My new book What's So Great About Christianity has just hit the Wall Street Journal bestseller list. It's currently number 21 on the amazon bestseller list which includes fiction and nonfiction books. Especially amusing is the fact that the book is the number one seller in the categories of both "religion" and "atheism." The success of the book has the atheist websites buzzing. So I cruised richarddawkins.net, the site of the renowned author of The God Delusion. Dawkins has posted on his site videos of my Oregon State debate with Michael Shermer, and my New York debate with Christopher Hitchens.
Oh, my.
The atheists were mighty upset with what many of them perceived as my triumph in the Shermer debate. Here are a sampling of comments. "I hate to admit this, but purely in terms of who came off better, the answer in my view has to be that D'Souza did." "It's too bad Shermer...was an inferior debater." "I think D'Souza was likely perceived to be the winner of this debate." "But take heart, Men of Reason. Several atheists consoled themselves after the Shermer debate this way. "The only consolation is that D'Souza mentioned he'll be debating Christopher Hitchens soon, and I predict that Hitch will eat this odious little squirt alive and spit out the bones." "The Hitchens one is gonna be way better, I'm sure of it." "Boy, I really want to see Hitch take no prisoners. This guy needs his head handed to him." "D'Souza is taking on Hitch next? Ha, ha, RIP in advance D'Souza."
Alas for the Apostles of Evidence, it was not to be. Here is a sampling of atheist comment after my debate with Hitchens. "A little disappointing that Hitchens didn't tear him in half, instead adopting a defensive-passive approach." "It is sad that Hitchens did not nail D'Souza." "Unfortunately the trashing we expected did not occur." "I don't want to see a liar like D'Souza beat another atheist again."
After some frustrated name-calling, combined with attempts to blame the ignorance of the audience, the atheists made some revealing admissions. "D'Souza is the most challenging debater we have thus far encountered. He is extremely intelligent and in possession of superior verbal abilities. He wins many arguments because he is able to assemble a vast array of factoids that...often have the effect of overwhelming his opponents." "As much as I dislike D'Souza, he is the most able debater I have seen go up against Hitchens or any of the others on our team yet." "Hitchens...is not used to debating with someone as articulate and finely-tuned as D'Souza. D'Souza is an entirely different animal than what Hitchens is used to debating on MSNBC or Fox News. Christopher's standard boiler-plate just does not win with a guy like this."
In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins portrays the atheist position as rooted in reason and the theist position as rooted in blind faith. If this is true, Dawkins should easily be able to defeat me in a debate. I have written to invite him to debate me, and I don't mind doing it in a venue sympathetic to him, not a church setting but a liberal campus such as Berkeley or UCLA. Moreover, I am willing to have an unbeliever like Michael Shermer moderate the debate. A donor has offered to pay Dawkins' and my honorarium, and so we are ready to move ahead if Dawkins is willing.
It's time to find out whose position is truly based on reason and evidence and skepticism and science. How can atheists march behind these banners and then decline the opportunity to defend their positions in open discussion in an intellectual setting? I'm waiting to hear if Dawkins is up for the challenge.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 18)
1. Ummm, like, Darwinism has collapsed globally, atheists run away from mountains of scientific evidence that irrefutibly proves God exists. not the other way round. You all must be stupid. Watch this space.
Atheism is nothing but paganism and shamanistic religion, naturalism is a faith and religion, based on no evidence whatsoever.
Atheism is a dark cult.
Natural selection is merely the survival of the fittest withing each God created kind, mutations are copying errors in the genes, they don't cause one kind of creature to turn into a new different kind.
Not even over millions of supposed fallacious years.
There is a hard envelope surrounding each genus, that prevents one kind of creature, lapsing into another.
There are no intermediate fossils.
All us Christians do, is look at the evidence in an entirely unbiased way, and of course the real evidence points towards God.
Atheists have extremely limited scientific understanding, because they're stuck in atheistic naturalistic religion and blind faith.
You're all laughable, there's mountains of evidence going agains't atheism, and nothing going again'st creationism. Have a nice day you almost brain dead freaks.
