On Friday the 7th I went into the Premier Studios in London and recorded two shows with Matt Dillahunty from ‘The Atheist Experience’. I was not really looking forward to it – Matt does a kind of atheist apologetic that I actually find distasteful. It is mocking, self congratulatory, smug and superior. Anyway recording the two shows was a tough experience and a spiritual battle. I know I did not get everything right, but what really fascinates me is the reaction to the shows. By any standard Matt made a mess of the first one – he contradicted himself, failed to offer answers and left me gasping with wonder at the poverty, hopelessness and irrationality of his atheist philosophy. It was a total wipe out. Cringeworthingly embarrassing for any respectable atheist! I came away strangely encouraged – not because I ‘won’ the debate (that is too often a subjective perception) – but because once again Christianity stood up to one of its fiercest critics and walked away rejoicing in the truth of Jesus.
When I said ‘by any standard’, that wasn’t strictly true – by the standard of the New Fundamentalist Atheists, I was obnoxious, horrible, rude, ignorant and totally beaten into the ground by the nice, gracious, brilliant Matt! The posts and e-mails I have received telling me that I am going to atheist hell are quite astonishing. Perhaps nothing illustrates more the emotional investment that some people have in their atheism (there is no God and I hate him) and the intellectual disconnect that results. Of course they may be right – maybe I am the deluded one! – I will leave you to judge…..here is the link for the debate:
http://www.premier.org.uk/unbelievable
Or you can get the MP3 here –
Apparently those links are not now working – you can get both here – http://www.premierchristianradio.com/Shows/Saturday/Unbelievable/Episodes/Why-I-am-not-an-atheist-David-Robertson-vs-Matt-Dillahunty-Unbelievable
I wonder if it is of any significance that Matt has so far not put any link to the debate in his tweets or website? Or maybe he was just too busy mocking those dumb Christians at the conference he was at?!