Latest news with #atheism
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
If everything does not happen for a reason, then why does it happen?
I set two atheists up on a date. It was a few years ago, when the Covid -era restrictions had convinced us that we would never again meet a new person. Unless it was online. And we'd had enough of that. The two atheists, both friends of mine, met for a drink along the canal. They spent the evening discussing God. There is no greater power they both agreed. P, my closer friend of the two, believes that life and love are dictated by chance. Your soul mate might board the 7.15am train from Connolly to Pearse Street every morning. You board the later one. Maybe one day, you get the early one and meet them and start chatting. Or maybe they are sick and stayed home that day. You never meet. It's all down to chance. READ MORE P's date, on the other hand, believes in serendipity. Although serendipity is really just the romantic version of chance. So, take the above scenario, where in the latter instance this pair do not meet on the train. But a minor accident aboard the Dart lands one of the soul mates in the doctor's office, where she meets the other, who was kept out of work with illness. In the waiting room, he overhears her telling the receptionist about the incident and intrigued, he starts a conversation with his soul mate. [ I told my boyfriend about my soulmate, without registering his reaction Opens in new window ] The rest, as they say, is history. In the instance of my two atheist friends, the fairy-tale would become resigned to a brief historical footnote. If the opening scenes sounded like the beginning of a noughties romcom, starring Bill Murray and Kate Hudson , it wasn't meant to be. God had different plans in store. Or maybe one of them simply forgot to text back. Who knows. Anyway, this friend, P, and I lived together for a brief period and spent much of that time discussing existence, and much more of our time discussing love (to the extent that P politely suggested at one point, we could perhaps talk a little less of love). These are the topics reserved for people with whom you spend copious amounts of time, where the mundane need not eclipse the existential. Friends you see so often that conversations are conversations, and not catch ups. Believing in chance was a comfort, P told me; it removes control from your hands. Her admission reminded me of the 'humbling and character-building experience of astronomy' of which Carl Sagan speaks in his celebrated book, Pale Blue Dot. The insignificance of our individual experience is reassuring to many, while for others (me!) it is anxiety-inducing. 'Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe, are challenged' Sagan writes, when we witness the diminutiveness of our home planet. Without the structure of a formal belief system, we have the freedom to create our own understanding of life. There is no doctrine to tell us how and what to believe; that might guide us or challenge our instincts and guttural value system. This freedom, however, can be intimidating. Choice is a scary thing. [ Illness management: 'If my condition does not improve, does that make it my fault?' Opens in new window ] I often wish, when it came to migraine, that I had a formal belief system to look to. One that could categorically assure that 'God does not give you more than you can handle', 'it will all make sense in time' or even the more kitsch, 'everything happens for a reason'. If everything does not happen for a reason, then why does it happen? Randomness feels a cruel instructor of fate. It was almost 20 years ago now that I received in my local church the blessing of the sick. It was not without hope that I walked up the aisle with my hands across my chest. Embarrassed by the jittery shimmer of hope I held that this teenage girl was destined for a miracle. That same year, an experimental doctor promised he would have my migraine cured by Easter time. Innocently and naively, I shared this news on my Facebook status with comparison to Christ's resurrection. (it didn't come to pass) More recently, a therapist asked me to outline my belief system. I began rather coyly but stopped abruptly when he began to interrogate. I didn't like his questions. I didn't want to lose this comfort to logic. My therapist, who enjoyed playing devil's advocate and readily contested anything I said, simply nodded and changed the subject. Perhaps he understood that, for pain without reason, the rational brings little comfort.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jordan Peterson stuns atheist debaters by refusing to identify as Christian in viral exchange
