By: Akos Balogh
Famous British Atheist Richard Dawkins used to say that raising children to be Christian was a form of child abuse.
In 2006, he wrote a best-selling book called ‘The God Delusion’ arguing that religion is deluded and dangerous. He repeated this claim many times, including on the ABC’s Q and A program.
But check out what he now says about Christianity in this recent interview:
What are we to make of this? Here are some thoughts on what Dawkins has said:
1) Can You Have Christian Fruit Without the Christian Root?
Can you have Christian fruit across our society without a solid Christian root?
Dawkins is happy that there are fewer believers in Britain, yet he wants to keep the fruit of Christianity – the morals, the carols, the political worldview.
Unfortunately, that can only last for so long. As we’ll see below, we’re already seeing Christian assumptions becoming less acceptable to many people, especially to those holding the microphone in our society. If you don’t have a solid Christian root – meaning a sizeable number of believers and churches who are salt and light across our society – how can you have lasting Christian fruit?
2) There is No Secular Utopia
As Christianity leaves the Western building, we’re not entering a secular utopia. We’re becoming more fragmented and confused about life.
Christianity used to help make sense of life for people in the West.
It gave people a moral and anthropological compass. It gave our culture meaning, morality, identity, and humanity (among other things). But with Christianity leaving the West, we’re not becoming more rational as a society. Instead, we’re becoming more confused and polarised.
Witness the confusion and disagreement about basic issues such as what it means to be a woman. And we’re teaching children that their gender is not tied to their sex, but to their feelings. We even support them ‘transitioning’ (i.e. mutilating) their bodies to align their body to their feelings.
When it comes to meaning, we now believe you can make your own meaning.
When it comes to identity, you decide who you are, and no one can tell you otherwise.
But of course, are we as the West happier and more content because of this change of worldviews? Are our children less anxious, and less depressed than before?
3) Loneliness and Isolation as Church Declines
As fewer people go to church, they’re becoming more lonely and isolated.
While Dawkins is happy that there are fewer people attending church, those same people tend to become more lonely and isolated.
As agnostic writer Derek Thompson wrote recently in an article for The Atlantic entitled ‘The True Cost of The Churchgoing Bust’:
“As an agnostic, I have spent most of my life thinking about the decline of faith in America in mostly positive terms. Organized religion seemed, to me, beset by scandal and entangled in noxious politics. So, I thought, what is there really to mourn? Only in the past few years have I come around to a different view. Maybe religion, for all of its faults, works a bit like a retaining wall to hold back the destabilizing pressure of American hyper-individualism, which threatens to swell and spill over in its absence.”
He goes on to show that many people in the West have found no alternative method to build a sense of community. And so, with the decline of organised religion, loneliness has skyrocketed, with awful impacts on people (especially single men).
So, What Might the Future Hold?
Right now, humanly speaking, it’s not looking good for Christian influence across the West.
In Western Europe, Islam is pressing ahead, with 6000 mosques to be built, according to the above interview. And an intolerant secularism is growing that penalises aspects of Christian belief. But when it comes to Christianity, Christian author and apologist John Dickson recently made this interesting prediction on his Facebook profile:
“I think there might be a renaissance of Christianity in 10 years (maybe 20). I really do!”
I pray he’s right. Atheists like Dawkins are coming out and singing some benefits of Christianity. In time, under God, this might help Western societies turn back to their Christian heritage.
Article supplied with thanks to Akos Balogh.
About the Author: Akos is the Executive Director of the Gospel Coalition Australia. He has a Masters in Theology and is a trained Combat and Aerospace Engineer.
Feature image: Youtube Channel ‘The Rubin Report’