Here are two speeches given by Christopher Hitchens. The first is “The Moral Necessity of Atheism” and the second on Free Speech in response to a proposed hate speech bill in Canada.

In London’s Westminster Central Hall on March 27, some 2,000 people turned out to hear Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins and philosopher A.C. Grayling debate a trio of religious authorities on the proposal “We’d be better off without Religion.” (The motion carried, 1,205 to 778.)

Michael Shermer takes us through the strange claims we humans put forth as truth - from alien encounters to Virgin Mary sightings on pizza pies, to hidden messages revealed while playing “Stairway to Heaven” backwards - and explains the evolutionary and cognitive basis for these lapses in reason. Shermer is the founder/publisher of Skeptic Magazine, and author of several books, including Why People Believe Weird Things. Recorded February 2006 in Monterey, CA at the TED Conference.

Notice how when you listen to Stairway to Heaven backwards first you catch only one word or so. Then when Michael Shermer tells you what to listen for, you hear a lot more. Compare this same concept to how “feeling the spirit” is used as a confirmatory experience. You are told what to look for and what it means and miraculously people feel something.