The following article, which appeared in yesterday's USA Today, is adapted from my new book What's So Great About Christianity:
We seem to be witnessing an aggressive attempt by leading atheists to portray religion in general, and Christianity in particular, as the bane of civilization. Finding the idea of God incompatible with science and reason, these atheists also fault Christianity with fostering a breed of fanaticism comparable to Islamic radicalism. The proposed solution: a completely secular society, liberated from Christian symbols and beliefs.
This critique, which comes from best-selling atheist books, academic tracts and a sophisticated network of atheist organizations and media, can be disputed on its own terms. What it misses, however, is the larger story of how Christianity has shaped the core institutions and values of the USA and the West. Christianity is responsible even for secular institutions such as democracy and science. It has fostered in our civilization values such as respect for human dignity, human rights and human equality that even secular people cherish.
Consider science. Although there have been many civilizations in history, modern science developed in only one: Western civilization. And why? Because science is based on an assumption that is, at root, faith-based and theological. That is the assumption that the universe is rational and follows laws that are discoverable through human reason.
Science is based on what James Trefil calls the principle of universality. "It says that the laws of nature we discover here and now in our laboratories are true everywhere in the universe and have been in force for all time." Moreover, the laws that govern the universe seem to be written in the language of mathematics. Physicist Richard Feynman found this to be "a kind of miracle."
Why? Because the universe doesn't have to be this way. There's no particular reason the laws of nature that we find on Earth should also govern a star billions of light years away. There's no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone mathematical ones. So where did Western man get this idea of a lawfully ordered universe? From Christianity.
Christians were the first ones who envisioned the universe as following laws that reflected the rationality of God the creator. These laws were believed to be accessible to man because man is created in the image of God and shares a spark of the divine reason. No wonder, then, that the first universities and observatories were sponsored by the church and run by priests.
No wonder also that the greatest scientists of the West - Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo, Boyle, Newton, Leibniz, Gassendi, Pascal, Mersenne, Cuvier, Harvey, Dalton, Faraday, Joule, Lyell, Lavoisier, Priestley, Kelvin, Ampere, Steno, Pasteur, Maxwell, Planck, Mendel, and Lemaitre - were Christians. Gassendi, Mersenne and Lamaitre were priests. Several of them viewed their research as demonstrating God's creative genius as manifested in his creation.
If modern science has Christian roots, so do our most basic political institutions and values. Consider Thomas Jefferson's famous assertion in the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal." He claimed this was "self-evident," but one only has to look to history and to other cultures to see that it is not evident at all. Everywhere we see dramatic evidence of human inequality. Jefferson's point, however, was that human beings are moral equals. Every life has a worth no greater and no less than any other.
The preciousness and equal worth of every human life is a Christian idea. We are equal because we have been created equal in the eyes of God. This is an idea with momentous consequences. In ancient Greece and Rome, human life had very little value. The Spartans, for example, left weak children to die on the hillside. Greek and Roman culture was built on slavery.
Christianity banned infanticide and the killing of the weak and "dispensable," and even today Christian values are responsible for the moral horror we feel when we hear of such practices. Christianity initially tolerated slavery- a universal institution at the time - but gradually mobilized the moral and political resources to end it. From the beginning, Christianity discouraged the enslavement of fellow Christians. Slavery, the foundation of Greek and Roman civilization, withered and largely disappeared throughout medieval Christendom in the Middle Ages.
The first movements to abolish slavery completely occurred only in the West, and were led by Christians. In the modern era, first the Quakers and then the evangelical Christians demanded that since we are all equal in God's eyes, no man has the right to rule another man without his consent. This religious doctrine not only supplies the moral justification for anti-slavery but also for democracy. Yes, the idea of self-government is also rooted in the Christian assumption of human equality. One reason the atheist philosopher Nietzsche hated democracy is because he understood its religious foundation.
