Richard Dawkins Calls Himself A "Cultural Christian"

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Richard Dawkins Calls Himself A "Cultural Christian"

Posted Dec 31st 2007 2:07PM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Christianity, History, Controversy, Atheism

Asked by a British member of Parliament if he is one of those atheists who wants to get rid of Christian symbols especially during the Christmas season, atheist Richard Dawkins replied that he is not. Dawkins said that he himself sings Christmas carols and that he considers himself a "cultural Christian." Just as many Jews regard themselves as Jewish, defend Jewish interests and cherish Jewish culture while not participating in Jewish religious rituals, Dawkins says that he respects the fact that the history and traditions of the West are shaped by Christianity. Dawkins says he's not one of those who wants to purge the West of its Christian traditions. The main threat to Christian symbols, Dawkins argues, does not come from atheists like him but rather from Muslims and members of other faiths.

Now this is quite remarkable. In The God Delusion, Dawkins portrayed the Christian God as a wicked, avaricious, capricious, genocidal maniac. Dawkins even blasted Jesus for such offenses as speaking harshly to his mother. Yet if the Jewish and Christian God was such a monster, what sense does it make for Dawkins to embrace the cultural influence of that deity? It would be like someone saying, "Hitler was a murderous maniac, but I am a cultural Nazi. No, I don't embrace the specifics of Nazi doctrine, but I appreciate what fascism has done to shape German culture. Let's give up the specifics of the Hitler program, but let's also keep Nazi culture along with the fuhrer's imagery on our coins and monuments."

Dawkins is not an unintelligent man, so what's going on here? One possibility is that Dawkins now recognizes that today's atheists who want to get rid of Christian symbols are just as intolerant as Christians who in the pst sought to deny atheists a voice in the public arena. So Dawkins' statement can be read as a critique of intolerance and political correctness.

A second possibility is that Dawkins now sees the Muslim threat to the West--and especially European culture--as more serious than the prospect of a second Christian Inquisition, so he has decided to ally with the Christians against the Islamic radicals. Other atheists like Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens are now admitting that atheist attempts to equate Islamic extremism with Christianity are bogus. The real threat doesn't come from Presbyterianism or Anglicanism but from a radical Islam that wants to obliterate Western civilization.

I suspect that these two factors may have played a role, but the main reason for Dawkins' remarkable self-identification as a cultural Christian is that he has slowly come to realize that even the values that he cherishes--values such as individual dignity, science as an autonomous enterprise, the equal dignity of women, the abolition of slavery, and compassion as a social virtue--came into the West because of Christianity. I have been hammering this point in my debates with leading atheists, and it's possible that one of the Oxford historians came up to Dawkins and said, to his horror, "You know, Richard, that D'Souza chap has a point."

Okay, so let's give this biologist credit for learning a little history. Still, the deeper question remains. If the God of the Old and New Testaments is such a bad character, how come his cultural influence is so positive? Absent a good answer to this question, we must reconsider the premise: perhaps the God of the Old and New Testaments is not the evil figure portrayed in atheist propaganda. On the contrary, perhaps all our Western notions of good and bad derive from no source other than this Christian God. This certainly was Nietzsche's view, and he knew a lot more about the subject than Richard Dawkins. Wouldn't it be interesting if Dawkins continues his intellectual growth and reverses his old misunderstandings? Then he can reissue his book: Overcoming My Delusions: Confessions of a Cultural Christian.

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Reader Comments ( Page 3 of 57)

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31. Knight, your ignorance is showing. NOWHERE in the bible does it condone slavery. There are a few verses in Deuteronomy, Ephesians and Colossians that talk about the treatment slaves, but this is merely a reflection of the reality of LIFE. Those verses do not condone slavery, but merely acknowledge that it exists.

It is a fact that slavery has existed since the beginning of human history, it has existed in every single civilization, and it still exists today in many countries, including the US but it is not legal and it is not condoned or accepted by most societies.

If the world applied what the bible said about slavery to their CHILDREN, the world would be a better place. For you to say that those verses prove that the bible condones slavery, shows that as I expected, you have not and do not read or study the bible. Maybe you should put down the "how to attack the bible" pamphlets and actually pick up a copy, and read it for yourself.

