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 7 of 15)
91. grace
It is the same old story, God against the devil Good/evil, light/dark, sweet /bitter.
Observant at 6:20PM on Oct 23rd 2007
92. Grace:
"I don't see why there has to be a battle between atheists and Christians."
There doesn't have to be. But that wouldn't sell Dinesh's book.
Tem at 6:20PM on Oct 23rd 2007
93. Joe Bob
You wouldn't know the truth if you read it. Helen keller said, It is not a tragedy to be blind, It is however, A tragedy to be unable to see.
Observant at 6:30PM on Oct 23rd 2007
94. RE: 89
I think that was pee, not (sic)see.
the iggy no one wants at 6:34PM on Oct 23rd 2007
95. "I don't see why there has to be a battle between atheists and Christians."
There doesn't have to be. But that wouldn't sell Dinesh's book" Wouldn't sell Christopher Hitchens book either. It's not just Christians stirring up stuff.
It all comes down to extremism and forcing your beliefs onto someone else. If someone like Christopher Hitchens is going to pick on Mother Theresa, or spew hate against religion, then he can prepare to face backlash. If both sides would shut up about it, and keep their views to themselves, we wouldn't be talking about it. Of course that is never going to happen so I might as well join in. You're a doodoo head Tem!!!! I'm just kidding you Tem, I don't think I even spelt doodoo head right.
sionx2123 at 6:46PM on Oct 23rd 2007
96. This has got to be the most slanted view of Christianity I've ever seen. I'm no Atheist, but there's so many skimmed over facts in this section it's sickening. Christianity has a history of understanding when something is beyond their ability to stop- and thus embracing it to control it. When modern science began, Christianity was anything but embracing of it: it resisted it whole heartedly and decried it as the worst of heresies to try to say Man could grasp God's work.
It also has the longest history of blood letting, power grabbing and being a political tool of any religion in the world, including any Middle-eastern one you can think of. All points this little entry seems to have skipped right on over.
Cyhirae at 6:53PM on Oct 23rd 2007
97. Cyhirae:
The christianity you refer to Is catholic.
The catholic's were in fact cast out of the christian church not long after Paul the Apostle organized it in Rome. They, then declared themselves to be the church,And later joined with Constantine To what is known today as the Roman catholic church.
Observant at 7:31PM on Oct 23rd 2007
98. Wow, I'm not normally one to respond to blogs but this is amongst the dumbest, worst thought out ideas I've ever seen. He talks about the basis of scientific thought coming from "Christian thought." The basis for pretty much all "scientific thought was laid down by the Greeks, if not the Egyptians before them. Geomoetry, Physics, chemistry, these things all had their foundations laid down well before Christianity. I don't really see how you could argue otherwise.
Brian at 7:34PM on Oct 23rd 2007
99. "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."
While I generally agree with most of your articles, you fail to mention that Judaism, not Christianity, was the original source of the idea of human beings being created in the image of God. While it might be true that Christianity took hold of these ideas, your writings shed light on why people (and not just the secular) shutter when they hear "America is a Christian Nation." America is not a Christian nation; don't ever assume that Christianity is the sole religion in the United States.
Brian at 7:36PM on Oct 23rd 2007
100. mincpa,
There's absolutely no evidence for god. Not a shred. Not a whit. Nothing.
Now go back into your cave, being terrified of every little bump in the night. Your gawd will protect you--right?
Knight_of_BAAWA at 7:43PM on Oct 23rd 2007
101. Pay attention to the blog postings which show value, respect and clarity in expressing the individual's worldview whether in favor of or against Dinesh D'souza's stance. An unfortunate characteristic of our culture is that it will take some time to filter through the predominant empty rhetoric. There are those whose input will help maintain focus on the important discussion at hand.
Randall at 7:48PM on Oct 23rd 2007
102. 2. Why does this guy hate atheists so much?
Eddie Vedder at 9:07AM on Oct 23rd 2007
He doesn't hate them, just verbalizing that when atheists die, they believe that they are truly dead. That fact simply comes home to roost with the atheists and it sounds to them like "hate". It's just not fair that Christians should live and atheists should die! Hey, choose not to die!
WillyT
Bill at 7:59PM on Oct 23rd 2007
103. Observant, if you wish to have your posts taken seriously, you need to educate yourself.
"The empirical evidence of the existence and power of God are all around us."
Empirical evidence? Do you even know what that means? Empirical evidence is capable of being verified or disproved by observation or experiment. Please tell me what evidence of the existence of any god can be verified or disproved by observation or experiment.
"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."
Successful business man? WHEN? He drove two companies into the ground. He was NEVER a success in business. He is only president because of fraud.
"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."
There is nothing moral about lying this country into a war. I WAS against this from the beginning, because I knew Bush was a liar and a fraud. One of the greats? He is, and will always be known as, one of the great FAILURES.
BTW, you don't pluralize words with an apostrophe. If you had any education at all, you'd know that.
Tatiana at 8:06PM on Oct 23rd 2007
104. Several blog entries back, D'Souza said that atheists don't so much not believe in god, they just hate him. His proof? The attacks and criticisms of religion that are published by such outspoken atheists as Dawkins and Harris.
Given D'Souza's logic from that post, what does it say about him that he writes article after article, attacking and criticizing atheists?
squwelly at 8:17PM on Oct 23rd 2007
105. Tatiana
You knew Bush was a liar and a fraud.
You are a liar and a fruad yourself.
Observation of God's existence. It is all around you, You have to be able to see past your arrogance.
Prove God did not create it.It has allready been proved that he did, You see the works of his hand's.
You are in denial. My education is as it is.
Observant at 8:28PM on Oct 23rd 2007