Friday 13 April 2012

Christian Responses to Global Atheism Convention


A team of atheists is touring Australia for the Global Atheist Convention to be held in Melbourne this weekend (13-15 April). The conference has received plenty of publicity. As a result, a number of Christian organisations have been responding in varied ways to ensure that there is balance, rather than simply another series of uninformed attacks on Christians and people of faith. CASE supports the efforts of several of these groups. In this post I want to point to a number of free resources on the CASE website and this blog that are relevant for anyone who wants to engage with atheists.

If you visit the CASE website you will find many of our online resources are free and that there are many more for our CASE associates. The resources are grouped on the sidebar by broad discipline. The 'Science and Medicine' link has a number of great articles. As well, the following articles and posts may be of interest:

A review of Richard Dawkin's book 'God's Undertaker' HERE
A review of 'Religion for Atheists' HERE
'Kant and the Early Moderns' HERE
'The Stem Cell Debate' HERE
'Five things I never learned in Science' HERE
'Kinsey,Truth and the Rhetoric of research' HERE
Review of 'Reason, faith and revolution' HERE
'Can science see the end?' HERE
'Belief in God, a trick of the brain?' HERE
'Embryo Liberation' HERE
'The Language of God' Review by Megan Best HERE
'Science, Uncertainty and Ambiguity' HERE

Human Embryonic Stem Cells - Wiki Commons

The Simeon Network is another group that has been offering an alternative voice. It has created a new website 'Doubting Dawkins' that will offer alternative ideas and resources.

Another group that CASE supports is 'The Reason for Faith Coalition'. It's partners include:

City Bible Forum
The Centre for Public Christianity (CPX):
Bible Society Australia
Outreach Media
The Simeon Network

You might also just search on the CASE website or this blog for other resources.

2 comments:

Timaahy said...

As a result, a number of Christian organisations have been responding in varied ways to ensure that there is balance, rather than simply another series of uninformed attacks on Christians and people of faith.

1. Why is there a need for balance? The conference is organised by atheists, for atheists. Are you saying you would not only expect, but encourage, atheist groups to provide similar "balance" at Christian conventions?

2. Can you provide evidence for your assertion that atheist conventions are simply "uninformed attacks on Christians and people of faith"?

Thanks,

Tim

Trevor Cairney said...

Hi Tim,

I was referring to the public debate that is associated with the conference, not the conference itself.

No I wouldn't expect atheists to provide a balance of speakers at the conference. Although such a conference might be interesting.

My comment about 'uninformed attacks' was in reference to the last major conference run by atheists in Australia. I hope that this one is better. I have many good conversations with atheists who present their views with dignity, grace and respect. There are others who present their views in aggressive, arrogant and uninformed ways. There were a number of atheists who seemed to grab the media attention last time who adopted the second approach. And yes, there are Christians who manage to present their ideas in less than helpful ways too. I hope we see some good public debate this time, that's what the Christian organizations listed are trying to achieve.

Cheers,
Trevor