.- Two influential speakers will face off next month at the University of Colorado in a debate titled: "What’s so Great About God? – Atheism vs. Religion." The debate, organized by the school’s Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, will feature Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens presenting their cases for and against organized religion, its influence on world history and impact on current events.
The debate is scheduled to take place on Monday, January 26 at 7 p.m. at the University of Colorado – Boulder. Organizers are expecting a crowd of 2,000 to hear Christopher Hitchens, author of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything; and Dinesh D'Souza, author of What's So Great About Christianity to debate the impact of religion on society.
"We are thrilled to host an event featuring two of the most outspoken and influential individuals in the contemporary debate on religion," said Father Kevin Augustyn, director of Campus Ministry at the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center in a press release. "One of the primary goals of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought is to promote dialogue on the most important and pressing issues of our time and this debate is an effort to do that on CU's campus."
Father Peter Mussett, the Campus Chaplain at the university’s Catholic Center explained to CNA that these discussions are important in a university setting "to engage the ideas present in the secular world. This debate will continue the expansion of our visible presence on campus witnessing to [the University of Colorado] that the Catholic Church does not shy away from discovering the truth in a public way."
The debate will be hosted by the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought which was created to serve as the intellectual outreach arm of the university’s Catholic Center. Each month, the institute brings lectures and debates to the university community to discuss the "pressing issues of our time," explained Fr. Mussett. "We have found this to be a tremendously successful avenue for outreach on campus and in promoting the richness of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition."
Tickets for the January debate are available for $10 at www.ticketswest.com.
For more information, please visit the Catholic Center’s website.
