This week, famed atheist Richard Dawkins explained that he was a “cultural Christian.” Praising his civilization, Dawkins stated, “I do think that we 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. 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 went on to praise Christianity as a “fundamentally decent religion in a way that I think Islam is not.”
Dawkins’ case for Christianity — a case made on the basis of utility — is nothing new. It was made long ago by acidic critic of the church Voltaire, who famously averred, “If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him.” But the problem with the utilitarian case for religious belief is that it doesn’t animate religious believers. It is simply impossible to build a civilization on the basis of Judeo-Christian foundations while making the active case as to why those foundations ought to be dissolved.
In fact, Western civilization has doomed itself so long as it fails to reconnect to its religious roots. Philosopher Will Herberg wrote, “The moral principles of Western civilization are, in fact, all derived from the tradition rooted in Scripture and have vital meaning only in the context of that tradition. … Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice and personal dignity — the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality.”
We are a cut flowers civilization.
And eventually, cut flowers die.
That has never been more obvious than this week, when the Biden administration decided to honor the newly invented Transgender Day of Visibility on Easter Sunday. Gender ideology is a symptom of our society’s reversion to gnostic paganism, in which unseen, chaotic forces buffet us about, and in which nature is directly opposed to the freedom of our disembodied essences. It is no wonder that gender ideology is opposed by every mainstream traditional religion.
Yet claiming that this magical holiday could not be moved, the White House issued a variety of statements in celebration of radical gender ideology, including the deeply insulting statement from the president of the United States citing the book of Genesis to the effect that transgender people are “made in the image of God” — ignoring the last half of the Biblical verse, which reads, “male and female he made them.” What better time than Easter, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, to pay homage to an entirely new religion?
Richard Dawkins is obviously correct that a civilization rooted in church is better than a civilization rooted in an alternative set of values. But in reality, the churches cannot be empty; they must be full. The cathedrals that mean Britain to Dawkins must ring with the sounds of hymns in order to maintain their holiness and their importance; otherwise, they are merely beautiful examples of old architecture, remnants of a dead civilization preserved in stone.
But our civilization must live. And that means more than cultural Christianity. It means reengaging with the source of our values — the Scriptures that educated our fathers and grandfathers.
Ben Shapiro, 39, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School, host of “The Ben Shapiro Show,” and co-founder of Daily Wire+. He is a three-time New York Times bestselling author; his latest book is “The Authoritarian Moment: How The Left Weaponized America’s Institutions Against Dissent.” To find out more about Ben Shapiro and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website.
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You summed up the situation very well with the last paragraph in this fine article – ( That is how this comment posted about five hours ago started originally. The spell check system changed ” summed ” to ‘summer” several minutes after it was posted ! ) I believe that the so called spell check system is an unneeded nuisance and it reflects incompetence on the part of those operating it. I am not a complainer. I believe in fixing what needs to be fixed, and making improvements to what needs improvement. In the interest of maintaining civilization properly ,things like this need to be addressed because there is a principle involved. The so called spell check system goes over the line and disrespects something very personal when it makes unwanted, unneeded additions or subtractions – alterations to what people write.
You summer up the situation very well with the last paragraph in this fine article – this is a very important article Ben , praise to you for making it clear what the connections are that shape the structure of civilization. Hope is there, I do believe, to save the foundation of civilization – it will require an ethical incentive, and a respect for honor, honesty, integrity ,courage and loyalty with the majority of the population. Truth , with reverence for the will of God. Well done with what you wrote here !
It’s the age old problem of nearly every civilization to have ever grown strong. A strong rural/religious based ethos strengthens the nation and builds it’s economy and cities. Those cities at first are too small to overwhelm the rural/religious power, but almost immediately start to undermine the foundations. As the nation grows in prosperity and strength more and more people are drawn to the cities for their cultural/economic benefits but also for their laxer morals and ethics. At some point the cities come to dominate the power of the nation/empire and the rift between rural and urban becomes obvious — and detrimental. The trend continues until the cities have so undermined their own power base that the whole thing collapses. Study history from the angle of rural vs. urban and it becomes crystal clear why empires rise and fall. It’s ironic that the very thing that defines “civil” and “civilization”, the cities, are the very causes of a civilization’s downfall.
Sadly, it would appear that the US is in the latter stages of that arc. It’s not impossible to reverse it, so it could happen, but it usually takes a strong external threat to awaken the urbanites to their peril.
As for Ben… Amen! As for our President, he should read The Word while sitting on the beach all the time and pray for His guidance. Then, and only then, should he parrot the words on his teleprompter.
I’m agnostic at best, atheist at worst but I support ppls right to worship and the 1st Amendment right to it. When we prevent ppl from that right, civiluzation will fall as well!