Dawkins' new book (Introduction)

by dhw, Tuesday, November 05, 2019, 12:29 (1843 days ago) @ George Jelliss

GEORGE: Hallo again! I haven't been here for quite a while.
I moved to Crewe at the beginning of 2019, for a change of scene.

Delighted to know that you are still with us and are still active! Not sure that I’d want to move from the seaside to Crewe, but I hope you’ve found what you are looking for.

GEORGE: I've not read Dawkins' new book, but thought this article about New Atheism might be of interest. It claims that it was "the godlessness that failed" but from the graphs in the first part, showing decline of interest in creationism and biblical contradiction I would say it is "the rationalism that succeeded". No more need for it unless creationism has a resurgence.
https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/10/30/new-atheism-the-godlessness-that-failed/

The article is enormous! I gave up after a while, as it seems to be mainly concerned with the decline of New Atheism as well as the decline of interest in Creationism etc, rather than in the issues themselves. We all know what damage religion causes, and the plea for humanistic, humanitarian values – though he never uses these terms – is also one I’m sure we can all identify with.

GEORGE: The charts in the second part are I think specific to the USA. Over here the divisions are within the two main political parties, rather than between them. Maybe that will be resolved by the December election, though I have my doubts.

So do I. And I have my doubts as to whether any of our current politicians and parties have any of the qualities needed to take us out of the mess they have got us into. Alas, not even our rugby team could bring us some longed-for light at the end of the tunnel!

GEORGE: In September I finished putting my Knights Tour Notes into 12 volumes of PDF.
So now I'm thinking of putting my thoughts on Rationalist issues into book form.
It will have the title "Good Reason". I thought I should tell you about this,
since some of the material in it will be based on views I've expressed here over the years, as well as in other fora, so DHW and others may get a mention.

Again, I’m delighted to hear that you are continuing to be active and are even planning a new book. No doubt it will take quite a while for you to write it and then to have it published, but do please keep us informed. And please don’t hesitate to air your views here again, as we have not had a “resident” atheist on the website since you “retired”. We miss you!