Famed Canadian psychologist and speaker Jordan Peterson debated twenty atheists in a video posted Sunday that quickly went viral after Peterson shocked the group by refusing to clarify whether he's a Christian. The academic appeared on the YouTube channel Jubilee in a video currently titled, "Jordan Peterson vs 20 Atheists" on Sunday. The video was originally titled, "1 Christian vs 20 atheists," according to Newsweek. The popular YouTube channel frequently publishes videos where one person debates 20-25 other people who hold a contrary view on politics, religion or other polarizing issues. In the roughly-90-minute video, Peterson debated several atheists on claims about belief in God, Christianity and atheism. About halfway through the video, one debater who said his name was "Danny," pressed Peterson on his understanding of Catholicism, as Peterson reportedly attends a Catholic Church with his wife, who converted to Catholicism last year. Joe Rogan Starts Going To Church As Faith Resurgence Gains Momentum, Christian Apologist Claims When Peterson asked Danny why he was asking him about this, Danny responded, "Because you're a Christian." Read On The Fox News App "You say that. I haven't claimed that," Peterson replied. His answer drew laughs from the atheists. Danny retorted, "Oh, what is this? Christians versus atheists?" referring to the title of the debate. "I don't know," Peterson responded. "You don't know where you are right now?" Danny mocked, with Peterson chiding his debater to "not be a smart—." "Either you're a Christian or you're not," Danny said. "Which one is it?" Peterson refused to answer his question, replying, "I could be either of them, but I don't have to tell you. It's private." Country Music Singer John Rich Confronts Jordan Peterson On His Faith Crisis: 'What Terrifies You?' Danny told Peterson he was invited to debate a Christian and that Peterson must be in "the wrong YouTube video." "You're really quite something, aren't you?" Peterson retorted. "Aren't I? But you're really quite nothing, right? You're not a Christian?" Danny scoffed. Peterson ended the debate with Danny at this point. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture A clip of the exchange has since attracted over 7 million views. The person who posted the clip wrote in the caption, "During a debate titled 'One Christian vs. Twenty Atheists,' Jordan Peterson was pressed to identify himself as a Christian but awkwardly refused.." Peterson did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment. Peterson, who wrote a book last year titled, "We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine," has faced questions about his faith journey over the years. During an interview with country music singer John Rich in 2024, Peterson admitted he "loathed" talking about his personal faith beliefs in public because he didn't want it to be a article source: Jordan Peterson stuns atheist debaters by refusing to identify as Christian in viral exchange
News.com.au
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
‘You're really nothing': Jordan Peterson roasted in debate against 20 atheists
Controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson has been mocked for bizarre performance in a debate against 20 atheists. The Canadian author and commentator, 62, appeared on popular YouTube channel Jubilee's Surrounded series on Monday, which pits one person against 20 audience members who take turns grilling the guest in a rapid-fire debate format. Dr Peterson — who rose to prominence on the right speaking out on issues including free speech, transgendersim, feminism, religion and Covid — sat down to field questions on topics including Christian morality and Biblical teaching. But the once-famed debater raised eyebrows online for a number of awkward exchanges during the 90-minute video — including at one point refusing to answer whether he was a Christian. The Jubilee episode was initially billed as '1 Christian vs 20 Atheists', before the title was changed to 'Jordan Peterson vs 20 Atheists' several hours after it was published. 'You're a Christian,' one debater named Danny stated, after questioning Dr Peterson on Catholic teaching. 'You say that, I haven't claimed that,' Dr Peterson said. 'What is this, is this Christians versus atheists?' Danny said. 'I don't know,' Dr Peterson replied. 'You don't know where you are right now,' Danny said. 'Don't be a smartass,' Dr Peterson warned. 'Either you're a Christian or you're not, which one is it?' Danny asked. 'I could be either of them but I don't have to tell you,' Dr Peterson said. Danny said he was 'under the impression I was invited to talk to a Christian'. 'Am I not talking to a Christian?' he asked. 'I think everyone should look at the title of the YouTube channel. You're probably in the wrong YouTube channel.' Dr Peterson replied, 'You're really quite something, you are.' Prompting Danny to hit back, 'Aren't I? But you're really quite nothing.' 'OK I'm done with him,' Dr Peterson said. In other exchanges, a scowling Dr Peterson appeared to get bogged down sparring with audience members on basic definitions of words. 'Do you believe in the all knowing, all powerful, all good notion of God?' Parker asked. 'What do you mean by believe?' Dr Peterson said. 'You think it to be true,' the questioner said. 'That's the circular definition … if you believe something you stake your life on it.' Dr Peterson then refused to answer the hypothetical question of whether he would lie to save his life or someone else's. 'If you were in Nazi Germany and there's Jewish people in your attic, would you lie to the Nazis?' Parker asked. 