Peter Passarelli at 9:52AM on Mar 1st 2009
2. Well, Well, I'm not a bit surprised at the outcome of this debate. When will you lost souls get it. There is a GOD, and when he went back to heaven he left the HOLY SPIRIT here with us to comfort, guide and give us the understanding in Christ that we need in order to wait on him to come back and claim his church. It does not take a rocket scientist to understand this. It is however, time for the GOD loving Christian to stand up and be counted and start giving the message to everyone. If you choose not to listen then at least you would have been told. It does not matter what the sign about the door says whether it be Catholic, Baptist, Christian, Assembly, or whatever. GOD is not in that building, he is in our hearts. He is also in your heart, those of you that call yourself atheists. I do not believe that for one minute you think that you are here just by a single cell or nonsensical theory. GOD knows every hair on your head. He alone created you and he alone (with your decision) will decide your fate. Again, GOD has said, love the sinner, not the sin. So once again I say, May the Lord Bless and keep you. Love in our Lord. Rita
Rita at 10:10AM on Oct 30th 2007
3. As much as you may not want to accept it, religion is a belief system created to control and manipulate the behavior of a populus. There is absolutely no proof God exist outside of the minds of people who follow blind faith. Without a god character, these minds would be unable to deal with the realities of life and death. But one day humans will mature to except that they are just another animal species mentally superior to their animal counterparts. And that when we die we simply become fertilizer.
Greggory at 10:20AM on Oct 30th 2007
4. Science in particular isn't generally settled by verbal debate. It's settled (so far as it *is* settled) by published papers, correspondence, and experiments.
I've seen this with 'creationist' debates. They often bring up a flurry of disparate claims, each of which take some time and work to refute. It's much easier to spout disinformation than it is to explain why a claim is false.
So far, I've not been impressed with the arguments D'Souza has excerpted here, and I've pointed out quite specifically why. I also note that many of his quotes here are... rather out of context. If you want to assess for yourself whether 'panic' is an accurate term, see here:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27236
Ray Ingles at 10:18AM on Oct 30th 2007
5. Actually, an even more relevant link would be:
http://richarddawkins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=27374&hilit=
Ray Ingles at 10:54AM on Oct 30th 2007
6. D'Souza continues to deceive. His last editorial in USA regarding Christianity was factually and historically wrong. He wants the world to believe that Christianity is the basis of scientific discovery and the basis of jurisprudence in the US. Both concepts are examples of Christian nationalism that attempt to revise the truth for control. Defeating D'Souza in a debate involving reason and rationality should be rather easy. A man whose facts are based on faith, the suspension of disbelif, will never have experimantal reality as a medium to win, only to confuse.
John Sullivan at 10:34AM on Oct 30th 2007
7. No atheist is panicking, because they don't feel a need to force their beliefs on others, just to be free from people doing that to them
dan k at 10:35AM on Oct 30th 2007
8. This babbling macaca and his paranoia about those who don't choose to believe as he does, is pathetic...also boring
dan k at 10:35AM on Oct 30th 2007
9. We've BEEN told, Rita. We've had this shoved down our throats since we were babies born here in America. I'm quite sure most atheists know more about Christian dogma than most Christians do.
Believe what you want. If it makes you happy, then (no pun intended), go with god. But when are Cristians going to get the message that NOT EVERYONE BELIEVES WHAT YOU DO. Furthermore, those who don't believe in what you believe are NO threat to you. Non-Christians are not going to tell you to stop worshiping, that you can't gather at a church or a friend's house for scripture and whatnot.
Secular laws are made in this country so EVERYONE is treated fairly under the law. Religion and religious types ARE protected under the Constitution as long as their ACTIONS do not cause harm. SO please stop with the "persecution" complex already. Trust me, Christians are in NO danger of being run out of town or harmed in any way.
All we (atheists and agnostics alike) ask is that our beliefs are respected, just as you ask that yours be. You don't like being called "supersticious" or "idiots"? We don't like being called "heathens" or "immoral" or having people wish us nothing but pain and suffering if we don't believe. It's really as simple as that.
