Updated: 30th August 2013
Our article “Dawkins, Krauss, Craig and a Difficult Week for McAtheism” seems to have been vindicated by the comment of Dr. Rachael Kohn, moderator of the discussion between Krauss and Craig at Sydney
I do feel that publically presenting a dialogue, which is an exchange of ideas for the purpose of edification, must abide by some ground rules. Listening to the other’s point of view, and thoughtfully putting counterpoints is the best way to invite the audience to learn or engage with the issues with some level of understanding.
My discomfort lay in the fact that while they were there to engage, and I was meant to assist that, I found it near impossible to achieve because they were playing to different ground rules. Krauss was arguing in an angry exasperated manner and showed no respect for Craig’s entirely different point of view, which he expressed in the normal respectful manner of the academic that he is.
I wonder at the value of placing entirely different and highly complex bodies of knowledge in a contest of sorts, because it becomes nothing more than a spectacle, resembling ‘the fights’ on TV, where the point is to draw blood and keep the other guy down, which Krauss metaphorically tried to do by talking over Craig so that he was effectively silenced. I doubt that the audience ‘learned’ anything about science or religion, but they might have drawn some interesting conclusions about the nature of belief, scientific or religious, and its influence on behaviour
However, the article did lead to a number of readers asking “what on Earth is ‘McAtheism’?” The article “McAtheism” in Evangelicals Now launched our little ministry; it refers to the ‘McDonaldization’ of atheism. The case for atheism has been “dumbed down” and massed produced for easy consumption in popular books, blogs, forums and tweets.
We’re a relatively young site, and new readers may have missed some of our earlier critiques of McAtheism. So, we thought it would be helpful to bring them together in one place, with a guide to each article’s content.
An Overview of McAtheism
- The updated version of “McAtheism” should be read first
- McAtheism is Not Dead
- 10 Quick Thoughts for McAtheists
Responding to McAtheist Slogans and Arguments
- “Believing in One Less God than You..Four Problems with a Terrible Slogan“
- A Critique of John Loftus’ “Outsider Test“
- “God of the Gaps – Five Problems with a Terrible Slogan”
- Dilbert deals with appeals to the authority of science
- Atheism +, New Atheism and Religious Freedom
- One serious problem with claiming atheism isn’t a belief
- Faith isn’t blind and atheism is a belief
- Clearing up a few mistakes about the Bible, God and Morality
- The New Theism
Video Resource
David Glass discusses Dawkins
Responding to Dawkins
- Dawkins’ concept of God is flawed (and a response to criticisms of this article)
- A reading list for discerning Dawkinsians
- A critique of the “747 Gambit“
- Dawkins’ Dilemma (an academic article)
- Is Richard Dawkins an atheist fundamentalist?
- Dawkins and the Beginning of the Universe
- Finally, a page of articles arguing that it is rational to believe in God