Catholics humiliated by Christopher Hitchens and Stephen Fry
The problem (from the Catholic point of view) was that the speakers arguing for the Church as a force for good were hopelessly outclassed by two hugely popular, professional performers.
I was at this debate on Monday evening. It was entertaining; Hitchens and Fry made strong, well-presented arguments and essentially destroyed their opponents, roared on by a partisan audience that scented ecclesiastical blood.
The Telegraph's quote isn't accurate, however. The problem wasn't that the debaters were mismatched (although there was clearly an intellectual gulf between the two sides) but that the Catholics had no answer to the attacks of Hitchens and Fry, and presented no compelling counter arguments.
I think it was the child abuse scandals that finally swung the audience. The debate is due to be broadcast on 7th November; watch out for Ann Widdecombe's astonishing explanation for the Church's failure over child abuse.
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He also ponders why Hitchens was drinking whisky. Well. Because he drinks it like water. He was probably drinking water to stop himself from passing out under the lights. Even more bizarre considering he's supposed to understand addiction and presumably, alcoholism. "Andrew M Brown is a writer specialising in the influence of addiction and substance abuse on culture and celebrities." Ironic that a man of faith is a specialist on addiction.
