but by Oxford “philosophy lecturer and fellow atheist” Daniel Came:
… for refusing to debate William Lane Craig, who has debated many “new atheists”.
Prof Dawkins maintains that Prof Craig is not a figure worthy of his attention and has reportedly said that such a contest would “look good” on his opponent’s CV but not on his own.
[ … ]
Prof Craig is a research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology, in California, and the author of 30 books and hundreds of scholarly articles on Christianity.
He has debated with leading thinkers including Daniel Dennett, A.C.Grayling, Christopher Hitchens, Lewis Wolpert and Sam Harris.
[]
In a letter to Prof Dawkins, Dr Came said: “The absence of a debate with the foremost apologist for Christian theism is a glaring omission on your CV and is of course apt to be interpreted as cowardice on your part.
“I notice that, by contrast, you are happy to discuss theological matters with television and radio presenters and other intellectual heavyweights ….”
– Tim Ross, “Richard Dawkins accused of cowardice for refusing to debate existence of God,” The Telegraph (14 May 2011)
Toldjah. When Dawkins was riding high, he could get away with this. Not any more:
Dawkins’ 2003 views here: “The question of who would ‘win’such a debate is not at issue. Winning is not what these people realistically aspire to.The coup they seek is simply the recognition of being allowed to share a platform with a real scientist in the first place. This will suggest to innocent bystanders that there must be material here that is genuinely worth debating, on something like equal terms.” Richard Dawkins, “Creating such a fuss about nothing,” Times 2 (January 28, 2003).
– By Design or by Chance?, p. 286.
Hat tip: Wintery Knight