Hitchens' defense of atheism did not involve any smug self-righteousness. When one considers both the absurdity and cruelty of an all powerful deity consigning people to eternal punishment regardless of how good they are, just for choosing the wrong belief system, such a being would be guilty of the worst possible atrocity: never-ending extreme suffering for people who don't deserve such a fate.

Different people have different strengths in the intellectual firepower that they bring to various issues. Hitchens certainly made it to the top of the heap when it came to lobbing on-target criticisms at religious dogma.