One of the most respected scientists in the world and the biggest draw in secularism, Richard Dawkins always generates impressive crowds when visiting North America. Secularism is sweeping America as a movement, and Richard Dawkins is the catalyst who galvanizes it.
From 1995 to 2008 Richard Dawkins was the Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. He is an internationally best-selling author. Among his books are The Ancestor’s Tale, The Selfish Gene, The Blind Watchmaker, Climbing Mount Improbable, Unweaving the Rainbow, A Devil’s Chaplain, The God Delusion, The Greatest Show on Earth and The Magic of Reality. His most recent books are his two-part autobiography. Part 1 An Appetite for Wonder, released in 2013 and A Brief Candle in the Dark released in 2015.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and of the Royal Society of Literature. His around-the-world speaking tour is the focus of a recent documentary “The Unbelievers” which also features appearances by Woody Allen, Stephen Colbert, Cameron Diaz, Ian McEwan, Ricky Gervais, Stephen Hawking, Eddie Izzard, Bill Pullman, and Sarah Silverman.
Richard will be in conversation with Matt Dillahunty.
Matt Dillahunty is the current host of the webcast and cable access television show "The Atheist Experience," and from 2006 to 2013 served as the president of the Atheist Community of Austin. He is also a founder of the comprehensive counter-apologetics Wiki "Iron Chariots."
Dillahunty is an outspoken atheist and fierce advocate of the concept of separation of church and state. Having been raised as a fundamentalist Baptist and having studied with the intent of going to seminary and becoming a minister before his bout of apostasy, Dillahunty is familiar with the Christian fundamentalist mindset, and very knowledgeable about both the history and the text of the Bible. While he is not formally educated in any scientific field, it's clear from watching his shows that he has amassed enough of a working knowledge of biology, cosmology, and geology to defend these fields from creationists, including Ray Comfort. Dillahunty does not claim to have any expertise in any of these fields and will frequently admit that his knowledge is limited, even as he soundly schools creationists who declare their own willful ignorance of science.
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