christopher hitchens

Poll Results: The ‘Four Horsemen’ Live and In Person

The 'Four Horsemen'With this poll up for just a little over two months, I got 112 responses to the question “Have you seen any of the “Four Horsemen” speak or debate?”

I must admit that I voted in this poll, something I would normally never do, but I had the pleasure of seeing Christopher Hitchens in Birmingham, Alabama in March and I wanted to stand up and be counted.

I wasn’t surprised by the skew of the results, but I was pleasantly surprised by the number of responses I received. It is wonderful to see people committed to an idea supporting the authors that have helped bring said idea into the mainstream for scrutiny.

  • Richard Dawkins – 62 votes
  • Daniel Dennett – 26 votes
  • Sam Harris – 35 votes
  • Christopher Hitchens – 53 votes
  • None – 38 votes

For those 38 respondents and others who have not yet seen one of these gentlemen speak or debate, I highly recommend you try to make it to an upcoming event. Only Richard Dawkins has events scheduled at this time, all of which are in the UK. For my US-based readers, these gentlemen all tend to make their way around the country fairly often. Just keep your eyes peeled on their websites for info on any speaking engagements that might be coming to your area. And let’s face it, if I can see Christopher Hitchens in Alabama, everyone should have an opportunity.

Richard Dawkins:

  • May 19, 2009 – Leicester, UK – Empirical Evidence Against the God Hypothesis
  • June 16, 2009 – Leicester, UK – “45 Minutes From Attack!”: WMD and other state-sponsored conspiracy theories
  • July 21, 2009 – Leicester, UK – Investigating the Impossible: A Skeptical Approach

Christopher Hitchens Debate in Birmingham, Ala.

christopherhitchensOn March 3rd, Christopher Hitchens will be debating Christian apologist John Lennox at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. The debate is sponsored by the Samford Socratic Club, which seeks to promote debate and hold no idea so sacred that it cannot be questioned. While that is an admirable claim, I suppose we will see if this debate changes any minds. Samford University is a private, Baptist-affiliated school which has the right to deny any person or group from speaking on campus. For my sake, and the sake of all others that will be in attendance, I am glad they did not intervene.

The Samford Socratic Club is, at its heart, a Christian organization, though I can immediately striate them among other Christians in Alabama as having reason and decency enough to at least present a public forum with an opposing worldview. The organization’s website has the following explanation in their mission:

It is our strong conviction that Biblical Christianity is neither dead nor dying, and we are willing to test that belief by inviting people of different worldviews, Christian or not, into open and honest discussion. Our goal is to seek the truth and to follow the argument, wherever that might lead. We are not without opinion, but that does not mean that we are incapable of objectivity. We hope to win people to our own viewpoint, however we are more concerned with causing people to think for themselves than we are with indoctrinating them with our own ideas. So we have only three simple requests: Noise off, brain on, let’s talk.

For those in the Birmingham/Atlanta/Chattanooga/Tupelo driving radius that are interested in attending, the pertinent information is as follows:

What: “Is God Great?” debate between Christopher Hitchens and John Lennox
Where: Samford University’s Wright Center Concert Hall (Calculate Driving Distance)
When: Tuesday, March 3rd, 2009 at 6:00 pm Central
Tickets: Purchase Online

I wonder how many “Burn in Hell, Atheist!” signs I will see being held up on the way in the door?

EDIT: (from the Socratic Club website)

Note: Dinesh D’souza’s participation in this event was unexpectedly cancelled due to family matters. We are willing to refund any tickets purchased before now if you deem such necessary. We are honored, though, to have Professor Lennox take his place, as he is a skilled debater and has debated Hitchens previously in a lively event at the Edinburgh International Festival.