How to view death

Christopher Hitchens looked scared in the last weeks and days of his life. When the body starts to break down due to illness or injury it lets go its hold on the soul. That is when the silly atheist starts to see and experience things he'd denied during his life when his body was healthy. At that point Christopher Hitchens either had to silently concede defeat to reality or willfully go into a lunatic state to protect his pride. His speech at the atheist convention shortly before his death suggests the latter.

A corollary note: there is a difference between pondering your death when you are in a healthy state and experiencing the process of death when your body is breaking down. We can ponder death when healthy and come to off-the-mark conclusions or work up unnecessary fears. Once the body releases its smothering* hold over the soul and our spirit and spiritual body are freer to communicate beyond the veil - all a matter of degree in each individual case due to many obvious factors - we're likely to view it like we view now the miracle of birth. People don't freak out when they die.

*If you almost knee-jerked a "You're a Gnostic!!!" accusation slap yourself in the face.