Saturday, March 13, 2010

Russel Blackford interview A.C.Grayling


Date: 11 March 2010 10:14:39

Today I attended this interview at the Nova Cinemas in Lygon Street, Carlton at 6:30 tonight. It went for an hour and consisted of each writer giving their testimonies about why they became athiests.

Each had come to it from reason where the beliefs of Christianity were based on Ancient Greek Myths of one kind or the other. Usually from Secondary School to undergraduate studies at Univercity.

Not all of us can claim such priveleges, and some of us concluded to stay in their particular traditions. Grayling explained that the recent stridentism of the New Atheists began as a reaction to 911, that horrible attack on the Twin Towers in New York City in 2001. This was caused by religiously inspired Radical Fundamentalist Muslims.

The response by the US and UK seemed to have been inspired by Fundamentalist Christians seeking a way forward to Armageddon. So irrationalist thinking on both sides moved this New Atheist movement forward with the assistance of Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Sam Harris and Chriistopher Hitchins.

All six people mentioned are worth reading on the subject and I will list the books as an addendum to this post.

Graylings explanation as to why Atheist is a better descriptive than Agnostisms was interesting as a reply to a question. Agnostisism posits we don't know whether their is a god and Atheism states that the probabilty is so low of the existence of a deity that it is reasonable and logical that there is no god and therefore Atheism is a better descriptor.

In my opinion, I agree with Grayling, then it is up to the believer to bring forward the extraordinary evidence required to establish the extraordinary proof required when all scientific endeavors have contradicted all the thrusts believe.

Clifford M Dubery

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Friday Night at the Global Atheist Convention

>

> Today is Friday after the evening opening session of the Global
> Atheist Convention. The speakers were, David Nichols, Stuart Beckman
> and Kylie Sturgess who were the opening and introduction. David
> Nicholls, President, Atheist Foundation of Australia spoke of the
> successful set up and preparation for the Convention and the failed
> attempt to garner State Government assistance unlike The World
> Congress of Churches which recieved 5 million AUD from the State
> Government. I understand the application for the Atheists is still
> circulating in Spring Street!
>
> Stuart Bechman, President, Atheist Alliance International didn't say
> much except for a few jokes.
>
> Kylie Sturgess from Skepticzone podcast and her own podcast which
> escapes my memory now, riding this train home.
>
> more later
>
> Clifford
>
> Sent from my iPhone