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Technorati"But it seems to me to be manifestly obvious that that is a futile kind of explanation because as the quotation says 'who designed the Designer?' You have explained precisely nothing."
Giving a straightforward response, Lennox said the God who created the universe is not created. "He is eternal," he argued.
"None of us believe in created gods – Jews, Muslims, or Christians," Lennox said. Created gods are by definition a delusion, he added.
Although uncertain on whether Dawkins believes if matter and energy and the laws of energy were always there, Lennox argued that if he does, then he does believe in something eternal.
Christianity is dangerous
On a more sensitive topic, the staunch atheist opposed teaching faith to children because of the dangers of extremism.
"The point about teaching children that faith is a virtue is that you're teaching them that you don't have to justify what you do, you can simply shelter behind the statement 'that's my faith and you're not to question that,'" Dawkins argued.
He said what he objects is the convention that society has bought into, that religious faith is something to be respected and not questioned. "Faith is a terrible weapon because it justifies the performance of terrible acts," said Dawkins as he imagined a world without religion.
Lennox agreed with the danger of teaching children to be fanatics by not allowing them to question, but he asked the audience to imagine a world without atheism, without Stalin, Mao Zedong and Pol Pot and the thousands of churches that were destroyed.
"You contend that the teachings of modern religion are an open invitation to extremism," said Lennox. "Well, that is not true of the teachings of Christ, I can't speak for other religions but what about the modern teaching of atheism?"
Clarifying his remarks, Dawkins said he was not trying to say all religious people do bad things. And atheism may have even been an integral part of the Marxism that led Stalin and other infamous atheist despots to do terrible acts, but Dawkins stressed that atrocities are never committed in the name of atheism while that's not the case for religion.
"If you really, really believe that your god, Allah, whoever it is, wants you to do something and go to heaven or go to paradise if you do it, then it's possible for an entirely logical, rational person to do hideous things," he explained. "I cannot conceive of a logical path that would lead one to say 'because I am an atheist, therefore, it is rational for me to kill.'"
"You will not do terrible deeds because you are an atheist not for rational reasons, though you will for very rational reasons do terrible things because you are religious. That's what faith is about. That's what faith means," he said to applause.
In response, Lennox argued that atheism is a faith as well - a claim which Dawkins denied.
The debate heated up but arguments were cut short to move on to the next thesis and left the audience in suspense for more.
We do not need God in order to be good or evil
Although there seems to be a universal kind of acceptance of what's right or not, Dawkins said people are automatically able to discern in the Bible what is good and what isn't. You didn't need the Bible to tell you what's morally right. Continue »
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