In other news:

[Strong Atheist]

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=14909

[cosmik debris]

1. That D’Souza guy is completely out of touch with reality

“Christianity brought these values into the world,” he argued, claiming that slavery was abolished in Christian societies between the fourth and tenth centuries.

Has he never even heard of Mississippi? Is he completely unfamiliar with our Civil War? What planet is he from? And why did it take 4 to 10 centuries for the good christian societies to come around?

[laconicsax]

2. Not only that, but what Christian societies abolished slavery in that time?

Rome was a Christian society by that point and they were big into keeping slaves. Slavery was so widespread in Europe that the Church felt the need to repeatedly outlaw selling Christian slaves to non-Christian areas. Of course they had no issue with the African slave trade. Hell, Pope Nicholas V issued a papal bull encouraging the slave trade as a way to remove non-Christians from their native lands, allowing for easy conquest.

As usual all D'Souza can do to make his case is obfuscate the truth and fabricate lies.

[Silent3]

3. Can we atheists elect a new public representative?

Why is it always Hitchens invited to these things to represent the Voice of Atheism?

Of course, I think I know the answer, or at least part of it: Hitchens is more controversial, especially with that book title of his, "God Is Not Great", Hitchens' questionable sobriety is (for some) entertaining, and perhaps it's easier for people not fond of the idea of atheism to find him annoying and dismiss him because of it.