Why I Thank Goodness For (Some) Atheists!

“I want atheism to be true and am made uneasy by the fact that some of the most intelligent and well-informed people I know are religious believers,” says atheist philosopher Thomas Nagel in his book The Last Word.

You might uncharitably think to yourself that this is an exception to the rule. You’d, of course, be wrong. Encouraged by Stephen Bullivant’s Faith and Unbelief, I came up (really quickly) with a list of ten atheists who engage religion intelligently, without demonizing it, even with a certain level of appreciation and admiration.

There are so many of these strange beards that there’s no need to worry about their extinction. The TOP10 list I compiled for Ethika Politika (“Neither Nye, Nor Gopnik“) left off prominent intellectuals such as Judith Butler, Michel Houellebecq, Terry Eagleton (possibly crypto-Catholic), George Steiner (possibly crypto-theist), and Camille Paglia.

But it seems from this account of his debate with Rowan Williams, even the fundamentalist New Atheist Dawkins has his moments of doubt about doubt.

Enjoy this video and explore “Neither Nye, Nor Gopnik“: