Peter Hitchens is one of the UK’s most recognizable conservative commentators. She is an atheist and led to the cross by her deceased brother Atheist Campaigner, and frequent Mail on Sunday columnist Hitchens has developed quite a name for herself with views that will sometimes leave you scratching your head in disbelief at how from all sense of normality. Throughout his career, he has discussed a variety of subjects, from the death of moral common sense to the follies of post-1960s liberalism to his conversion narrative away back from atheism and towards Christianity.
Early Life and Career
Peter Hitchens was born in 1951, the younger brother of the late journalist and prominent atheist Christopher Hitchens (*). These brothers would grow up in the same home, yet world apart. After spending his youth as a Trotskyist and self-declared atheist, Peter later returned to Christianity; Christopher remained an atheist for the rest of his life. It is also one of his most defining features, the journey from leftist politics to conservatism was about as real a human transformation as you could experience in that era.
With a degree from the University of York, Peter started his journalism career at The Daily Express where he covered international events. This experience abroad, particularly in Moscow and Washington D.C, highly impacted his philosophy; a clear anti-communistic mainstream.
Return to Christianity
Perhaps the most remarkable of all Hitchens’ movements is back to Christianity. His parents raised Peter in a professing Christian home, but he embraced atheism as an adolescent. But in his early 30s (in the late 1980s) he started to look at atheism and think this didn’t quite cut it, so ended up back with Christianity. His re-encounter with the Church of England is habitually dated to a meditation on art and architecture (prompted ultimately by viewing Rogier van der Weyden’s Last Judgement in Agincourt, France) that led him back inside medieval hospital walls. The blunt picture painted of humanity’s destiny when facing divine judgment, had him question the very existence of a higher power and Christianity as a moral guide.
Though Christianity can support decency and order (themes Peter elaborates on in other works), for him, it is these principles that make a Christian society strong. He laments the decline of English society into ever-greater secularisation and the loss of its Christian heritage. His criticisms are not restricted to religion; he often claims that contemporary leftist dogmas have sapped society of moral fiber, denouncing “liberals” and making the case for one big thing or another.
Political positions as well as commentary on contemporary conservatism
Hitchens now spends much of his time contributing political commentary and he does not like the state of modern conservatism. Despite being a self-styled conservative, he has been strongly critical of the Conservative Party in Britain for what he sees as its betrayal of principles to do with neoliberalism. For years, he has philosophically struggled with what he perceives to be the party’s anti-conservatism regarding Britain´s national identity, culture, and values.
In his 2010 book The Rage Against God he repudiates the views, especially on religion and atheism), of Christopher (the two brothers are not close) as shallow at best. The Hitchens brothers enjoyed a famously fractious, but loving relationship — battling over religion and politics in public debates despite their opposite views.
Peter has also been a fierce critic of Britain in its involvement with wars overseas, most notably the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. In his view, they have had only marginal benefits to national security or international stability and are emblematic of a more general deterioration in Western political leadership.
Society & Culture
Hitchens comments not only on politics and religion but also on many other things going on in today’s society. He is caustically dismissive of modern culture, especially when it relates to drug use, education, and the family. For example, he was a strong proponent of tougher drug laws after blaming them for an increase in social chaos as his evidence showed that the liberalization of drug policy led to less than positive results. This is summed up in his book The War We Never Fought, which declares the UK’s soft touch on drugs has done nothing to stop addiction and associated criminality.
In education, Hitchens has decried the fall in academic standards and discipline among British schools. He has repeatedly called for a revival of the type of education he underwent, advocating in particular grammar schools and old-fashioned academic subjects rather than what he sees as the trendy curriculums offered by modern educational establishments.
A third regular motif in Hitchens’ writing is the falling status of “the family” as a fundamental factor and characteristic throughout British society. He will tell you that the decline in marriage and the increase in single-parent families are two major factors causing social instability, and eroding community life. Hitchens is a notorious critic of modern feminism and gender politics, pushing through in his belief that they have served to negate traditional family structures.
Controversies And Public Perception
It will come as no surprise that on many subjects, this provokes an alliance of angry critical, and ardent supporters around Peter Hitchens. His Mail on Sunday columns often provoke controversy – especially among his vociferous supporters and detractors who, thanks in part to Twitter where he is a prolific but combative user have come increasingly from outside the MSM mainstream. His critics — of which he has no shortage on the left — fault him for being a reactionary and out-of-step with contemporary values; his defenders laud his intellectual seriousness, and willingness to play devil’s advocate against today’s taboos.
One of the most common criticisms made against Hitchens is his opposition to liberal social advancements. His strict stand against same-sex marriage attracted fierce criticism. His view on immigration (which he feels should be curbed to maintain national identity) has been interpreted as isolation.
Nevertheless, Hitchens remains a key media figure in Britain and still contributes to public debates on both national and international matters. His books remain fervently read and debated by those who wish to know more of the author’s assessment as well for its insights into what he regarded as a collapse in British society (such examples include The Abolition Of Britain)
Legacy and Influence
Now a septuagenarian, his imprint on British conservative thought is undisputed. While he may be something of a voice in the wilderness, much that Johnson has to say about contemporary Britain will strike chords with those among us who worry about an erosion of tradition and anxieties over secularisation. Over several decades, his oeuvre serves as a testament to what happens when you stick by your convictions, particularly if they are unfashionable.
In an era of bite-sized media clips and clickbait journalism, the depth of thought — sometimes even trouble-making discussion – that Hitchens brings to bear on British society is a rarity.
Conclusion
Peter Hitchens is a distinct voice within British journalism. What he espouses diverges from the political mainstream, not just entrenched lefties but orthodox conservatives too. You may disagree with his views, but there is no doubt that he has got people thinking regarding faith and political discourse. The debate goes on! In an interconnected and secular world that rings fearful with uncertainty, in Britain, identity wears many faces of doubt — including those like Hitchens for whom questioning something signals a dangerous decline.
When it comes to conservatism, traditionalism, or a melding of religion and politics Peter Hitchens represents an ideological bedrock that is simultaneously uncompromising in its intellectual rigor, as well apologetically counter-cultural.
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