By PZ MYERS, PHARYNGULA
Added: Wed, 26 Aug 2009 23:00:00 UTC

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/08/baby_bears_lament_james_wood_i.php

I must admit that I quite like the subtitle for this new anti-atheist lament in the New Yorker by James Wood: "A don defends the Supreme Being from the new atheists." I just picture a gigantic graying gentleman in academic robes, his sleeves flapping as he swats aside the helicopter gunships piloted by Dawkins and Dennett and Harris and Hitchens as they swoop in to take out a cowering, defenseless, and semi-transparent Bronze Age patriarch behind him. It's a peculiar arrogance of the true believers that at the same time they fervently follow this imaginary being that they claim is omnipotent and manifest in everything around us, they also flop into paroxysms of flustered, frantic defensive denial when some guy merely criticizes their holy hero. That's it; we say, "we don't believe in your deity, can you give us a reason we should?" and they immediately start blustering about how we should believe, and it's good for us, and all these other smart people believed, and atheists are unlettered nuisances who should quit annoying us with these questions. But they never, ever give us any evidence or any reason.

Continue reading:
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/08/baby_bears_lament_james_wood_i.php

TAGGED: COMMENTARY