Christopher Hitchens Discovers the Awesome Influence of His Words

"Was it possible that I had helped persuade someone I had never met to place himself in the path of an I.E.D.?"

That was Christopher Hitchens' agonizing question as he wrestled, in print, with the realization of how his words can change someone's earthly destiny. My prayer is that he will eventually agonize over how his words have also impacted the eternal destiny of many.

Hitchens, of course, is often grouped with authors like Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, a triumverate of militant atheists who have penned bestselling books against belief in God. Hitchens is probably not as well known for his opinions against abortion and for the Iraq war.

And it was his pro-war articles that helped persuade Mark Daily to enlist in the Army. Hitchens discovered this when reading a story in the LA Times of Daily's death. He had been killed by an I.E.D. The story when on to describe how Daily's decision to join the fight was influenced by reading Hitchens. Upon discovering this, the author said, "I don't remember ever feeling, in every allowable sense of the word, quite so hollow."

It's a sobering thing for any of us who write or teach to discover how we've influenced the course of someone's life, for better or worse. Hitchens is a gifted writer, and he openly wrestles with the heavy sense of responsibility he feels for Daily's decision, and death.

Along the way, we learn about what an American treasure Mark Daily was. Here's an excerpt from the young man's "Why I Joined" statement on his MySpace page:

Anyone who knew me before I joined knows that I am quite aware and at times sympathetic to the arguments against the war in Iraq. If you think the only way a person could bring themselves to volunteer for this war is through sheer desperation or blind obedience then consider me the exception (though there are countless like me).… Consider that there are 19 year old soldiers from the Midwest who have never touched a college campus or a protest who have done more to uphold the universal legitimacy of representative government and individual rights by placing themselves between Iraqi voting lines and homicidal religious fanatics.

Or again, a short sentence from him jotted on a photo of him standing on a roof and looking over an Iraq city: "We carry a new world in our hearts."

And then there's his e-mail message to his now-widowed wife:

One thing I have learned about myself since I've been out here is that everything I professed to you about what I want for the world and what I am willing to do to achieve it was true. …

My desire to "save the world" is really just an extension of trying to make a world fit for you.

As Hitchens says, "If America can spontaneously produce young men like Mark . . . it has a real homeland security instead of a bureaucratic one."

Hitchens, like me, has lost some (not all) of his conviction about the Iraq war as it has worn on. I brought a sermon in support of the war effort as America and Britain entered into the war, but I echo Hitchens sentiments now:

As one who used to advocate strongly for the liberation of Iraq (perhaps more strongly than I knew), I have grown coarsened and sickened by the degeneration of the struggle: by the sordid news of corruption and brutality (Mark Daily told his father how dismayed he was by the failure of leadership at Abu Ghraib) and by the paltry politicians in Washington and Baghdad who squabble for precedence while lifeblood is spent and spilled by young people whose boots they are not fit to clean.

Hear, hear.

You should read the entire article, especially if you are a writer or teacher. Our words carry more weight than we realize, as people are thinking about what to do in their lives.

That's why, as I said, I pray that Hitchens will eventually come to terms with the corrosive influence of his writings against belief in God, just as he has come to discover the influence of his pro-war writings. If such notable atheists such as Anthony Flew can have an epiphany late in life, I won't write off Hitchens. He is, after all, much better known for his books, articles, and debates against faith than anything else. He now feels some sense of responsibility for how his words influenced someone's earthly destiny; maybe he'll eventually feel some responsibility for how his words have influenced someone's eternal destiny.