Richard Dawkins, Cultural Christian
Recently, the famously outspoken British atheist Richard Dawkins found himself in the headlines for calling himself a “cultural Christian.”
In an interview broadcast on LBC Radio (a U.K. radio station), Dawkins expressed his concern that Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, was this year promoted on Oxford Street in London instead of Easter. Dawkins went so far as to say he was “slightly horrified” at the development.
Dawkins continued by explaining, “I do think we [England] are culturally a Christian country. I call myself a cultural Christian. I’m not a believer, but there is a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian.”
“I love hymns and Christmas carols and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos, and I feel that we are a Christian country in that sense,” he added. While he did clarify that he is happy the number of people who claim to believe in Christianity is going down, “I would not be happy if, for example, we lost all our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches,” Dawkins said.
“So, I count myself a cultural Christian and I think it would matter if we substituted any alternative religion, that would be truly dreadful.”
The interview host went on to ask what Dawkins thought about the planned construction of over 6,000 mosques across Europe. Dawkins regarded that as a problem, saying:
“If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I’d choose Christianity every single time. It seems to me to be a fundamentally decent religion, in a way that I think Islam is not.”
“I find that I like to live in a culturally Christian country, although I do not believe a single word of the Christian faith.”
To be sure, hearing the author of “The God Delusion” and vocal proponent of abortion defend Christianity in any sense is a shock to the ears. But does this mean Richard Dawkins is suddenly on our side as Christians?
The short answer is no, but it is interesting that Dawkins made this claim.
In all fairness, Dawkins is correct in assessing the perils faced by a de-Christianized U.K. and Europe. The unmitigated migration of Muslim peoples, without any sort of assimilation into the Judeo-Christian values of Western culture, is resulting in the rapid importation of an Islamic culture whose values are directly in conflict with (and at times openly hostile to) those of Christianity and the European culture built upon it.
Dawkins rightly observes that not all cultures are morally equal. In 2018, he warned on Twitter, “Before we rejoice at the death throes of the relatively benign Christian religion, let’s not forget Hilaire Belloc’s menacing rhyme: ‘Always keep a-hold of nurse / For fear of finding something worse.’”
Yet before we Christians rush to welcome our new ally, we must take this moment to recognize that secularists like Richard Dawkins cannot have their cake and eat it too. In America as in Europe, the death of cultural Christianity is the natural outcome of rejecting sincere Christian faith, and because human nature abhors a vacuum, it will always be replaced by some other religion, secular or otherwise.
The Rise of the “Nones”
Earlier this year, I was contacted by a local newspaper journalist for an interview. This journalist was a columnist for Southern Rhode Island Newspapers (i.e. The Narragansett Times, The Standard Times, The Independent), and he was reaching out to local churches for comment on a January 2024 report from Pew Research on the rapid secularization of America. This particular report dropped the bombshell that religious “nones” (those who claim no particular religious belief) now represent the largest single religious identification in the US at 28% of the population.
I suspect my response was not published, given my strong Biblical convictions likely did not align with those of the columnist. Nevertheless, I want to share my response here given the overlap with the issues brought to bear by Richard Dawkins.
The increasing secularization of America is one of the most impactful social trends on public life and discourse in our country today. There are many angles to secularization that could be examined, but I think one of the most pertinent is the increasing ideological polarization that so many people feel.
It is no coincidence that increased secularization has been accompanied by a feeling that we are more divided than ever politically and socially. The reason for this phenomenon is that the public no longer shares a common moral framework.
Regardless of what one may think of Christian morality today, it cannot be denied that a shared belief in the God of the Bible, and the moral obligations such a belief implies (such as regular church attendance and an objective standard for right and wrong) provided the U.S. with a strong social cohesion (a shared framework for how to view the world) in generations past – even if that belief wasn’t held by everyone in the same way. Absent that moral framework, we tend to fulfill our religious impulses by other means – often filling the vacuum with politics or political figures. By placing politics on a pedestal, and without a shared worldview to handle the issues facing us, we set ourselves up for an endless cycle of increasing polarization and tribalism.
Christians would be wise to consider how rising secularization impacts their churches and ministries. My observation is that while a secularized society changes the context of how Christians interact with the wider culture, it does not change the underlying fundamentals of sharing the Gospel and welcoming people to church.
The Gospel will forever remain unchanged. Our individual sins separate us from God, incurring a debt we cannot repay on our own. Yet, God desires a relationship with us, and so loves us that He sent His only Son (Jesus Christ) to live a sinless life, and willingly die on a cross to repay that debt for us, defeating death and ascending into heaven. Only by putting our faith in Jesus can we freely accept this gift of salvation and dwell forever with God in heaven.
Christians will always have the responsibility to share this message, but how it is articulated will change based on the situation. For a generation in which the largest group constitutes religious “nones,” it can be safely assumed that cultural familiarity with the beliefs of Christianity is at an all-time low. As a result, it is more important than ever for today’s Christians, if they wish to evangelize the “nones,” to have a thorough understanding of their faith so they can explain it clearly to people who otherwise know nothing about it.
As for what Holy Communion has done with respect to increasing secularization, I would first point to an observation made by the recent Pew study: “Most ‘nones’ say they were raised in a religion, usually Christianity. Yet today, they tend to be disconnected from religious institutions.” In other words, one contributing factor to the rise of the “nones” is the failure of Christian parents to pass on their faith to their children. Based on this trend, it also follows that most Christians will have at least one religious “none” in their immediate family.
Therefore, as I emphasize in my church teaching, we as Christians need to prioritize sharing our faith with our children, as well as family members and close friends. If Christians were more diligent in that responsibility, then we would see more “nones” returning to Christianity, or never having left in the first place.
A Still More Excellent Way
This last point brings me back to the Richard Dawkins headline. The very decline in Christian belief which people like Dawkins celebrate is the death knell of the prosperous Western culture from which they benefit. The truth is that cultural Christianity cannot save us. Without a foundation of sincere Christian belief, it is an empty vessel. Cultural Christianity is incapable of saving a civilization and it is incapable of saving souls.
Indeed, we now have some 100 years of cultural and moral decline in the West to prove this is the case. Ours is a “cut flower civilization.” Cut off from the roots of true Christian faith, the flower may bloom for a season, but it can no longer grow, only wither.
What Dawkins fails to realize is that those beautiful hymns he enjoys required faithful Christians to write them. Those beautiful cathedrals he admires required a faithful Church to design and build them. The vestiges of cultural Christianity, without real, faithful Christians to propagate them, are nothing more than whitewashed tombs.
Of course, not all hope is lost. Our Hope in Christ is never lost. Sobering reflections such as this are not meant for us to dwell in doom and gloom, but to bravely face reality so that we can live in the Truth and consider how to best share the Gospel in love. All it will take for these cultural trends to reverse is for the current generation of Christian parents and grandparents to unapologetically stand up for the Gospel and pass it on to their children and grandchildren.
Will we be bold enough to take the first step? If we do, our generation will have a distinct flavor from the secularized world, for we will be marked by joy that flows from a Hope that is not in this life, but in the next. In so doing, we can join Saint Paul in showing others “a still more excellent way” (1 Corinthians 12:31).
Let us pray for Richard Dawkins and all of our friends and neighbors who do not yet know the saving love of Jesus Christ. And let us joyfully reclaim the deposit of faith so that we may pass it on to future generations. Amen.
