Difference between revisions of "Jerry Coyne"

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(Coyne's commentary on atheist meetings within the atheist movement)
(Coyne's commentary on atheist meetings within the atheist movement)
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...a few things bothered me, most notably the [[Atheism and arrogance|air of self-congratulation]] (which I excused on the grounds of enthusiastic people finding like-minded folks for the first time), the “fanboyness” directed at some of the famous atheists (they hardly let poor [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality|Richard]] alone, and I’m not sure he liked that!), and the lameness of quite a few of the talks.  Again, how much new can you say about atheism?<ref>[https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/are-there-too-many-atheist-meetings/ Are there too many atheist meetings?] by Jerry Coyne</ref>}}  
 
...a few things bothered me, most notably the [[Atheism and arrogance|air of self-congratulation]] (which I excused on the grounds of enthusiastic people finding like-minded folks for the first time), the “fanboyness” directed at some of the famous atheists (they hardly let poor [[Richard Dawkins' cult of personality|Richard]] alone, and I’m not sure he liked that!), and the lameness of quite a few of the talks.  Again, how much new can you say about atheism?<ref>[https://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/06/10/are-there-too-many-atheist-meetings/ Are there too many atheist meetings?] by Jerry Coyne</ref>}}  
  
However, in 2013, Jerry Coyne spoke at an atheist meeting with the self-congratulatory title of "The Amazing Meeting".<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerry_Coyne_at_The_Amazing_Meeting_2013-2.jpg Photograph of Jerry Coyne speaking at the atheist meeting entitled The Amazing Meeting]</ref>  "The Amazing Meeting'' is an annual meeting and perennial speakers at the Amazing Meeting include [[Penn Jillette|Penn]] & Teller, [[Michael Shermer]], [[James Randi]] and Phil Plait.  
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However, in 2013, Jerry Coyne spoke at an atheist meeting with the self-congratulatory title of "The Amazing Meeting".<ref>[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jerry_Coyne_at_The_Amazing_Meeting_2013-2.jpg Photograph of Jerry Coyne speaking at the atheist meeting entitled The Amazing Meeting]</ref>  "The Amazing Meeting'' is an annual meeting and perennial speakers at the Amazing Meeting include [[Penn Jillette|Penn]] & Teller, [[Michael Shermer]], [[James Randi]] and Phil Plait. See also: [[Atheist hypocrisy]]
 
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See also: [[Atheist hypocrisy]]
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== External links ==
 
== External links ==

Revision as of 00:21, January 9, 2016

In 2013, the atheist Jerry Coyne speaking at a atheist meeting entitled "The Amazing Meeting" which is an annual meeting.

In 2011, Coyne said about atheist meetings which he attended that they had an air of self-congratulation.[1] He also indicated about atheist meetings: "But to me the speakers and talks have often seemed repetitive: the same crew of jet-set skeptics giving the same talks."[2]

Jerry Allen Coyne (born on December 30, 1949) is an American professor of biology at the University of Chicago in the Department of Ecology and Evolution.

He is an outspoken evolutionist and atheist who is known for his commentary on intelligent design theory. Since World War II a majority of the most prominent and vocal defenders of the evolutionary position which employs methodological naturalism have been atheists and agnostics.[3]

Coyne's anti-religiousness

See also: Rebuttals to atheist arguments and Atheism and arrogance

Ross Douthat wrote in The New York Times about Coyne's unreasonable attacks against religious belief:

One of the problems with belonging to a faction that’s convinced it’s on the winning side of intellectual history is that it becomes easy to persuade oneself that one’s own worldview has no weak points whatsoever, no internal contradictions or ragged edges, no cracks through which a critic’s wedge could end up driven. …right now its vices are often found in a certain type of atheistic polemicist, and in a style of anti-religious argument that’s characterized by a peculiar, almost-willed ignorance of why reasonable people might doubt the scientific-materialist worldview.

...Coyne is a prominent evangelist, suggesting that its view of the cosmos — a purposeless, purely physical universe, in which human life is accidental, human history directionless, and human consciousness probably an illusion — is at odds with its general political and moral posture (liberal, egalitarian, right-based, progressive) in ways that make the entire world-picture ripe for reassessment or renovation.

