Evolutionary biologist and atheist, Richard Dawkins came out in the last week and said that he was a "cultural Christian." Dawkins dos not believe in the literal truth of Christianity, such as the resurrection from the dead of Our Lord Jesus Christ, but he accepts the cultural values of Christianity, such as the worth and dignity of the individual, and equality for women, in terms of human rights. Even though the numbers of Christian believers across the West are falling dramatically, the majority of people, at least of non-immigrants, hold to the cultural values of Christianity, just like Dawkins.
So, why has Dawkins proclaimed that he is a cultural Christian over than say, humanism? He sees that Islam is making vast inroads into Western Europe via mass immigration and that there is no assimilation here, but rather as may proponents have said, it is the West which needs to convert. This is a clash of civilisations. Immigration does result in fundamental changes to culture, and is not just another economic variable to make profits for thoughtless, heartless, globalist corporates.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/beltway-confidential/2947522/atheists-for-christianity/
"Evolutionary biologist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins, author of the 2006 book The God Delusion, came out as a "cultural Christian" this past weekend on British radio.
"I do think that we are culturally a Christian country," Dawkins told Leading Britain's Conversation, a British talk-radio station. "I call myself a cultural Christian," Dawkins continued, "I'm not a believer. But there is a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian. And so you know I love hymns and Christmas carols and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos. I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense."
Dawkins was not asked if he believes the United States is a Christian nation, but if he did, he would actually be in the minority. According to Pew, just 33% of adults consider the U.S. to be a Christian nation, although 45% say it should be. Meanwhile, 64% say the U.S. is not a Christian nation, and the majority, 51%, say it should not be one.
A solid majority, 60%, however, do believe that the founders intended the United States to be a Christian nation. That means that while 60% believe the United States was founded as a Christian nation, 64% now believe it is not.
I would really love to ask those who believe our country was founded as a Christian nation, but who now believe it is not a Christian nation, when exactly that transformation took place. What year exactly did the United States stop being a Christian nation?
It's not a completely rhetorical question. As Dawkins later notes in the same interview, "The number of people who actually believe in Christianity is going down." The same is true here in the United States. One might think Dawkins would be concerned about the declining number of people who consider themselves Christian, but he is not. Quite the opposite. "I'm happy with that," Dawkins says.
When the interviewer then notes that while Christian churches are empty, thousands of mosques are being built every year, suddenly Dawkins is alarmed.
"If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I'd choose Christianity every single time," Dawkins says. "It seems to me to be a fundamentally decent religion in a way that I think Islam is not."
Asked to explain his preference for Christianity over Islam, Dawkins mentions "The way women are treated."
"Christianity is not great about that," Dawkins says. "It's had its problems with female vicars and female bishops and things. But there's an active hostility to women which is promoted by the holy books of Islam. I'm not talking about individual Muslims who of course are quite different. But the doctrines of Islam, the Hadith and the Quran, is fundamentally hostile to women."
I am no theologian. I am not an expert about what the Quran says about women.
But I do know that Christianity is unique among all world religions in its condemnation of polygamy. This is not to say other religions endorse polygamy, although Islam certainly does, just that they do not specifically forbid it. The Old Testament, for example, is rife with polygamy, and it is practiced by some of Israel's most celebrated leaders including King David and King Solomon (700 wives and 300 concubines).
One does not have to be a Christian to appreciate and thrive in a Christian nation. Dawkins acknowledges this. But it does seem odd to celebrate the decline of Christianity, as Dawkins does, while simultaneously praising the values of Christian culture.
"I find that I like to live in a culturally Christian country," Dawkins says. "Although I do not believe a single word of the Christian faith.