To those of you familiar with atheism's "Four Horsemen" I pose a question. Christopher Hitchens' loss was terrible and he is irreplaceable, but let's say we had to replace him and pick someone to stand with Dawkins, Harris, and Dennett as the premier representatives of atheism. Who would you choose? Lawrence Krauss is my pick.
Would pick Matt Dillahunty or Pat Condell. Douglass Murray, Stephen Fry, and Seth Andrews deserve mention as well. They are all highly authoritative, persuasive speakers. Matt and Seth lack the suave humor of the other three, and Seth lacks lacks the biting bluntness of the other four.
Aron Ra, he is an educator, and an excellent speaker.
Though I love Matt and Aron my personal favorite is Seth Andrews.
Seth Andrews is an amazing orator. He just lacks the background of Matt and Aron. He is the new kid on the block with amazing talent.
Yes, Lawrence Krauss. And I would like the horsemen thing replaced by horse people. There are a lot of very active women in the atheist movement, look at Richard Dawkins site for example, but the leading activists Dawkins etc are thought of a group of men. It gets criticised for that. I would like to see that change. I also have to say that, despite the obvious sadness of his death, that Hitchens was my least favourite horseman. Liked his views on religion, but not his politics.
Matt Dillahunty or Aron Ra. Both are excellent at what they do and are sort of my yin and yang duo. Though I think I'd lean in Aron Ra direction if we are to replace Hitchens with someone similar in their 'take no bullshit' attitude.
Aronra knows his stuff, but easily loses his cool and his patience. Matt Dillahunty would be my choice, hands down. Has a good grasp of science, philosophy, and expertise on Christianity and the bible, and great poise and presence.
Matt Dillahunty without question. Krauss has this going against him: