Alexis is the author of the book, "In the Name of Knowledge and Wisdom: Why Atheists, Sceptics, Agnostics, and Intellectuals Deny Christianity."
Here's a couple of key passages:
FP: Why has atheism become so popular today?*****
Alexis: Atheism is so popular because many people—even those who claim to be atheists—do not seriously examine the worldviews and detrimental ideologies that post beneath the surface. The famed mathematician and philosopher Bertrand Russell was an avowed atheist until he debated the philosopher Frederick Copleston. Once Copleston logically showed Russell that atheism is existentially and experientially untenable, Russell immediately changed his atheism into agnosticism. In the Name of Knowledge and Wisdom simply shows that the atheist position is irrational and unliveable.
FP: Why is nihilism so rampant in our pop culture today?Read the whole thing, here.
Alexis: ... In a nutshell, nihilism is so rampant because the nihilistic culture has no moral framework or principle upon which a person should base his or her life.FP: What danger is there to a society embracing the concept that God is dead -- as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proposed in the nineteenth century?
Alexis: G. K. Chesterton made the point that “the first affect of not believing in God is to believe in anything.” Among the “anything” that people begin to believe is the idea that all “truth” is relative. This, by the way, is a self-defeating position. If all truth is relative, then the statement that “a ll truth is relative” is either a relative statement in itself, or it is an absolute claim. It cannot be both. If it is a relative claim, then why not include other statements such as “all truth is not relative”? Moreover, it does not take a student of philosophy to show that the claim is absolutely ridiculous. If the statement is relative, we can easily dismiss it on the basis of uncertainty because the person making the claim is not even sure that the claim is right or wrong.
7 comments:
Strauss psychically predicted as much with his killer dissection of 'moral relativism'
The founding father of 'Which one of these is not like the other?' politically wise - Strauss pointed out that relativism (and realism too) shared a dangerously retarded "easy going belief that all points of view are equal (hence none really worth passionate argument, deep analysis or stalwart defense) and then into the strident belief that anyone who argues for the superiority of a distictive moral insight, way of life, or human type is somehow elitist or antidemocratic and hence immoral."
Thanks Courtney!
Thanks Grace. Happy Thanksgiving!
That was a great interview. Now I need an excuse to use it in the classroom.
Maybe as an extra credit assignment...
I won't mention I found it here I promise...
You can mention it, Vegas Guy!
Wow! Sounds like a great read. I'm going to look for it the next time I'm in the bookstore. I'm greatly concerned by the growing antagonism going on in society with brazen atheistic or agnostic authors attacking faith (e.g. Dawkins). I'm even more concerned, though, by my local church's refusal to equip its member to intelligently deal with these hostile challenges. But, I also try to remind myself that the Church has always thrived when under persecution.
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