1) Technically speaking, Dawkins was defeated. He gained 138 votes versus his opponent's 324.
2) His opponent, Dr Rowan Williams, isn't just another idiot creationist. He's a smart guy; it wouldn't surprise me if he trounced Dawkins on a few points.
3) Being defeated in a debate isn't the end of the world. It's a debate; it's a measure of how good you are at convincing the crowd of your position. It's also usually a highly biased proceedings; we have no idea who the people in the crowd were...if a large number were from religious organizations, then you won't expect them to vote for the anti-religion motion. The better way of "scoring" a debate is to take a vote at the beginning and then one again at the end, and comparing the votes. That way you can see who gained / lost votes with their arguments.
2) His opponent, Dr Rowan Williams, isn't just another idiot creationist. He's a smart guy; it wouldn't surprise me if he trounced Dawkins on a few points.
3) Being defeated in a debate isn't the end of the world. It's a debate; it's a measure of how good you are at convincing the crowd of your position. It's also usually a highly biased proceedings; we have no idea who the people in the crowd were...if a large number were from religious organizations, then you won't expect them to vote for the anti-religion motion. The better way of "scoring" a debate is to take a vote at the beginning and then one again at the end, and comparing the votes. That way you can see who gained / lost votes with their arguments.