Consider finally modern notions of human rights - the right to freedom of conscience, or to property, or to marry and form a family, or to be treated equally before the law - as enshrined in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The universalism of this declaration is based on the particular teachings of Christianity. The premise is that all human lives have equal dignity and worth, but this is not the teaching of all the world's cultures and religions. Even so, it's appropriate that a doctrine Christian in origin should be universal in application. Christianity from the start promulgated its message as one for the whole world.
There are some atheists and even some Christians who admit that theism and Christianity have shaped the core institutions and values of America and the West. But now that we have these values, they say, why do we still need God and Christianity? Oddly enough, the answer is supplied by Nietzsche.
Nietzsche argued that since the Christian God is the foundation of Western values, the death of God must necessarily mean the erosion and ultimate collapse of those values. Remove the base and the whole building will slowly crumble. For a while, Nietzsche conceded, people would out of custom or habit continue to respect human life and treat people with equal dignity, but eventually there would be ferocious assaults on these values, and practices once unthinkable such as the killing of people deemed inferior or undesirable would once again occur. This is precisely what we have seen in our time, and Nietzsche predicted that it will only get worse.
If we cherish the distinctive ideals of Western civilization, and believe as I do that they have enormously benefited our civilization and our world, then whatever our religious convictions, we will not rashly try to hack at the religious roots from which they spring. On the contrary, we will not hesitate to acknowledge, not only privately but also publicly, the central role that Christianity has played and still plays in the things that matter most to us.
What's So Great About Christianity, Regnery, 2007
Reader Comments ( Page 6 of 15)
76. Too heck with this nonsense, if you really want to read a great and exciting book about a young Marine's adventures in South Vietnam then read "Arc Light" by G.V. Short. It not only pertains to what we are experiencing in Iraq, but also all around the world. The movie hasn't changed except for the actors.
gshort3011 at 4:55PM on Oct 23rd 2007
77. 62. The Father of modern science, Sir Isaac Newton, was not only a devout Christian, he was a theologian of no mean reputation. The issue of science versus Christianlity has never been a problem to Christians, it only a problem to those who do not believe in God.
Makendoo at 3:34PM on Oct 23rd 2007
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Then why was he a famous alchemist? Didn't know that? Well then, why are you commenting in this?
Brian at 4:56PM on Oct 23rd 2007
78. What a great gig! This guy gets up in the morning, cut and pastes a few paragraphs from his apparently lame book. (By the way, I am currently writing my own book "What's so cute about puppies") He then attaches an inflammatory title to bait us. (Why atheists are idiots, or Why Christians are awesome.)
Spends the rest of the day poolside drinking virgin mojitos. Where do I sign up?
the iggy no one wants at 5:40PM on Oct 23rd 2007
79. Religion is a security blanket - a pacifier to keep us from needlessly panicking in a world we don't understand when we are too young to effectively think and reason for ourselves.
Wouldn't you know it - some people reach the age of reason, become adults and raise children and yet keep themselves wrapped in that security blanket and keep that pacifier in their mouths until the day they die.
fabio at 5:53PM on Oct 23rd 2007
80. It seems that the right wing of the US bourgeoisie is totally decrepit. All they can come up with for a president is George W Bush, and all they can come up with for propagandists are the likes of Dinesh D'Souza. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence and the time to read and inform themselves can see through the distortions and outright lies of both.
Religion is to clear thinking as smoke and mirrors are to clear perception.
Joe Bob at 5:27PM on Oct 23rd 2007
81. It seems that the right wing of the US bourgeoisie is totally decrepit. All they can come up with for a president is George W Bush, and all they can come up with for propagandists are the likes of Dinesh D'Souza. Anyone with an ounce of intelligence and the time to read and inform themselves can see through the distortions and outright lies of both.
Religion is to clear thinking as smoke and mirrors are to clear perception.
