A KID NAMED DAWKINS, RICHARD DAWKINS
Richard Dawkins recently granted an interview to the LBC where he was asked for his highly valued opinion on the church and Christianity in the UK today. As the world waited with bated breath, Dawkins, in almost child-like naivete stated how he is a cultural Christian who loves the hymns, the architecture and the impact of Christianity on society, in his words, he prefers it to an Islamic one. Curiously though, he said he does not believe a word of the Christian belief. He thinks it is stupid and ridiculous but he loves everything it produces.
As if the world did not tremble enough as it drank at the lips of Dawkins’ profound wisdom, he continued and stated, it would be sad if the country lost all the Christian architecture and hymns and holidays and such but he is however happy that Christianity is waning in the UK.
Now, I am not sure if you spot the same problem and irony I spot here. Dawkins and his council of wisemen (Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Denneth) sitting in their arm chairs and sipping their exotic wines solved all of the world’s problems after 9/11. This, said they, was the solution: Simply get rid of religion and the world would be a eutopia of rationality and common sense. There were a number of things they did not count on though…
First, the entirety of western civilisation and the bedrock/anchor of liberty was held in place by the tenets of Christianity. Liberty, by nature, can not and can never be absolute otherwise it would descend into anarchy and chaos if every man does what is right in his sight. The Bible was the unspoken hero behind the scenes grounding liberty within the confines of rationality and common sense. By eliminating religion without replacing the foundation it laid with any concrete other than pillow fluffy rhetoric, society would descend into madness and issues on which the populace was initially united due to a scriptural framework would become up for debate. The question of how far exactly to take liberty would always be an issue and the boundaries would consistently be pushed. There would no longer be any objective truths, there would only be “my truth” and “your truth” and then what happens when both truths do not agree?
The second thing, Dawkins and his cronies did not realise is that not everybody thinks like they do. The only thing restraining some people from acting in ways detrimental to the safety of humanity (including of Dawkins himself and his cronies) is the very religion he is trying to talk people out of. In as much as people do crazy things in the name of religion, people also refrain from doing crazy things in the name of religion.
Third, observe the irony by Dawkins here. He says he prefers a Christian nation to an Islamic one. He complained about how women are treated for example but his idea of how women are to be treated are based on Christian principles (Male and female being created in the image of God). He loves the fruit of Christian beliefs but these architectures, the hymns which Dawkins loves so much are a product of the beliefs he is fighting against. He is judging society and Islam by the framework the beliefs he is fighting against provided him. Even the identity of a cultural Christian is an admission of being influenced by and in some degree of agreement with the culture Christianity has occasioned.
This is precisely why I call Dawkins a kid. He loves the shiny bright toys of the Christian faith but not the cross of the Christian faith. He loves the principles of Christ but rejects Christ. He is a walking contradiction and I honestly do not understand why people care what he thinks on Christianity. His great experiment on an “Atheist Utopia” without religion has failed as evidenced by the madness of modern society, now he wants to come under the umbrella of a “cultural Christian”. Yeah right!
On whether or not he converts, not sure why people make drama about this, if a man is wise he is wise for himself but if he is foolish, he alone bears it. (Proverbs 9:12). Wish him all the best but do not massively care for him or his opinions on Christianity.
