Great Debate Tuesday Night - Religion Is A Delusion
Published 1 year, 5 months ago in Entertainment.Knowing how Nooksters love their Christians vs. Atheists debates (heaven knows I do), this Tuesday (the 31st of July), 7pm at Monash University (Clayton campus) there will be a great debate on the topic “Religion is a Delusion”.
Dr John L. Perkins (atheist) and Matt Scheffer (Christian) will be locking horns and halos respectively and anyone who is interested to watch is welcome… the event is free and supper is provided! 
You can find all the details, including a map, here: Monash CU - The Great Debate
(If you’re there, look out for a tall lady wearing black… there’s a good chance it could be me.)
13 Responses to “Great Debate Tuesday Night - Religion Is A Delusion”
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Lets hope the Christian ackowledges that the “soft” and “liberal” views so often trotted out by Aussie Christians are the foundations for the nutters who blow up abortion clinics, stop poor, uneducated women from insisting their husband uses contraception, propagate fear into the hearts of millions of children with stories of a “hell” and generally stick their busy noses into other people’s lives.
Well Peter, if you think that, I will hope that the Atheist will acknowledge that Atheism supports killing of people via abortion and euthanasia, the medicalisation of uneducated and gullible women with anti depressants, gardasil and RU 486.
Atheists have NO basis for morality, values or ethics………
Thanks Lady Chaos. It sounds very interesting but unfortunately I won’t be able to make it. Do you think they’ll record it to video or audio?
Let’s hope not everyone uses my comments section as an arena for their own little debate on the subject. Everyone has their own views for their own (usually) perfectly valid and logical reasons. This was not an antagonistic post, and the next antagonistic comment gets deleted.
If they record it, the debate might be up on the Monash Christian Union website:
http://www.monash.cu.org.au/GreatDebate.php
I’ll try and ask someone about it tomorrow, or at least let you know how it goes.
Great work thanks Lady Chaos. I’ve heard a few of these debates but only with the likes of Dawkins and Rational Responders type people on the other side of the world so this will be quite interesting I think.
Ha ha Ark - such nobility of compassion from a Christian. I supopse I’ll go to hell.
Jad - someone did film the debate, and I asked her about it. She wasn’t sure about when, but she said that footage of the debate will probably be up on the Christian Union website.
Well, the debate’s over, and to be honest, I found it a bit of a disappointment.
The Christian speaker chose to approach the topic from the angle that Jesus’ resurrection, the basis for the Bible, really happened. He did present some very good evidence and arguments in favour of the resurrection that even I hadn’t thought of, but some (not all, some) of his evidence was Biblical, and did not sit well with the non-Christians. Also, I feel it would have been more interesting if he had covered other topics beyond just the resurrection.
The atheist speaker presented some strong arguments in favour of atheism, but perhaps his most convincing was his own humility - he does not believe there is a God because there is no evidence of a God, and if evidence of the existence a God were to be found, he would believe. Such a viewpoint seemed refreshing, considered and mature. He gave a good description of what atheism was, but failed to address a number of points that I have had come up in debates before. Still, there was a time limit, and obviously not everything could be covered.
On the up side of the debate…
1. It was a very, very good idea and got people thinking.
2. It was not crazy competitive, with neither side resorting to put downs or personal attacks.
3. Both speakers got a fair chance to present their point of view and a rebuttal.
4. Both speakers were willing to accept certain points made by the other side.
5. They did not waste time nit picking on irrelevant topics like religious denominations, but stuck well to the theme of the debate.
On the down side…
1. The room was too darn hot.
2. There was not a winner, it seemed more like two separate talks than a debate.
3. The questions from the audience were hand picked, rather than chosen at random from raised hands, and were not easy to understand.
4. In my opinion the Christian speaker referred to a few things that people not familiar with the Bible would find confusing, and did not use enough evidence outside the Bible (although to be fair, there was a time limit).
5. The atheist speaker said some things that were blatantly not true, including that the Bible encourages Christians to kill non Christians, completely ignoring “thou shalt not murder”.
6. Both sides ignored much of each others’ argument, and seemed to even use the rebuttal to just stress their earlier point.
7. Both sides did not answer the questions very well (although the questions were terribly confusing and poorly worded, and indeed an audience member had to be asked to explain one).
8. A lot of issues were ignored, although once again, I think this could be because of the time limit.
9. Much as no one wants a fight, it really could have been more lively, with a bit more back-and-forth between the speakers.
10. Also, it seemed unfair that a debate could hinge on how many books either side had read on the subject, and whether or not they could verify what the other speaker was saying.
All in all, I think the debate could have been better, but it is a very, very good start, and got a wonderful turnout. I strongly admire Monash Christian Union for hosting it given that half the time was devoted to an entirely different belief to their own.
Perhaps a better debate on the topic could include…
1. A wider variety of speakers (e.g. three different ones from each side, or even a fence sitter)
2. “Specialised” speakers that can address specific points on the topic rather than such a generalised view.
3. A little bit more back-and-forth between speakers.
4. More time!!
5. Held in a lecture theatre so everyone can see, hear and not have their arms in someone else’s lap.
If there’s another one on next year or later this year I’ll try and post about it sooner on Nook.
How’d it go last night Lady Chaos? Any good? There were a couple of good reports on the facebook link but thats all I’ve heard so far.
I am not surprised that you found it a bit disappointing Lady C. It’s not only that, but it really is quite pointless.
Philosophy is about a “doctrine: a belief (or system of beliefs) accepted as authoritative by some group or school” and “The objects of philosophy . . . are upon the whole the same as those of religion. In both the object is Truth, in that supreme sense in which God (or non-God) and God only is Truth.” And each group or school believes that their’s is the only Truth, and that other people (non believers of their school of thought) should adopt them. And if they do not agree or accept them then you just go to Hell!
Isn’t that right Evil Overlord? Otherwise you would not get so many at your Gate!
Reminds me of those famous people of the Book and the Irishman -
Five Jews who changed the way we see the world and its Irish interpretation:
Moses: “The Law is everything.”
Jesus: “Love is everything.”
Marx: “Money is everything.”
Freud: “Sex is everything.”
Einstein: “Everything is relative.”
and the Irishman
Beckett: “Everything is pointless” in Waiting For Godot (wonderful play)
And everybody had a point to make. Or is it a pointless point?
XD That’s classic…
I don’t think any points are pointless… many of the points made at the debate were, indeed, quite pointy. I just think it could have been better… but then again, that would require more time, and those chairs were mighty uncomfy.
Interesting that two of my comments failed to make the grade with this particular issue. Perhaps there is a God and she mozzed me to show her power…..I was glad of Lady Chaos’s feedback because it meant I got the picture anyhow having missed the advertisement until the day after it took place! Third time lucky…see all those pessimists who worry that I’m not an optimist!
You know what, in all I have seen and learnt, this is how I see it.
Christian Person - You believe there is a God, you have good values, you live a healthy life and pray there is a God.
Athiast - You live life doing whatever you please, you don’t believe in God.
If there is no God, Christians have lost nothing and Athiasts have proved to be right.
If there is a God, watch out! hehe