'I would have done everything I bloody well could so I wouldn't be in that situation to begin with,' Dr Peterson said. 'It's a hypothetical. I can't answer a hypothetical like that. Don't play games.' Clips from the debate quickly went viral on social media, with critics on the left and right roundly mocking Dr Peterson's performance. 'Jordan Peterson, apparently, is very bad at debating,' one wrote. 'One reason Jordan Peterson is so poor at reasoning is he's surrounded by sycophants who don't give him feedback on his extremely flawed arguments,' another said. 'Here's what happens when he tests his ideas against someone who isn't in his close circle of salad brained pseudointellectuals.' YouTuber David Pakman said, 'Jordan Peterson's completely humiliating and failed attempt to debate 30 random atheists is a great reminder that he's really not worth paying attention to. Posited nothing of interest or meaning and simply played semantics games every time he was outmatched, which was often.' One conservative Christian account wrote, 'An atheist keeps on asking Jordan Peterson what makes someone a Christian, repeatedly, and he has no idea. It's not enough that he's managed to unite Christians and atheists in being extremely frustrated by his refusal to answer simple and straightforward questions, but he can't even accurately represent the Christian side, even if he disagrees with it.' Another said Dr Peterson 'can't even debate children anymore'. 'Never seen someone fall off this hard,' he wrote. Dr Peterson has in the past described himself as a Christian but at other times has declined to discuss his faith in detail. His wife, Tammy Peterson, converted to Catholicism in 2024 following a cancer battle. After a rapid rise to fame in 2016 and the worldwide success of his 2018 book 12 Rules for Life, the Canadian psychology professor abruptly disappeared from public life. His daughter, Mikhaila Peterson, revealed in 2019 that her father had been checked into rehab after struggling with benzodiazepine addiction, which saw him spend eight days in a medically induced coma in a Russian treatment centre. Dr Peterson joined conservative US media outlet The Daily Wire in 2022. Late last year he announced that he had fled Canada for the US, claiming that impending hate speech legislation, bill C-63, threatened to turn the country into a 'totalitarian hellhole'. Speaking on his daughter's podcast, Dr Peterson said an ongoing feud with the College of Psychologists of Ontario had also prompted the move. 'The issue with the College of Psychologists is very annoying, to say the least, and the new legislation that the liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C-63, we'd all be living in a totalitarian hellhole if it passes,' Dr Peterson said. Bill C-63, known as the Online Harms Act, was aimed at targeting hate speech and holding social media services accountable for reducing the amount of harmful content on their platforms. The bill garnered backlash among several free speech groups who claimed it would lead to online speech suppression and surveillance. The British Columbia Civil Liberties Association claimed the bill had the potential to lead to wrongful convictions, while other opponents claimed a complaint could be filed over just the 'fear' that someone may commit a hate crime. The Canadian government announced in December that it was splitting the bill into two separate pieces of legislation to leave out the free speech implications while also ensuring the child protection aspects of the bill. Meanwhile, Dr Peterson remains in contention with the College of Psychologists of Ontario, which threatened to pull his practising license if he doesn't complete a social media re-education training course. Dr Peterson had challenged the order, but Canada's Supreme Court dismissed his appeal against the college's decision in August. After starting his career at Harvard University, Dr Peterson returned to his native Canada to take up a position as a professor at the University of Toronto in 1998. In addition to teaching students, conducting academic research and maintaining a clinical practice seeing patients, Dr Peterson first began to make media appearances in the early 2000s as an expert guest on TV shows. He started a YouTube channel in 2013 to upload lectures and interview appearances — but it wasn't until late 2016 that he shot to global fame after posting a series of videos criticising a proposed Canadian law, Bill C-16 — which made it illegal to refuse to refer to a transgender person by their preferred 'gender pronoun'. His videos quickly went viral, coming just months before the 2016 US election of Donald Trump at a time when the global culture wars were going into overdrive. Dr Peterson, who describes himself as a 'classic British liberal' rather than a conservative, argued that it was an issue of free speech and that the mandatory pronoun law amounted to 'compelled speech'. Rapidly gaining notoriety and amassing fans, he began posting more prolifically on YouTube and social media. To date, his YouTube lectures and videos have amassed hundreds of millions of views, while his appearances on popular podcasts like The Joe Rogan Experience have drawn huge audiences.
