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You will no doubt have heard the (admittedly not particularly funny) joke about there being two versions of The God Delusion: one of them moderate, reasonable, utterly convincing and only bought by atheists, and the other vicious, aggressive, offensive, and exclusively bought by Christians.
Recently, the popular and successful books of atheist authors such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens having been receiving some public criticism from religious quarters, with the most recent coming from Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The author of the God Delusion responds to Tony Blair's article on faith in last week's New Statesman
It's popular these days to equate those who question God with the worst kind of zealots, but it's not fair
15 hours of video from the conference in San Diego, CA.
Lou Dobbs interviews Christopher Hitchens author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything this is the interview Jon Stewart should have done, but couldn't and still try and be funny.
George Carlin on religion.
With a sea of information coming at us from all directions, how do we sift out the misinformation and bogus claims, and get to the truth? Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine lays out a "Baloney Detection Kit," ten questions we should ask when encountering a claim.
"I happened to have breakfast with Marshall Evans (not his real name) at the American Atheists conference in Atlanta in April 2009. He looks exactly what he is, an American military pilot, flying jets from aircraft carriers." - Richard Dawkins
Stand-up comedian Marcus Brigstocke delivered a seven-minute rant during this evening's Now Show on BBC Radio 4, on the evils of religion (I think he's been reading The God Delusion).
Richard Dawkins' review of Intellectual Impostures by Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont.
I wonder whether people might send in all their bus slogan suggestions, to form an orderly list on this page, so that we can survey a gathered field and make a choice.
Today is Richard's 68th birthday, be sure to leave him your birthday messages in the comments.
19 March 2009. World famous philosopher and humanist Daniel Dennett speaks at Conway Hall, providing "A Darwinian Perspective on Religions: Past, Present and Future". Introduction by Richard Dawkins.
You Tube posted by the British Humanist Association on April 23.
This is taken from the book. Having him read to you is something else. Enough said. Take a listen and leave comments please. Email this video to atleast one other person, its your moral duty.
The speech is from a debate at Hart House, University of Toronto. Hitchens speech is in opposition to a proposed amendment to criminalize hate speech. A big thanks to Scott T.
Richard Dawkins reads excerpts from The God Delusion and anwsers questions at Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Jerry Coyne's article with responses from edge.org
Richard Dawkins explains his picks for the seven wonders of the world in this program from 1997.
People who reject the theory of evolution should be placed on a level with Holocaust deniers, argues an author in his controversial new book
On 18th April, the day Ben Stein's infamous film was released, Michael Shermer received the following letter from a Jew, whose identity I shall conceal as "David J".
This interview was filmed for the TV documentary "Root of All Evil?" but was left out of the final version. Time restrictions dictated that not all interviews filmed could be used. This was especially regrettable in the case of the McGrath interview, which is therefore offered here now, unedited.
Time to put a crescent moon on the UN flag?
On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen.
There's a common refrain in the criticisms of Dawkins' The God Delusion(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll) that I've taken to categorizing with my own private title—it's so common, to the point of near-unanimous universality, that I've decided to share it with you all, along with a little backstory that will help you to understand the name.
I call it the Courtier's Reply. It refers to the aftermath of a fable.
Der Digitale Planet (lecture) featuring Douglas Adams, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Jared Diamond and Steven Pinker.
Religious belief is inconsistent with reason and corrosive to the human mind - and I don't want to live in a world where it is respected.
The Ethics of Hell.
Contribution to The Atheist’s Guide to Christmas (in press, 2009). Ed Ariane Sherine. London: Harper Collins.
Once upon a time, four blind men were walking in the forest, and they bumped into an elephant.
Americans find atheists a particularly repugnant minority. According to Gallup, they are more disliked than any other major religious group, with the exception of Scientologists.
Winds of change are putting fresh blood into British biologist Richard Dawkins’ cheeks.
Whenever a religious belief is criticised, its adherents say they're victims of 'prejudice'
The controversy stirred up by Dawkins's latest book The Fascism Delusion really seem to be heating up. Here is one recent review, from many, that takes him to task
There is much fluttering in the dovecots of the deluded, and Christopher Hitchens is one of those responsible. Another is the philosopher A. C. Grayling. I recently shared a platform with both. We were to debate against a trio of, as it turned out, rather half-hearted religious apologists ("Of course I don't believe in a God with a long white beard, but . . .").
