from Christian Concern
Head of Public Policy Tim Dieppe reflects on his public debate with the Durham Union about whether there can be morality without God
I participated in a debate at the Durham Union last week, on the motion: ‘This house believes without God, all is permissible.’ It was an exciting event to be involved in as we debated an important motion in front of a packed audience of Durham University students.
Proposing the motion were: Dr Peter Vardy – author and theologian, Fr Andrew Downie – Catholic Chaplain to Durham University, Jerry Li – former president of the Durham Union Society, and myself.
Opposing the motion were: Professor Richard Norman –philosopher and patron of Humanists UK, Professor Daphne Hampson – post-Christian theologian, Alex O’Connor – founder of the Cosmic Skeptic YouTube channel, and Joseph Folley – founder of the Unsolicited Advice social media business.
Amongst the students, Alex O’Connor is very well known as a YouTube celebrity atheist. He debates against Christian apologists and is a highly articulate defender of atheism. I decided to accept this invitation to debate against him on a motion I thought he would struggle to defend.