“Dawkins’s book The God Delusion would fail any introductory philosophy or religion course & it makes me ashamed to be an atheist. New atheists do the side of science a grave disservice, a disservice to scholarship” – Michael Ruse, atheist philosopher of biology. Others followed suit, including philosophers Tom Morris, Trent Doughtery, Ron Morales and Jonathan Blocker. I, on the other hand, have defended the so-called new atheists.
I responded: There is something grossly wrong about these evaluations. It fails to give credit where credit is due. Dawkins has been a defender of unguided evolution, which destroys Christian philosophy in one fell swoop! So what if he tried reaching the masses, by-passing the elite philosophers? They are never convinced otherwise, by other elite philosophers. Why can’t Dawkins speak as a laymen like other laymen? The one thing he has done is to change a massive number of people who used to believe. Now you can talk about his lack of understanding if you want to, but if you don’t think this world is in a better place because he wrote that book, then you fail to understand we are in a global crisis that can best be met with fewer believers in it.
Matthew Flannagan responded to me:
John W. Loftus it sounds like your saying something like this: so what if Dawkins work isn’t of a decent intellectual calibre, it works in persuading lay people. Which is basically claiming to be a dishonest propagandists.
I responded:
Matthew Flannagan let’s say I’ve seriously studied the Christian faith at the highest levels for the longest time, and that I conclude it’s bunk. Let’s also say I’ve concluded the Christian faith causes significant harm. So I know it’s bunk, and I know it causes significant harm. From this perspective what matters is that Dawkins and others are correct, regardless of whether they can adequately argue the case or not. I would prefer, by far, that they argue the case adequately, but it’s enough if they don’t. I defended this view in chapter 8 of my book, Unapologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End. It’s titled, “It is Enough Just to Be Right!”
I have said a few things in defense of Dawkins at Academia. So far I’ve silenced them all. Here are a few key paragraphs from it:
Debunking Christianity
About Author
