If God exists Christopher Hitchens says we do indeed in the celestial equivalent of North Korea. His argument is this: if God exists (which he denies in the first place) our choices are to believe in and worship Him or spend eternity in hell. What kind of choice is that? Whether you agree with his argument or not, you have to admit, it’s an interesting idea to ponder.

Even if you’re not interested in debates about the existence of a god or gods there are two reasons to watch at least parts of these debates. The first is that Hitchens is a wonderful speaker and weaves elegant prose as easily you breathe air. The second is that there is some weird philosophy and logic in these types of debates that you won’t encounter anywhere else.

The first video is the first part of a debate Hitchens had with former British prime minister Tony Blair in Toronto and the second video is the first part of a debate Hitchens had with “scientist” and Christian scholar William Dembski. I may be biased but I found that both of Hitchen’s opponents had difficulty countering his celestial North Korea argument.