Fox News
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Jordan Peterson stuns atheist debaters by refusing to identify as Christian in viral exchange
Famed Canadian psychologist and speaker Jordan Peterson debated twenty atheists in a video posted Sunday that quickly went viral after Peterson shocked the group by refusing to clarify whether he's a Christian. The academic appeared on the YouTube channel Jubilee in a video currently titled, "Jordan Peterson vs 20 Atheists" on Sunday. The video was originally titled, "1 Christian vs 20 atheists," according to Newsweek. The popular YouTube channel frequently publishes videos where one person debates 20-25 other people who hold a contrary view on politics, religion or other polarizing issues. In the roughly-90-minute video, Peterson debated several atheists on claims about belief in God, Christianity and atheism. About halfway through the video, one debater who said his name was "Danny," pressed Peterson on his understanding of Catholicism, as Peterson reportedly attends a Catholic Church with his wife, who converted to Catholicism last year. When Peterson asked Danny why he was asking him about this, Danny responded, "Because you're a Christian." "You say that. I haven't claimed that," Peterson replied. His answer drew laughs from the atheists. Danny retorted, "Oh, what is this? Christians versus atheists?" referring to the title of the debate. "I don't know," Peterson responded. "You don't know where you are right now?" Danny mocked, with Peterson chiding his debater to "not be a smart—." "Either you're a Christian or you're not," Danny said. "Which one is it?" Peterson refused to answer his question, replying, "I could be either of them, but I don't have to tell you. It's private." Danny told Peterson he was invited to debate a Christian and that Peterson must be in "the wrong YouTube video." "You're really quite something, aren't you?" Peterson retorted. "Aren't I? But you're really quite nothing, right? You're not a Christian?" Danny scoffed. Peterson ended the debate with Danny at this point. A clip of the exchange has since attracted over 7 million views. The person who posted the clip wrote in the caption, "During a debate titled 'One Christian vs. Twenty Atheists,' Jordan Peterson was pressed to identify himself as a Christian but awkwardly refused.." Peterson did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment. Peterson, who wrote a book last year titled, "We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine," has faced questions about his faith journey over the years. During an interview with country music singer John Rich in 2024, Peterson admitted he "loathed" talking about his personal faith beliefs in public because he didn't want it to be a spectacle.
Daily Mail
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'People always tell me I wish you died instead of him': PETER HITCHENS remembers sibling rivalry with late brother CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS on new Mail podcast
On the latest episode of the Mail's Alas Vine & Hitchens podcast, acclaimed broadcaster Peter Hitchens remembered the sibling rivalry between him and his 'radically left' brother, Christopher Hitchens. The best-selling author also shared some of the cruel comments he has received since Christopher passed from cancer in 2011. Christopher Hitchens, the brother of Alas podcast host, Peter Hitchens, was a prodigious author and journalist, known for his divisive atheism and left-wing politics. Over his long career, Christopher penned 18 books on topics ranging from culture and history to politics and religion. He was also a champion debater, regularly appearing on TV to defend his contrarian views. Peter told the podcast: 'My brother had a very large reputation. He tended to take different views from me – that is to say, I'm a Christian, he was an atheist. I am a person on the socially conservative right; he was a person on the radical left. 'I am not seeking sympathy by saying this but, it happens all the time that people on social media will tell me – I wish you'd been the one that died. 'That got me thinking about the very curious business of brothers and sisters. There does seem to be a problem with certain sets of siblings, where they just don't get on. 'We used to fight a lot as children – which began a war which, in a way, continued all our lives.' Christopher Hitchens died aged 62 from complications of oesophageal cancer. In his memoir, Christopher said the biggest divide between him and his brother was Peter's belief in God. Reminiscing with Mail columnist and podcast co-host Sarah Vine, Peter remembered how the warring siblings used to frighten each other as children. 'There was this one famous occasion where he was supposed to have removed the brakes on my pram. He brought me up on top of a hill with evil intent. 'Another where Christopher claimed to be sitting by a flower bed, which is unlikely for him, and saw a small menacing shadow of a boy with a rake advancing towards him. 'I also remember my brother leading me into a swamp on the edges of Dartmoor. We always used to fight.' As adults, Peter said he and his brother had a distant relationship, particularly after Christopher travelled across the pond, moving permanently to Washington DC. Although Peter admits that 'they never really got along', he also revealed that he 'misses him all the time'. 'I owe so much to having a brother with whom I had an adversarial relationship - you learn a lot', the broadcaster began. 'There was a brief period when we were both living in DC, where we saw more of each other than we otherwise did. Seeing each other again, it became very clear why we were happy being distant – we just didn't get on all that much. 'But it was always nice saying hello. We could finish each other's sentences - we had private languages as children. 'I miss him all the time.'
