In some ways I have great respect for Will Provine, who is honest enough to declare the inevitable philosophical consequences of atheistic materialism (no free will, no dogs or gods worth having, no foundation for ethics, no ultimate purpose or meaning in anything, and eventually drop dead and go straight to eternal nihilistic oblivion).
Richard Dawkins has written a children’s book (The Magic of Reality, an oxymoronic title if ever there was one). Dawkins could have easily distilled his most recent magnum opus into the following (with the obviously benevolent intent of edifying young children concerning Ultimate Truth and Real Science):
Dear Children,
You are the product of a random, materialistic process that did not have you in mind. (Please don’t ask any embarrassing questions about how a materialistic process could have a mind. We’ll get to that later when you are sufficiently educated to understand such concepts.) You have no free will. You are a machine with no ultimate purpose other than to pass on your selfish genes. When you die and your chemistry shuts down, you will enter eternal oblivion.
Now kids, since I’ve educated you about science, be sure to have a nice day! And don’t forget about The Magic of Reality!