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Hitchens did say he meant chess.

Christopher Hitchens before his death in 2008:

"When I was looking for a subtitle for my book, 'God Is Not Great', I thought 'let's not be sensational, let's not be catchpenny, let's not be cheap, but let's try and get people's attention'… I called it… 'Why Religion Poisons Everything'. I knew what would happen: people would say, 'what, everything? What, you mean chess? You mean tantric sex? You mean tourism? It poisons everything?' Well, in a way, as I've gone on with this debate, and as I persist in it tonight, and as I will tomorrow, I would be more and more willing, ever more willing to defend myself in saying that it's a universal toxin from which nothing is exempt."

Atal Mashwani, spokesperson for the "Directorate Of Sports In Afghanistan" in 2025:

There are religious considerations regarding the sport of chess. Until these considerations are addressed, the sport of chess is suspended in Afghanistan.

A story by Lisa Kaminov for France 24 adds:

… On Saturday, some 14 people were arrested in northern Afghanistan for singing and playing music. Such practices are not allowed as they are seen as the cause for moral corruption and deviance among young people.

I was about to remark on the potential incompatibility with religious law of breathing air and gazing at the night sky, but I suppose the required eye-slit-only clothing already builds those in to some degree.