I've said in past comments that I personally (and this is ME, my own individual take on the subject) do not understand the attraction of Christianity. I just don't think Jesus was that great a guy. He's snide to his mother, he's arrogant, he's self-absorbed and he demands nothing but blind devotion from his disciples. He basically framed Judas.
Just about all (if not more) of Jesus's "teachings" can be found in Buddhism. Being nice to each other and yourself is not a Christian concept, you know. And in Buddhism, there is no fear of a tormented afterlife if you "fuck up" during this life. Buddhism teaches kindness and compassion not because of a terrifying fate, but BECAUSE IT'S JUST THE RIGHT THING TO DO. If you're nice and respectful to people, you'll get that treatment back a dozen fold.
You know what an "afterlife" is? It's the way mankind will remember you. Thomas Edison was an atheist, and yet look at the legacy he left for his fellow man, look at how he is remembered. Abraham Lincoln, same thing. On the other end of the spectrum, look at Hitler. Stalin. Mao Tse Tung.
Heaven and Hell are not real. But the legacy one leaves behind is. They way people remember you is the only afterlife that really matters.
J Boyd at 10:36AM on Oct 30th 2007
10. When I was ten my family used to talk about these two prized carvings of cherubs that they had, hand carved in great detail out of soap.
One day I carefully dabbed some water on my finger and tested a wing. It didn't feel soapy at all. I then noticed mold marks. And a label "Made in Japan" on the bottom. I carefully flexed a wing tip, and it flexed nicely. It wasn't soap. It was plastic. And it wasn’t carved. It was injection-molded.
I told my mom, tried to explain the facts as to why they couldn’t be soap, and it was like she couldn't hear me. I was just a kid, and she KNEW that they were soap, and I was just hitting her with way too much detail. Same with my aunt and my dad. But the cherubs weren't soap, and I know this today for a fact.
She didn't LIE when she told me that they were soap all those times, but it wasn't TRUE, and NOTHING THAT I COULD SAY could convince her that she was wrong. And yet she and the rest of my family were wrong. They just didn't SEE DETAILS in things like I did, so they were blind to it. Forever.
I learned that they were blind to many, many other things in addition to the "soap" cherubs that were not. One of them was the illogic of their religion.
Open your minds someday, christians. You're not seeing the plastic.
Brian at 10:38AM on Oct 30th 2007
11. It is amusing to see these feeble minded bible huggers trying to get a grasp on what being an atheist is all about and failing so miserably. Then again when a person is busy hawking their latest 'masterpiece' they have no ability to be rational. How did this self centered, egotistical twit warrent a blog in the first place?
Geoff at 10:38AM on Oct 30th 2007
12. Atheists don't have to DEFEND their position. It's simply a choice not to belive in something. Everyone should be respected for what they believe in or don't believe in, if that belief system inflicts no harm (see Kant's Categorical Imperative). I find it sad that Dinesh is now devoting his blogs to shameless self-promotion and I have no tolerance for all the bragging. Doesn't your religion teach you modesty? This blog is a disgusting display of an overblown ego...
Constance at 10:39AM on Oct 30th 2007
13. It's easy to win an argument with a Christian, since they are based in beliefs rather than thoughts, faith rather than reason, fantasy rather than fact. The hard part is getting them to see that they've lost the argument, for the same reasons.
Brian at 10:40AM on Oct 30th 2007
14. Religion is most like a computer virus for brains. It comes complete with instructions for development and propagation of the virus, and code that prevents the person from deleting it or noticing that it doesn't conform to reality. It is orchestrated, organized, and officially sanctioned psychosis, made easily digestible and palatable to the masses.
Brian at 10:42AM on Oct 30th 2007
15. WOW! This is impressive! I read this blog, fully expecting nothing more than another boring shill for "the book"; and instead I found out that after many centuries, the atheists are nervously questioning their entire belief system.
In fact, they are in an outright panic, all due to the scholarly, truthful works of DD. DD alone has caused these many non-believers to panic and rethink it all. Century upon century of beliefs be damned (or not, because damning is just so Christian, and what's so great about that?)
stuart joshua at 11:02AM on Oct 30th 2007