Also, I'm not "threatening" anyone. I'm not the one who will condemn you to hell. You will condemn yourself with your non-belief. That's not my word or my decision, that's the Word of God (you know, in that book you've supposedly read and studied?). If you have a problem with it, take it up with the author. ;)

Emily at 4:22PM on Dec 31st 2007

32. 26. "Oh, yea forgot you can't get past the OT. That was law, law now gone thanks to our Jewish friends who did not believe in the Messiah, so we were adopted into the family of GOD. Great news NT and you can read about it. Rita

Rita at 4:09PM on Dec 31st 2007
--------------------------------------------------
Rita, You cannot get past the Old Testament either. You cannot dismiss it as "law now gone". EVERY word of the Bible is still valid. EVERY commandment issued in Exodus still stands. That is explicitly stated in Matthew and Luke. Read the very end of Revelations and again, you will see that every word of the Bible, including the Old Testament, is to stand forever. That includes every twisted, barbaric law of the OT. You cannot add to it, you CANNOT take away from it, and you cannot selectively take and reject whatever parts you want. Rejecting ONE word is rejecting ALL of it.

Read the Bible - ALL of the Bible, not just passages that your preacher picks out for you.

Frank at 4:22PM on Dec 31st 2007

33. To Knight_of_Bawaa:
Anyone can use the Bible to justify whatever they want if they try hard enough. The principle is called rationalization. The Bible is a place where we find what we seek. If we seek God, we find him. If we seek rationalization for our behaviors, we find that. Some people have even found arousal in the Bible. No, really! In the Song of Solomon.

Joyce at 12:45PM on Jan 1st 2008

34. Ryan, Reading everything Jesus said is way to much to ask. Christians think that this is a black and white world, when really it is gray all over. Jesus had many great teachings and many wonderful things to say, so have plenty of other people. MLK jr, Gandhi, Great Buddha, numerous tibetan monks, the list goes on and on. If you just left it at Jesus had great things to say, i would be all for it.

Greg at 4:25PM on Dec 31st 2007

35. Hey Frank, You really believe a burning bush told a guy who lived to be nearly a millenia, what is wrong and right? I think you and Rita have more in common than you think.

Greg at 4:31PM on Dec 31st 2007

36. You know, there is a great deal of science to disprove the theory of evolution

xxxx

There is no science that disproves evolution. You've been scammed if you believe that.

There is an immense amount of preacherbabble but that's all it is. Your 'side' has specious arguments and superstition, and evolution has millions of published examples of speciation since darwin's time.

You can put creationism in the same bucket as the stork theory of childbirth or the six thousand year old universe.

It may be your belief but it's wholly unfounded with NO scientific support of any kind and is nothing more than preacherbabble designed to control you.

It's the same as the mark of cain on blacks, which has only recently been relinquished, or the idea that man will never fly, or reach outer space or the moon, and so on.

The church always creates these conflicts and always loses them.

This one is already lost, but it'll take the church another 100-150 years to admit it if the dominionists don't start a nuclear war in the meantime.

Clif Kuplen at 4:31PM on Dec 31st 2007

37. Emily, WHo is the author of the bible? And according to you everything in it is fact, right?

Greg at 4:37PM on Dec 31st 2007

38. NOWHERE in the bible does it condone slavery. There are a few verses in Deuteronomy, Ephesians and Colossians that talk about the treatment slaves, but this is merely a reflection of the reality of LIFE. Those verses do not condone slavery, but merely acknowledge that it exists.

xxx

Boy do you lie for your religion! I think the following sort of shows you more of god's opinion on slavery if you tend to believe the bible in a fundamental way:

Exodus 21:2
If thou buy an Hebrew servant....

Exodus 21:7
If a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant....

Exodus 21:20-21
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

Exodus 22:3
If he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.

Leviticus 22:11
If the priest buy any soul with his money....

Leviticus 25:39
And if thy brother that dwelleth by thee be waxen poor, and be sold unto thee....