Christopher Hitchens: "The Moral Necessity of Atheism." Convocation Hall February 23 at 4:30 p.m. Sewanee University.
Richard Dawkins has been named Author of the Year by the Galaxy British Book Awards!
Renowned academic enthrals pupils on school visit to explain controversial theory
This is the full uncut interview with Father George Coyne which was omitted from Richard Dawkins' television program "The Genius of Charles Darwin" for Channel 4 in the UK.
Richard Dawkins is interviewed for Australian ABC TV Compass.
Sapolsky on Religion
Prof. Robert Sapolsky Bio 150/250, Spring 2002 Human Behavioral Biology
82min - includes lecture outline
This is the third of my encounters with John Lennox, all organized by the Fixed Point Foundation, which is an American Christian organization.
People don’t understand science.
A probing exploration of what the world would be like if God disappeared. One of the worst parts: success or failure in life would depend only on hard work and luck, rather than God's bestowing his grace upon us (like He does for professional athletes, but only the ones who win).
I have been asked to comment on whether the universe shows signs of having been designed. I don't see how it's possible to talk about this without having at least some vague idea of what a designer would be like. Any possible universe could be explained as the work of some sort of designer. Even a universe that is completely chaotic, without any laws or regularities at all, could be supposed to have been designed by an idiot.
Description: Book TV presents LIVE coverage of the LA Times Festival of Books. At 1:30pm ET/10:30am PT, a panel on the mixing of religion and culture featuring: Christopher Hitchens ("God Is Not Great"), Zachary Karabell ("Peace Be upon You: The Story of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish Coexistence"), and Jonathan Kirsch ("A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization"). The panel is moderated by Thane Rosenbaum.
John Polkinghorne's former student Nicholas Beale runs a website on behalf of his mentor, on which questions about religion, and the relation of religion to science, can be posted.
What on earth were you thinking when you produced a garish cover proclaiming that "Darwin was wrong" (24 January)?
Richard Dawkins is interviewed by Stephen Colbert on Comedy Central's 'The Colbert Report.'
Professor Richard Dawkins speaks to Sky's Adam Boulton about his latest book volume 'The Greatest Show On Earth - Evidence For Evolution', which is top of the Sunday Times' bestsellers' list.
This panel discussion took place at a Center for Inquiry - New York City conference titled "Secular Society and its Enemies." The panel discusses a wide variety of topics, including, science, science education, the nature of science, the correct political methodology and much more.
Richard Dawkins, Neil Degrasse Tyson, Ann Druyan and Victor Stenger. Moderated by D.J. Grothe.
As long as religion is a danger to the lives and liberties of others, secular liberals will never relent in their protests
Festival of Dangerous Ideas. Presented by the Sydney Opera House and the St James Ethics Centre, Australia
On the 30th of September 2007, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens sat down for a first-of-its-kind, unmoderated 2-hour discussion, convened by RDFRS and filmed by Josh Timonen.
Christopher Hitchens and Dinesh D'Souza at Macky Auditorium, CU Boulder, January 26, 2009
The answer to the problems of free speech is always more free speech
Why we really do need to know the amazing truth about evolution, and the equally amazing intellectual dishonesty of its enemies
This is the uncut interview from the Channel 4 TV program 'The Root of All Evil?'
The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science presents Andy Thomson's lecture titled "We Few, We Happy Few, We Band of Brothers." This video was taken at the AAI 2007 conference in Washington, D.C.
During the greater part of last week, Slate's sister site On Faith (it is jointly produced by Newsweek and washingtonpost.com, both owned by the Washington Post Co., which also owns Slate) gave itself over to a discussion about the religion of Islam. As usual in such cases, the search for "moderate" versions of this faith was under way before the true argument had even begun. If I were a Muslim myself, I think that this search would be the most "offensive" part of the business. Why must I prove that my deepest belief is compatible with moderation?
Whether he knows it or not, Brownback's forthright declarations, denying any possibility that empirical matters of fact might differ from those assumed by his creed, amount to nothing less than a rejection of the whole institution of science. Who is "we", and where did "our" conviction and certainty come from? Would Brownback believe these "spiritual truths" if he hadn't been taught them as a child, or brought up in the United States instead of China?
In the end, many Americans may still reject evolution, finding the creationist alternative psychologically more comfortable.
