Over at Dawkins' site, I commented on Cohen's interview thusly:
Dayum, this is good stuff! Three cheers for Mitchell Cohen.
I just wish I'd said some of those things, Zeusdammit - it's all impressively calm, measured, and cogently argued. I love the way he explains just why the New Atheism is necessary and healthy, and also the way he points out the multi-dimensionality of the whole situation: the New Atheists aren't even a school with a common manifesto, just people who've been able to speak out successfully against religion in a geopolitical context where a forthright challenge to the reassertion of religion is sorely needed.
The questions were pretty dumb, mind you, but Cohen did well with them. He slapped down the sillier propositions pretty much mercilessly, and elaborated his points with a lot of skill.
I wish he had slapped down harder on the last question, the "critique of the idea of the survival of the fittest is also a critique of a brutal society" bit, but to be fair, that sounded like such an off-the-wall question that I doubt I'd be prepared to give an extemporaneous answer.
I hope your travels go well and that your family concerns are resolved successfully.
Over at Dawkins' site, I commented on Cohen's interview thusly:
ReplyDeleteDayum, this is good stuff! Three cheers for Mitchell Cohen.
I just wish I'd said some of those things, Zeusdammit - it's all impressively calm, measured, and cogently argued. I love the way he explains just why the New Atheism is necessary and healthy, and also the way he points out the multi-dimensionality of the whole situation: the New Atheists aren't even a school with a common manifesto, just people who've been able to speak out successfully against religion in a geopolitical context where a forthright challenge to the reassertion of religion is sorely needed.
The questions were pretty dumb, mind you, but Cohen did well with them. He slapped down the sillier propositions pretty much mercilessly, and elaborated his points with a lot of skill.
I wish he had slapped down harder on the last question, the "critique of the idea of the survival of the fittest is also a critique of a brutal society" bit, but to be fair, that sounded like such an off-the-wall question that I doubt I'd be prepared to give an extemporaneous answer.
ReplyDeleteI hope your travels go well and that your family concerns are resolved successfully.
Just to let you know, I'm back home and will be blogging again as soon as I catch up with correspondence, etc.
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