Joe Bob at 5:28PM on Oct 23rd 2007
82. Beyond the usual revulsion for anything that D'Sousa says, there are a few things that should be placed at the front on this argument. First off, not believing in Christianity does not make you part of another religion. The idea that there is an atheist belief system equivilent to religion is nonsense. Not accepting Christianity or any other faith does not mean your beliefs are of a certain, predictible order. Also, the Christian and Muslim belief systems insist that you either accept them, or very bad things will happen to you. In Christianity, those bad things include BURNING IN ETERNAL HELL FIRE. Think about that. Who would ever want to believe in something like this? It is so absurd. If you need a barage of threats in order to act morally or honestly, then you're kidding yourself, plain and simple. Also, none of the Christian believers ever talk about one of the main (of many) contradictions in the bible. That is that there were multiple gods. Says so in the old testament right towards the beginning. It says that there were many "sons of god" and that they were very interested in "the daughters of men." I think you can figure out for yourself what that meant. Why is this never mentioned? So much for mono-theism.
erkskindl at 5:30PM on Oct 23rd 2007
83. America will always be a nation, Based on Christian faith. If it was of man it would come to naught, If Christianity be of GOD, You can not fight agianst GOD and win. The atheist are being extreme, When the false'ly accuse Christian's as the reason for the lack of scientific achievement.
Most Christian's are greatfull for the scientific mind's of yesterday and today. What christian people find offensive, Is the rejection of the existence of God,By people of atheistic faith.
The atheist, Make false claims, In an attempt to dis-credit The christain faith. Atheist, Are of the opinion that the catholic church is the orgin of scripture and christian faith. Wrong again, In fact catholic is not even mentioned in the Bible. Atheist hide their true intention's, In their heart when they are all alone, They often think to themselves, I hope I haven't been wrong about all this. Note: 99% of your tv preachers are fake.
Observant at 5:29PM on Oct 23rd 2007
84. iggy:
"By the way, I am currently writing my own book 'What's so cute about puppies'"
Don't forget to make inflammatory comments about cats to drive up page views!
Tem at 5:31PM on Oct 23rd 2007
85. A brief summary of D'Idiot's articles:
- BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK.
Repeat hundreds of times.
-Arguments I present: zero.
Happy reading.
PS. get a lobotomy first or attend your fundie church meeting before reading.
ekhnaton1 at 5:55PM on Oct 23rd 2007
86. A brief summary of D'Idiot's articles:
- BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK, BUY MY BOOK.
Repeat hundreds of times.
-Arguments I present: zero.
Happy reading.
PS. get a lobotomy first or attend your fundie church meeting before reading.
ekhnaton1 at 5:55PM on Oct 23rd 2007
87. @77 Observant, your last sentence was the only one that was almost correct. It's only off by about 1%.
Joe Bob at 5:44PM on Oct 23rd 2007
88. I don't see why there has to be a battle between atheists and Christians. Just look to Martin Luther who believed in faith and faith alone, religion (or nonreligion) is a personal thing. I don't see what either of the two sides has to fuss about...
grace at 6:07PM on Oct 23rd 2007
89. Many of you atheist demo libs, Hate G.Bush. But the fact is he has acomplished more in his life than you could ever dream of. Succesful business man, President of the United States. A man with vision and moral's. He told the country, When we go after the terrorist of the world, It would be a long campaign. Now most of you act like you were against the plan all along. Bush will go down in history as one of the greats.
Observant at 6:06PM on Oct 23rd 2007
90. DD, you enlist Nietzsche as an ally? The same guy who said:
"Faith: not wanting to know what is true."
"God is a thought who makes crooked all that is straight."
"A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything."
"After coming into contact with a religious man I always feel I must wash my hands."
"All credibility, all good conscience, all evidence of truth come only from the senses."
"Every church is a stone on the grave of a god-man: it does not want him to rise up again under any circumstances."
"I cannot believe in a God who wants to be praised all the time."
"In Christianity neither morality nor religion come into contact with reality at any point."
"In heaven, all the interesting people are missing."
"Is man one of God's blunders? Or is God one of man's blunders?"
Joe Bob at 6:06PM on Oct 23rd 2007