The World's Most Famous Atheist Says He is a Christian
Sort of. Richard Dawkins Claims to be a "cultural Christian"
If you ever wanted proof of the cultural power of Christianity it was on display recently when Richard Dawkins, the Don Corleone of the New Atheists, said that he is a type of Christian—a cultural Christian.
Dawkins said: “I prefer to live in a Christian country even though I do not believe a single word of the Christian faith.”
Dawkins continued: “We are culturally a Christian country and I call myself a cultural Christian. I am not a believing Christian…. The number of people who believe in Christianity is going down and I am happy with that. But I would not be happy if we lost our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches. If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam I would choose Christianity every single time. I consider it to be a fundamentally decent religion.
In Africa where you have both Muslim and Christian missionaries operating, I’m on team Christian.”
What are we to make of all this? It does seem a little crazy.
I have been saying for years that Dawkins may know a lot about dinosaur bones—his specialty—but when it comes to culture he is an idiot. He hasn’t the foggiest notion of how a culture is built and that includes the culture he lives in. He is unaware of why it is the way it is.
The culture he loves was built by sacrificial, believing Christians. He is the beneficiary of their spent lives, as am I. People with Dawkins’ worldview have not built a single culture in the history of the human race that Dawkins would want to live in. I don’t think you will see him moving to North Korea. Why are Dawkins and his ilk unable to produce a culture that is anything more than a parade of horrors? A cultural Christian never builds the culture he lives in. He is a parasite. He lives off the life of others. And Dawkins enjoys Christian culture but he seeks to destroy what it is built on—belief in Jesus Christ and the truths of the Bible. Talk about sawing off the limb you are sitting on.
Dawkins has nothing, absolutely nothing, to offer the young men and women rioting on our campuses, advocating Jewish genocide. He simply tells them to become enlightenment rationalists but gives no compelling reason to do so. Jesus Christ gives men and women a purpose for life. So does Islam. So does Karl Marx. You can judge for yourself which of these produces the happy culture Dawkins enjoys.
Ben Dunson in the American Reformer observes: Political liberalism is impotent in the face of Islam because political liberalism has no positive vision for life. It puts forth certain rights: life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, and so forth. Yet, it is unable to tell you why you should even want to live, what you should desire to be free to do, or how you can find happiness.
You would think that at some point Dawkins would ask, Why does Christianity work? Why has it built the greatest and best culture of all time, one he loves and embraces? It would lead inevitably to the conclusion, maybe it works because it’s true. As Dunson has observed: Perhaps Christianity works so well because it came from the one who personally designed and created humanity.
Rod Dreher pointed out that for Dawkins to claim he likes cathedrals and Christmas carols but is glad church attendance is declining is like saying he enjoys eating but is glad his country’s farms are closing.
Dawkins belief that you can tear down the foundations of the Christian faith while continuing to enjoy its blessings is an astonishing level of stupidity.
His comments were a tacit admission that, for decades now, he has been wrong to claim that science and secularism are the source of all that’s good in Western culture. In fact, it is the worldview centered on a God who became man and died on a cross because He “so loved the world” that is the source of hospitals, churches, esteem for women and children, human rights, and even the music, art, and culture that Dawkins cherishes. For one of the world’s most outspoken God-haters to realize this is quite remarkable.
That raises a bigger question: Can you have Christian culture without Christian faith? My answer is not for long. Dawkins one-time disciple, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, doesn’t think so. She sees the loss of Christian belief as destroying the Christian culture of the West. She has come to realize that unbelievers like Dawkins are useless in resisting Christianity’s enemies like Islam and Marxism.
So, let’s ask again, can a culturally Christian nation remain Christian without Christian doctrinal beliefs? Of course not. They may for a while maintain some Christian values and institutions due to what Russell Kirk called “cultural lag” but in the end once the parasite has devoured the host, the parasite also dies. Killing Christian truth will end up killing Christian culture. Look at the moral stupor our Ivy League universities find themselves in. They now countenance the mass murder of one specific ethnic group. Culturally Christian? I think not.
Dawkins says he does not believe one word of Christian doctrine. This is absurd. A complete lack of self-awareness. In this video Dawkins harps as he often does on the treatment of women. Genesis 1:27 says women have equal worth with men. Does Dawkins believe this bit of Christian doctrine? Of course he does. The idea of the equality of women begins with this verse and no one has ever believed it who hasn’t been exposed to it. That includes Dawkins. And I could easily list another dozen Christian doctrines Dawkins holds to with emotion.
I want to give Dawkins credit for one thing. He is honest about where his blessings come from. Most infidels in Western culture have no clue where their blessings originate. I want to give him credit for something else. He understands what Christianity is. It’s the resurrection, the virgin birth, the miracles. He just doesn’t believe any of it.
We need to embrace Jesus Christ and everything He is, not just the cultural aspects of the world He has created. May He bless you this day in a mighty way.
More: Atheist Daniel Dennett calls himself a happy person; here’s why: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmGHG_MLk2U
Dawkins calls himself a cultural Christian: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COHgEFUFWyg
Dawkins and Ayaan Hirsi Ali:
An Editorial on Dawkins’ “Testimony”
John Stonestreet:
https://www.breakpoint.org/richard-dawkins-a-cultural-christian/
The American Reformer: https://americanreformer.org/2024/04/richard-dawkins-cultural-christianity/
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