christopher hitchens, died age 62. we have been 63 today. one that loved him or hate him, you could not ignore him. because he said things with such brilliance and insight and gift of language, never more powerful than when he was on stage, when there was an audience and a connection. a great program, here time after time as we talked about many subjects. thank you for joining us this evening. and appreciation of christopher hitchens. see you next time. >> anger i can't muster. really. because it's necessary that people die. it would be internal if people did not. people have to die in large numbers every day so as to make room. i'm leaving the party a bit earlier than i would like. much earlier than i would like. it looks as if i might have to leave quite a bit earlier. and not only that but the party will go on without me. even more horrible thought so why should i be enladies and gentlemened at that, that would be spiteful. captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

bob called the port huron statement extremely naive and quoted christopher hitchens saying it was conservativell us what kind of response you have for this. [laughter] >> i will not be provoked. [laughter] the, just several points. we were 20 or 21 years old. [laughter] and everybody said that we were extremely naive. that's why we went to jail in the south, that's why we walked into police dogs, that's why we walked into guns. because we didn't want to settle for the world that our parents had left us. and a certain amount of five today is valuable at the beginning of any social movement up to and including how the current wisconsin movement started. but we don't have time for that. the, um, the naivete was also another way to look at naivete is idealism and curiosity. and it was a method -- i don't know whose method it was, bob moses, ella baker -- but the method was to talk to people about their problems and demonstrate your commitment by going to live in places of great terror and suffering and poverty , and there was a relationship between the students who were organizers and the poor tha

but then i'm in new york to go to christopher hitchen's memorial service tomorrow so i might not be theo talk about this. >> enough said. [ laughter ] >> you make a fair point, that's their view of their religion -- >> i don't think it's anti-semantic. by if eric cantor says there is anti-semitism in the republican caucus, then there probably is. but it must not be that great or he wouldn't be the majority leader. some of which his leadership i think comes from the dark side. when you cut food stamp program and unemployment compensation and want to deny healthcare, those are things that conjure up the dark side for me. >> that's a very fair point. so now let's move on to other characters within that caucus. here is what congress -- >> do we have enough time? >> that's a good question. >> we could do a week-long show. >> we can. all right. let's go to alan west from florida. talking about you guys. all right. now you are a member of the progressive caucus once again a perfect guest here. and he just called you a communist it looks like. how do you respond. >> mccarthy -- excuse me -- not

three decades he'ses reported on afghanistan, pakistan and the rise of the taliban, the late christopher hitchens called him pakistan's best and bravest reporter. his latest book is called pakistan on the bring, the future of america, pakistan and afghanistanment i'm pleased to have him back at this table. welcome, my friend. >> thank you very much. >> rose: good to see you. tell me where we are, give me a snapshot of where we are in this moment in terms of afghanistan. >> i think in afghanistan everything right now is up for grabs. all the assumptions that were being made three to six months ago are proving wrong. and i think new assumptions will have to be made. for example, the idea that the americans can stay, keep 20,000 troops after 2014, that there will be some kind of strategic compact agreement which is actually being negotiated now between karzai and the americans. the fact is, that american soldiers are being killed by afghan soldiers. >> rose: right. >> this can get worse. i mean how will american soldiers stay on. then you know, the talks issue with the taliban. the chances are that

. >> as you know, a few years ago we had some array of best selling books by christopher hitchens, samris, richard you today kin, that were scathing about religion.today kg about religion. god a not great. and i think that that trend has subsided. and what we're seeing instead is a new wave of books by people who also consider themselves atheists or agnostics, but aren't nearly as hostile or scathing and actually do offer a measure of respect and the title of maybe the standard bearer of this is religion for atheists. >> you mention that book in which the author writes in part, the error of modern and i thesism has been to overlook how many aspects of the faith remain relevant even after their central temets have been dismissed. what are some ways that atheists are finding religion or useful that you found? >> i think that there is a growing -- i think part of it is just the heat of religious wars in the u.s. has faded a little bit over issues like science versus evolution, gay marriage. so it's easier now and also i think religion had been very much associated with the bush administra

christopher hitchens who recently died was a self-proclaimed atheist, but he was religious in my terms in that he wanted to know the answers. he spent his early life looking for answers. he thought he found them. there is no god. i think that's a crazy answer, but that was his answer. it was a religious quest he was on. i presume he knows the answers to the questions now. it's about human dignity. it's not about prophesying or imposing my beliefs on you, but to answer your question, i believe that what i just said is entirely consistent with the catholic faith, and so it has deepened my faith. as a catholic, i believe i'm being catholic in making these arguments. >> what -- this book is published by oxford, world of faith and freedom and why international religious freedom is vital to national security. what's the witherspoon institute? >> it's a privately funded think tank in princeton, new jersey. it is -- it has a whole host of programs that intersect between religion and public life. i'm fortunate to be the directer of their task force on international religious freedom, and i have