Category Archives: New Atheism

Coyne Was Right After All: Science Has Vanquished Christianity

I ended last night’s post by asking whether Jerry Coyne might have been right when he wrote, Many religious claims about the “truth” have already been disproven by science. There was a second part to that claim (that religion has never disproved science) which I invite you to continue responding to on that other thread. …

December 19, 2011 – 9:10 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Jerry Coyne: Intellectual Dishonesty, Or … ?

This is not the first time I’ve had occasion to ask Jerry Coyne, which is it?  Is it culpable ignorance or is it intellectual dishonesty? In light of the accusation he makes of Alvin Plantinga, “Remarkably stupid remarks by a sophisticated theologian,” one is tempted to wonder whether another term fits Coyne even better, one he …

December 18, 2011 – 5:51 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, New Atheism | Tagged , , , | Comments (16)

On the Passing of Christopher Hitchens

He was an ardent opponent of Christianity, but I will miss him. I sat in the front row for his debate with Dinesh D’Souza in Charlotte, NC last year (or was it in 2009?). Hitchens spoke first. It may have been the only time he had D’Souza completely flat-footed and unable to disagree with him. …

December 16, 2011 – 9:36 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged , , | Comments (15)

Love or Cruelty: If Evolution Is True, What’s the Moral Difference?

Why does love exist? Why is there suffering? Why is anything the way it is in the natural world? Because of evolution. That, at any rate, is the answer provided by those who believe in naturalistic evolution. Naturalistic evolution (NE) is the theory that every feature of life, including physical structures, physical functions, and also …

November 13, 2011 – 7:05 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (163)

Stephen Law’s Incoherent “Evil God”

Stephen Law brought an “evil God” challenge with him to his debate with William Lane Craig, claiming that Craig’s arguments for God are next to worthless in that they could prove the existence of a supremely evil God just as well as a supremely good God. Practicing his typically admirable discipline, Craig refused even to …

November 2, 2011 – 10:12 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged , , , , | Comments (137)

David Heddle on Jerry Coyne

Thank you, David Heddle: Speaking of irony, Jerry’s little joke about [Thinking Christian as an] “oxymoron” in a post about debating is particularly ironic…. [From He Lives: Jerry Coyne, Slug] I didn’t even see that Jerry Coyne post you mentioned until just now, because this time he didn’t link to my blog. I only read …

October 26, 2011 – 7:42 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , | Comments (1)

Richard Dawkins’ Anti-Scientific Hypocrisy

In honor of Richard Dawkins’ refusal to debate William Lane Craig tomorrow, I’m re-posting a piece I wrote for the Newport News Daily Press early in 2007, highlighting his hypocritical willingness to ignore science when it suits his purpose. This article was also published at BreakPoint. Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion has been a …

October 24, 2011 – 3:29 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (6)

Of Interest: Metaphysics and Football

If you like sports and if you’ve ever debated naturalism, you’re going to love how Alexander Pruss reached the conclusion that some people just can’t consistently talk football.

October 9, 2011 – 7:26 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Just For Fun, New Atheism | Comments Off

“Sam Harris and 9/11″

From Carson Weitnauer, who spends a lot of time with college students at the prestigious universities in and near Boston, a question for Sam Harris: As Dr. Harris asks us, let’s be “reasonable, intellectually honest” people. Do these dogmatic and bigoted views represent the values of a caring, curious, compassionate, and loving person? Is he …

September 18, 2011 – 7:15 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Comments (3)