Leviticus 25:44-46
Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever.

Ephesians 6:5
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ.

Colossians 3:22
Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God.

1 Timothy 6:1
Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.

Titus 2:9-10
Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; Not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.

1 Peter 2:18
Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

Now if it were wrong, he would have come straight out and condemned it the same way he said you couldn't eat four legged birds or have male homosexual sex or approach the temple if you wore glasses.

Look at leviticus 25: 44-46 especially. He GIVES them to his children!

Also you can beat them to death if it takes over three days and you don't harm their teeth because as god says, THEY ARE YOUR MONEY!

Your reaction to the reality of scripture is the main reason I'm convinced your religion is bogus. You accept it even when you KNOW it's wrong and have no guilt.

Clif Kuplen at 4:46PM on Dec 31st 2007

39. Emily and other silly Christians: What keeps your feet on the ground? Is it Jesus, or perhaps Newton's Theory of Universal Gravitation? You see, scientific theories, such as evolution, are based on observed phenomena and scientific models, not hocus pocus. Geologists, paleontologists, paleobotanists, and archeologists (among many other disciplines in the sciences) have observed and proved that the earth and its denizens are far older than 7,000 years. This is a fact, not an opinion, belief, speculation, or conjecture. The latter is what Christianity is. Theories such as Newton's Theory of Motion and Einstein's Theory of Relativity, in addition to the Theory of Evolution, explain the how and why of things. Science solves baffling problems, like the cycle of the malaria, while your killer god in heaven cheers on the anopheles gambiae.

Nancy Mueller at 4:49PM on Dec 31st 2007

40. The issue of slavery in the bible reallyh only gives us two choices.

1) Slavery is morally ok (IT'S NOT!!!)
Or...
2) the bible is not divinely inspired (IT'S NOT!!!)

Since I think we can all agree that it is morally wrong for one person to own another, then the bible probably should have said "NO SLAVERY" rather than providing a hand book for slave owners (Leviticus 25)

Ryan Anderson at 4:48PM on Dec 31st 2007

41. This is amusing, why do atheists presume to know more about the bible than Christians? =D

I just want to point out ... what Rita does or doesn't know about the bible doesn't matter, from a Christian perspective. From an atheist's perspective, its gold, because you can pervert the Word and she might not be as well studied as some other Christians. ;) From a CHRISTIAN perspective (pay attention, atheists) it doesn't matter. Rita is saved. She's going to heaven. You're not (if you were to die right now in your sin, that is). That's the way it goes.

She humbled herself, made a decision for Christ, and now she will be in paradise forever with the LORD. It honestly does not matter if she ever cracks open the bible and reads a single word, because the bible says, she will be saved. Its funny though that you atheists would "preach" at her to read the bible, "not just passages that your preacher picks out for you." Obviously, as atheists you read the bible with an agenda, to pick out perceived contradictions, because you're reading something you can never understand, BECAUSE you are an atheist. For a Christian to read the bible, they will be edified; for an atheist, he will be stupefied.

If you atheists are so learned and studied in the bible, someone please paste what the bible says about non-believers who read its content? I'm curious if anyone even has a clue about that, and if so, what you think about what the BIBLE has to say on this matter?

Frank, what you stated is not only completely untrue, but actually completely contradicts the very ESSENCE and CORE of Christianity. You have absolutely no scriptural basis for anything you posted. It would appear that you are another (typical) atheist who argues what you do not understand. To argue against Christianity and against the bible, you must first study and understand it. Doesn't that just make logical sense to you? This would be like me going up to a physicist and arguing about quantum mechanics. I can easily misquote a bunch of books and start babbling about a few tidbits I read here and there, but the fact is that I (much like you, here, now, at this very moment) would have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about and am just arguing for argument's sake.

"Read the very end of Revelations and again, you will see that every word of the Bible, including the Old Testament, is to stand forever. That includes every twisted, barbaric law of the OT." Clearly, you have not studied the new testament and know very little about Christianity to make this statement.