I'm an atheist. I'll just say that up front, so there's no confusion. I suffered a horrible tragedy, and continue to endure lasting effects.
(Review of the new documentary film 'Jesus Camp') "Raise your hand if you think that God can do anything!"
Richard Dawkins says atheists should be just as forthright in their views as those who believe God is real. The prominent atheist talks about why he wants to convert more to his way of thinking.
The United Nations Anti-Blasphemy Resolution aims to curtail speech that offends religion, specifically Islam. Critics, religious groups and free speech advocates say the resolution is spreading Sharia law to the Western world. Christopher Hitchens joined Lou.
The blogs are ringing with ridicule. Mark Mathis, duplicitous producer of the much hyped film Expelled, shot himself in the foot so spectacularly that the phrase might have been invented for him.
Short YouTube clip about a bunch of monkeys.
Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller) interviews Richard Dawkins on his radio show.
Most Americans oppose violence spurred by religious fundamentalism, but few agree on how to address it.
This is the uncut interview with Randolph Nesse from the 'The Genius of Charles Darwin.'
A debate on TV Ontario with Richard Dawkins.
Carl Sagan's Last interview on Charlie Rose
Fewer than 5,000 views to get a million
How do they train themselves to be so impervious to reality?
Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have moved to the right, and the Republicans have moved to a mental hospital."
Are atheists parasitic on god's morality, or is it the other way around...?
- The new atheists’ principal fault would seem to be failure to abide by the rule that demands "respect for religion", philosopher George Williamson claims. He strongly disagrees with Julian Baggini's assertion that the new atheism-movement is counter-productive.
This question often puzzled me.
If the OIC succeeds in turning criticism of religion into 'defamation', freedom of expression will be eradicated
There's no real evidence to suggest that religion is hardwired – it's just wishful thinking on the part of religious academics
There is a rich, deep kind of irony that must be shared. I'm blogging this from the Apple store in the Mall of America, because I'm too amused to want to wait until I get back to my hotel room.
To begin, I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge just how strange it is that a meeting like this is even necessary. The year is 2007, and we have all taken time out of our busy lives, and many of us have traveled considerable distance, so that we can strategize about how best to live in a world in which most people believe in an imaginary God. America is now a nation of 300 million people, wielding more influence than any people in human history, and yet this influence is being steadily corrupted, and is surely waning, because 240 million of these people apparently believe that Jesus will return someday and orchestrate the end of the world with his magic powers.
A few readers sent me a link to this interview with Alister McGrath; most thought it was worth a laugh, but one actually seemed to think I'd be devastated. I'm afraid the majority were correct: everything I've read by McGrath suggests that here is a man whose thoughts have been arrested by a temporal lobe seizure that he has mistaken for a lightning bolt from god.
During a recent trip to the Galapagos with the Center for Inquiry, Richard Dawkins gave a reading of his new preface to the paperback edition of The God Delusion. This video is of the reading, and a separate video (coming soon!) will have the Q&A session that followed.
Browsing the websites of different colleges, a prospective biology student finds an unusual statement on the page of the Department of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University.
One cannot criticize religious dogmatism for long without encountering the following claim, advanced as though it were a self-evident fact of nature: there is no secular basis for morality.
Bishop Harries and Richard Dawkins have collaborated on several occasions to promote the proper teaching of science in UK classrooms. This is the full unedited interview, which was originally filmed by IWC for the Channel Four documentary 'Root or All Evil?'
Fresh Air from WHYY, March 28, 2007 · In his most recent book, British scientist Richard Dawkins writes about the irrationality of a belief in God, examines God in all his forms and sets down his arguments for atheism. The book is The God Delusion.
Here's an oldie that's always worth watching again for a good laugh. Stephen Colbert debates Steve Carell, back when everyone was still on The Daily Show.
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they are never going to be born.
How is it, asks Richard Dawkins, that despite science having exposed old religious myths, militant faith is back on the march?
Richard Dawkins is astounded that religious faith is gaining ground in the face of rational, scientific truth based on hard evidence.
Richard Dawkins talks about his latest book "The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence For Evolution" at the Edinburgh Book Festival 2009.
Richard Dawkins interviews Craig Venter for "The Genius of Charles Darwin".
Richard Dawkins is interviewed via satellite and announces the Royal Society of New Zealand's Science Book Prize.