I'll be addressing the Crossway Conference tomorrow, talking about the so-called "New Atheism". This involves explaining the phenomenon to a group of several hundred Baptist ministers and their teams from across Australia. I was a bit surprised to receive the invitation to do this, but I'm feeling positive about it: there are useful things that I can tell them, and it will be fascinating to see how they respond.
As I'll be flying around a bit for the next 48 hours, or a bit more, I may not be blogging much, if at all, and may soon become very slow in approving comments (moderation is still on). Bear with me; it's only temporary.
About Me
- Russell Blackford
- Australian philosopher, literary critic, legal scholar, and professional writer. Based in Newcastle, NSW. My latest books are THE TYRANNY OF OPINION: CONFORMITY AND THE FUTURE OF LIBERALISM (2019); AT THE DAWN OF A GREAT TRANSITION: THE QUESTION OF RADICAL ENHANCEMENT (2021); and HOW WE BECAME POST-LIBERAL: THE RISE AND FALL OF TOLERATION (2024).
4 comments:
It's in Melbourne, I'm really sorry I can't come to offer some support.
Make sure to make the joke about "new" atheists being any atheist that the Catholic Church can't burn at the stake any more. Then show them this video of christians in Africa burning witches alive.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=dae_1236854361
Yeah, in Melb. They are flying me down tonight. It's not open to the public, which is fair enough. Take note, though, that they are able to organise a conference on this scale every year. Secular organisations have a long way to go ...
I look forward to hearing about their response.
I'm not sure if you've blogged or written about it before but do you really see any difference between 'New Atheism' and any other older atheism? (with the exception of how outspoken 'New Atheists' are free to be thanks to the progression of social freedom)
It recently occurred to me that "New Atheists" are not afraid to use taboo words when appropriate. For example, in Richard Dawkins' recent speech about the Pope, he used the word "penis", with ladies present, in public, in the middle of the day...where is my fainting couch???
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