...For a man who believes in ‘a physical and purposeless universe’ with no room for teleology, Coyne seems remarkably confident about what direction human history is going in, and where it will end up. … I can’t imagine a permanent intellectual victory for a worldview as ill-served by its popularizers as atheism is by Jerry Coyne.”[4]

Chris Stedman serves as the Executive Director of the Yale Humanist Community at Yale University.

Fellow atheist Chris Stedman says of Coyne:

Treating others as unwilling subjects of psychoanalysis is toxic to discourse, and it’s something I see many atheists take part in too frequently. The most recent example comes from Jerry Coyne, though it’s hardly limited to him. In a new piece, Coyne asks, “Why are faitheists so nasty?” and writes:
They’re not angry at New Atheists; they’re angry at themselves—for being unable to believe in a God that they know doesn’t exist. And they’re angry at that God for not existing. They just take it out on us.

To start, you can’t chalk anything in psychology up to something so simple as “they’re just angry at themselves and taking it out on us.” Furthermore, Coyne’s thesis is not only completely at odds with my own personal experience—“faitheists” on the whole seem to prioritize a cooperative approach and rarely seem to respond in kind to the personal attacks some “New Atheists” heap on them—but it also goes against the only scientific evidence on the topic that I’ve seen.[5]

Coyne's book Why Evolution is True

See also: Evolution as a secular origins myth and Evolution and Cases of Fraud, Hoaxes and Speculation

Throughout his book Why Evolution is True, Coyne abuses the term evolution, defining it in multiple ways and equivocating it. (See also: Atheism and the fallacy of equivocation)[6] In addition, he shows a poor understanding of the creationist/creation science position.[7]

Coyne and his view that the universe is meaninglessness

See also: Atheism and meaninglessness and Atheism is uninspiring

Coyne admits the meaninglessness of the universe as an implication of an atheistic evolutionary worldview, but then insists that we can create our own subjective meaning and marvel at the intricacies of nature (see also: Atheism and meaninglessness).[8]

Coyne's commentary on atheist meetings within the atheist movement

In 2011, Jerry Coyne said about the atheist meetings which he attended that quite a few of the talks were "lame".[9]

See also: Atheist hypocrisy

Dr. J. Gordon Melton said about the atheist movement (organized atheism) that atheism is not a movement which tends to create community, but in the last few years there has been some growth of organized atheism.[10]

In 2011, in a blog post entitled Are there too many atheist meetings?, Coyne said about atheist meetings which he attended:

But to me the speakers and talks have often seemed repetitive: the same crew of jet-set skeptics giving the same talks.

...a few things bothered me, most notably the air of self-congratulation (which I excused on the grounds of enthusiastic people finding like-minded folks for the first time), the “fanboyness” directed at some of the famous atheists (they hardly let poor Richard alone, and I’m not sure he liked that!), and the lameness of quite a few of the talks. Again, how much new can you say about atheism?[11]

However, in 2013, Jerry Coyne spoke at an atheist meeting with the self-congratulatory title of "The Amazing Meeting".[12] "The Amazing Meeting is an annual meeting and perennial speakers at the Amazing Meeting include Penn & Teller, Michael Shermer, James Randi and Phil Plait. See also: Atheist hypocrisy

External links

References

  1. Are there too many atheist meetings? by Jerry Coyne
  2. Are there too many atheist meetings? by Jerry Coyne
  3. The Confidence of Jerry Coyne by Ross Douthat, The New York Times, January 6, 2014
  4. Why atheists (and everyone) should leave psychoanalysis out of their disagreements - See more at: http://chrisstedman.religionnews.com/2014/07/15/atheists-everyone-leave-psychoanalysis-disagreements by Chris Stedman
  5. Jerry Coyne and the “Fact” of Evolution by Kyle Butt, Apologetics Press
  6. Why evolution need not be true: A review of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne Viking Penguin, New York, 2009, reviewed by John Woodmorappe
  7. Why evolution need not be true: A review of Why Evolution is True by Jerry A. Coyne Viking Penguin, New York, 2009, reviewed by John Woodmorappe
  8. Are there too many atheist meetings? by Jerry Coyne
  9. Baylor ISR- J. Gordon Melton - End of Religion? (May 5, 2015)
  10. Are there too many atheist meetings? by Jerry Coyne
  11. Photograph of Jerry Coyne speaking at the atheist meeting entitled The Amazing Meeting