For those seeking a barometer of current thinking on important questions of meaning and values, ABC TV's Q&A is a good place to start.
Chaired by genial but incisive host Tony Jones, every Thursday at 9.30pm it lines up a panel of five opinion makers, usually including a few politicians. They field questions on current events from ordinary members of the public, both in the studio audience, and from viewers at home. This interactivity is a large part of its appeal.
Last Thursday's edition was a treat. Its panel was a bit different to normal, as it eschewed the usual politicians, and instead featured people representing different perspectives on belief. These included one of the leading new atheists, British author of God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens. (Continues below)
And he didn't disappoint. As much as I disagree with his point of view, I have to concede he was an able and sharp debater, relentless in nailing the other panelists, pointing out flaws and inconsistencies in their arguments, and he was master of the witty and cutting riposte.
But the other panelists proved to be worthy opponents. They included Jesuit priest and social activist, Fr Frank Brennan; lecturer in politics and former spokesperson for the Islamic Council of Victoria, Waleed Aly; academic, and former editor of The Monthly, Sally Warhaft; and deputy director of the Sydney Institute, Anne Henderson.
The overarching theme, atheism versus religion, was timely. The new atheists seem to be riding a wave of popularity. I'm beginning to view them as a religious movement, in that there is a consistency in their message that deals with big questions of meaning and values, they are producing a stream of literature that is being actively promulgated and promoted, and they are carrying this out with evangelical, if not fundamentalist zeal.
To show I'm not alone in this view, this week the Atheist Foundation of Australia announced that in March 2010 it will host a Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne whose theme is 'The Rise of Atheism'. The keynote speaker will be Richard Dawkins. The Age's report on the convention carried the headline, 'High-priest of atheism on his way'. Sounds like it will rival the Hillsong Convention held every year in Sydney.
This view was reflected in a question to Hitchens from a member of the Q&A audience: 'You typically stereotype religious people as dogmatic and fundamentalist