TO THE BEST OF OUR KNOWLEDGE

PROMO  6/22/2008 "Atheism and Its Critics"
*Atheists have been called the most hated minority in America, but
recent atheist manifestos by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and
Sam Harris have all made the bestseller list.  Have these atheists
changed our thinking about religion?  In this hour of To the Best of Our
Knowledge, the New Atheism with Richard Dawkins and two of his critics.

PROGRAM RUNDOWN::   "Atheism and Its Critics"


0:01 - 26:35        SEGMENT 1: (26:36)
            John Haught is a Catholic theologian at Georgetown
            University who's written a polemical response to the so-
            called "new atheists."  He tells Steve Paulson that they
            simply don't measure up to the old atheists like
            Nietzsche and Camus. Haught's books include "God after
            Darwin" and "God and the New Atheism."  The world's most
            famous atheist, Richard Dawkins, author of "The God
            Delusion," visits with Steve Paulson and demonstrates why
            he's been called "Darwin's rottweiler.  And, Alister
            McGrath, a historical theologian at Oxford, shares
            Dawkins' interest in science, but little else. He and
            Steve talk about the role of religious zealotry.
            McGrath's book's include "The Dawkins Delusion" and
            "Christianity's Dangerous Idea." 
                    
            Segment One Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

26:36 - 27:05  LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

27:06 - 38:28       SEGMENT 2: (11:24)
            Jenny Phillips is the director of the documentary film
            "The Dhamma Brothers." The film tells the story of a
            program which brought several Buddhist teachers to
            maximum security Donaldson Correctional Facility in
            Alabama to train a group of inmates in Vapassana
            meditation.  Phillips tells Anne Strainchamps that the
            course was an intense, grueling ten day experience that
            changed some of the inmates lives forever.  
                    
            Segment Two Outcue:  "...PRI - Public Radio
            International."

38:29 - 38:58       LOCAL OPTION with music bed (:29)

38:59 - 53:00       SEGMENT 3: (14:00)
            Brad Hirschfield was once a religious fanatic. He was one
            of a small number of Jewish settlers living in Hebron, in
            the middle of thousands of Palestinians. Now he's a rabbi
            and the author of a book called "You Don''t Have To Be
            Wrong For Me To Be Right."  He tells Jim Fleming how he
            tries to preach a message of faith without fanaticism.
                    
            Segment Three Outcue: PRI Audio Logo


For a copy of this hour, call 1-800-747-7444, and ask for program number
6-22-A.