Any Christian who studies the bible knows that the ten commandments are null and void! Even the old testament states that they are, in essence, null and void. Those ten commandments are what is keeping you, Frank, from entering the kingdom of God. If you could keep all ten of those commandments on your own, you could be in heaven for eternity. Compare those commandments to your life and you will see that you haven't kept them, that's because you're incapable, you are a sinner. God already knew this, as the bible says in the old and new testament, "There is none who does good, No, not one." You aren't worthy to enter heaven and you never will be. This is why Jesus had to die, because He is perfect and sinless, and He had to take on all of your iniquity so that you could stand before the Father clean and without sin, covered by His precious blood.

Emily at 4:57PM on Dec 31st 2007

42. It is said (you should pardon the religious allusion)'confession is good for the soul.' I feel compelled to confess that reading Mr. D'Souza's blog is my favorite guilty pleasure. I look forward to each new posting with nearly gleeful anticipation. He never fails to put a smile on my face, and frequently induces gaffaws of incredulity. He's my favorite satirist. And even though I know he's putting us all on, I simply can't resist the audacity and charm of his writing. He's as good as Jeff Foxworthy at adopting a faux persona. And although he's not quite credible going toe-to-toe with his intellectual superiors such as Richard Dawkins, his attempts are, nonetheless, amusing. Let's all pray (to use another unfortunate religious allusion) that the writers' strike soon ends so that Mr. D'Souza (any relation to the March King, I wonder?)can return to his obvious first calling--writing for Fox TV sit coms. Ah, but then I would miss my favorite daily giggle. Still, I don't want to appear selfish. I'll just have to let god sort it all out.

tom at 5:10PM on Dec 31st 2007

43. "This would be like me going up to a physicist and arguing about quantum mechanics."

So, Emily...tell us again how you know the fact that there is no evolution? Where did you earn your doctorate in ecology and evolutionary biology?

Paul at 5:05PM on Dec 31st 2007

44. Emily,
Actually I read the bible as a believer all through school. Each time we would study a certain book or scripture and I would have questions or disagreements, my teacher's answer would surely be that I needed faith. I believe you are a lot like my sister. Highly intelligent, but scared to admit that the bible has contradiction after contradiction. She wants to believe that we will see our dead family members again and that we will all float around from cloud to cloud in total bliss. I know it is tough, but just try and wrap your head around the thought that when we die, we decompose and that is it. It sucks to know that when someone dies they are gone forever but sane adults go through tough things everyday without make believe stories.

So if I read the bible as a believer and it turned me into a nonbeliever what does that mean, o high priestess.

Greg at 5:08PM on Dec 31st 2007

45. Emily,
The BIBle does condone salvery. Don't you know the definition of condone? It was regarded as something that is considered wrong in a tolerant way, without criticizing it or feeling strongly about it. The priests of the Old Testament needed their slaves to build the cities, but they realized in order to get the best out of your slave you had to treat them properly. It's called the strong overpowering the weak.
"However, you may purchase male or female slaves from among the foreigners who live among you. You may also purchase the children of such resident foreigners, including those who have been born in your land. You may treat them as your property, passing them on to your children as a permanent inheritance. You may treat your slaves like this, but the people of Israel, your relatives, must never be treated this way. (Leviticus 25:44-46 )"

How is that not condoning slavery? How about..

"If you buy a Hebrew slave, he is to serve for only six years. Set him free in the seventh year, and he will owe you nothing for his freedom. If he was single when he became your slave and then married afterward, only he will go free in the seventh year. But if he was married before he became a slave, then his wife will be freed with him. If his master gave him a wife while he was a slave, and they had sons or daughters, then the man will be free in the seventh year, but his wife and children will still belong to his master. But the slave may plainly declare, 'I love my master, my wife, and my children. I would rather not go free.' If he does this, his master must present him before God. Then his master must take him to the door and publicly pierce his ear with an awl. After that, the slave will belong to his master forever. (Exodus 21:2-6)"

And how about this for condoning.....

"Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ. (Ephesians 6:5)"
WAKe up and smell your bullshit Emily.

goddess1prevail at 5:08PM on Dec 31st 2007

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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.