Christopher Hitchens answers his own riddle

One of the things that kept me away from my desk during the second half of October was a visit to Washington, during which I had a conversation with my left-wing atheist brother Christopher, sponsored by a fine body of men and women called the Pew Forum.

I did this on condition that the event was a conversation, not an adversarial debate. And so it proved. In front of some of the US capital's most distinguished journalists, we held a civilised discussion about whether civilisation can exist without God. My contention was that it could, but that a society based upon Christianity was far superior to any other kind.

You can read the whole thing on the Pew Forum's website by clicking here.

What struck me most forcefully about the occasion were some words my brother said. Those of you who have followed the great religion debate will know that he has many times issued a challenge. 'Can you name any moral action or ethical statement that could be made or performed by a believer but could not be made or performed by an unbeliever?'

He has maintained that it could not be answered.

During this Washington conversation, he answered it. And all those distinguished scribblers and broadcasters, in their accounts of the event, completely missed it.

So (and some of you will remember some fascinating earlier remarks by my brother about Isfahan that I publicised here, which had unaccountably not been noticed by anyone else, perhaps because his admirers would rather that he was as inflexibly dogmatic as they are. a common failing of admirers and disciples), I take this opportunity of recording what he said on that day in Washington, in the hope that those who are interested will notice at least that it took place.

'Here is my attempt to win my own prize. When Lech Walesa was starting his work in the Polish shipyards and the Polish Militia and the outer ring of the Polish Army were closing in on Gdansk, he was interviewed with his then fairly small group, and he was asked: "Aren't you frightened, aren't you afraid? You've taken on a whole powerful state and army - aren't you scared?" And he said: "I'm not frightened of anything  but God or anyone but God."
'This came back to me, I thought, well, this meets my two criteria. It's certainly a noble thing to have said, a distinguished thing to have said, and I certainly couldn't have said it. So it does meet both my criteria.'

I think this was a remarkably generous concession, as well as an interesting choice.  I personally wish that I had come up with this answer to the conundrum. But Christopher came up with it instead. He went on to try to qualify it by saying that the same reason had been given by others for bad actions, but actually that has no bearing on the matter. Nor do the later disappointments in Poland or the failed promise of Walesa himself. At that moment Walesa's faith gave him the courage to face the entire Evil Empire without flinching - a thing I partially witnessed myself on a frozen November day almost exactly 30 years ago and which helped to change my life.

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