(August 1, 2014 at 10:46 pm)ChadWooters Wrote:(July 15, 2014 at 1:41 am)whateverist Wrote: 9. What’s your view of Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris? Do you read anything else but the bible?They’re a bunch of clowns. Hume, Nietzsche, Sartre and Camus are more challenging. Are you assuming that Christians are ignorant of contrary opinions? Kinda prejudiced don’t you think? How many atheists have seriously studied Plotinus or Aquinas?
Careful Chad, your comparisons are absurd (hope you get the joke). Coughing up a list of philosophers/authors and claiming they're challenging doesn't really get you anywhere. Kant, Hegel and Wittgenstein can be considered challenging, but what of it?
Regardless of his opinion about god, Dawkins is a preeminent evolutionary biologist. The men on your list can't touch him here, nor did they ever enjoy his audience. Hitchens is the greatest polemecist in the language since Mencken. Even Camus couldn't approach him for insight or turn of phrase.
As a percentage, I would be willing to wager more atheists have studied Plotinus and Aquinus than believers. In fact, I guarantee most believers couldn't tell you who Plotinus and Aquinus were. Hell, I'll throw Augustine in for good measure. I would throw in Martin Luther, but most believers in the U.S. would likely only pass because of Martin Luther King, Jr. name recognition.
