Craig and Williams v Ahmed and Copson BEST

This debate ( audio | video | 1h31m17s ) took place in 2011 between Craig, Peter Williams versus Arif Ahmed and Andrew Copson. It took place at the Cambridge Union Society and the debate motion was: "This House Believes that God is a Delusion".

4.5 stars. BEST

This debate certainly is interesting. It's set up reminds me of a more informal version of the Hitch Fry IQ2 Catholic debate. There were opening speeches, a long round of Q&A and then closing speeches. The difference was that the audience could interrupt the speakers to make a point. The debate is pretty intense.

I was glad to see that Craig and Ahmed were to debate each other but it seems like there was very little of them. I liked this debate so much that I am gonna relisten to it but if IIRC, Williams and Copson were the ones who I heard the most.

I guess I am not saying too much on the debate content, I should say that Craig certainly was on the defensive and was not able to come off as confident as he usually does, this definitely wasn't his style of debate. It seemed like he wasn't being taken too seriously, either. It almost seemed rude when there was laughter occurring during his closing speech. He also seemed annoyed that he wouldn't be able to reply to the points that Ahmed would address and complained that that wasn't how to conduct a debate. This just wasn't his style.

Also it seemed like more of a debate between Williams and Copson with Ahmed and Craig making assisting comments. Ahmed and Craig did get time to say the concluding parts but it just didn't seem like enough.

Another thing about the video is I guess Craig is seen with his hands shaking at certain parts. The top comment on YouTube is by Williams in response to a douchebag user's comment about Craig's shaking hands: "William Lane Craig suffers from a a neuromuscular disorder called Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease, which is why his hand shakes. This is a hereditary disorder that involves the slow disintegration of the myelin sheaths around the nerves, resulting in progressive muscular atrophy."

The limited interaction between the debaters is what keeps this from being a perfect debate but the interesting integration of audience participation is what makes me label it as one of the BEST debates.

This post will be fleshed out more later.

A list of mini-reviews of Craig's debates can be found here!