Late in February 2012 Richard Dawkins, internationally renowned atheist, and Rowan Williams, soon to retire Archbishop of Canterbury, debated the meaning of life, the universe and everything at the Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford. The moderator of the event was Sir Anthony Kenny, the famous British philosopher, ex-Catholic priest and current agnostic. The debate was podcast live around the world.
It was a gentlemanly affair. Dawkins was on his best behaviour, perhaps caught up in the solemnity of the occasion. Certainly Kenny did not let him get away with much. And Williams is a much respected figure even among atheists, and a genuine scholar. The audience packed the theatre but kept their place, reserving their applause until the end of the event.
In Australia we do things differently. Here we set Dawkins against Cardinal George Pell and put journalist Tony Jones in the moderator's seat. Rather than a gentlemanly debate the event was billed like a street fight, with Jones calling it 'a remarkable match-up', a 'title fight of belief'. Certainly the blogosphere expected a one-sided event with comments like 'Dawkins is going to crucify Pell' and 'I hope Pell doesn't mind being humiliated'.
Jones is no Kenny and Pell is no Williams, but Dawkins is still Dawkins, and in this instance was no longer restrained by the setting, the moderator or any lingering respect for his opponent. Though struggling with jet-lag his switch was set to attack. Pell, too, had pre-planned debating points to make, on Darwin, Hitler and Stalin, designed to provoke a strong reaction from Dawkins, which they did.
Sadly the cardinal's grasp of scientific details did not inspire confidence. His scholastic philosophical points on the soul and transubstantiation (complex at the best of times), found little traction with the audience. He struggled to give voice to religious truths in an environment more conducive to combat than conversation or conversion.
He did well however in making it clear that atheists could definitely 'go to heaven' and that Catholics need have no problem with evolution, suggesting that the Genesis account of creation and fall is 'mythological'.
Dawkins on the other hand failed to see the limitations of claims to explain the universe from 'nothing', promoted by recent writings by Lawrence Krauss. Like many scientists Dawkins and Krauss