One night, in Boston, as we grabbed a few moments before a debate (yes, it was for a drink; after all, he is Christopher Hitchens and there are reputations to uphold), I sipped my Sam Adams and mentioned that the Muslim philosopher Al-Ghazali taught, “I can describe a religious experience to you, but describing it is to having it as reading about alcohol is to getting drunk.” He confessed to one experience but not the other…

Despite our shtick, there are real principles at stake each time. That is Hitchens’s gift: a dance between mockery and erudition. In his world, God is a fabrication and a cudgel. In mine, God is a solace and a guide. I was reminded of this distinction when I heard the sad news last week that Hitchens is about to undergo treatment for cancer. I have no doubt that he will face it with the same stoic courage with which he has met other challenges. There is no reason to suppose it will change his convictions; I have undergone neurosurgery and chemotherapy with my faith unshaken — why assume he could not emerge with his unbelief unchanged as well?

In the meantime, on we battle; Hitchens challenges me with how much evil happens in a good God’s world. I talk about religion’s contributions, its spur to altruism, and point to the mystery of consciousness and the wide testimony of religious experience. I claim that he has no warrant for free will if everything is a product of genetics and environment. He compares God to the dictator of North Korea — except with a dictator, “at least you are released from his grip at death.”