Why Islam’s rise has caused atheists to urge West not to abandon Christianity

Apr 6, 2018 by Jill

by Jonathon Van Maren, LifeSite:

On March 21, the famously angry atheist Richard Dawkins tweeted out a report from the Guardian with a reaction that made me do a double take: “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.’”

The Guardian was noting (as I did in this space in 2016) that Christianity in the UK was completely collapsing: Well over half of Britons no longer pray or attend religious services, and a staggering 70% of those between the ages of 16 and 29 do not subscribe to any identifiable religion.

Dawkins seems to have changed his tune somewhat. After all, this is the same man who once argued that the state needed to shield children from religious parents who were “indoctrinating them,” essentially dismissing the fundamental concept of parental rights as so much nonsense. Enlightened atheists running the state were far better equipped, in Dawkins’ opinion, to decide what was best for children than their own parents.

Dawkins’ sudden nostalgia for Christianity is not a mere outlier these days. Increasingly, atheists are realizing that the choice facing most Western nations is not the choice between the secularism of the Enlightenment or the Judeo-Christian traditions of Christendom. Rather, as Christianity collapses, the void is being filled with the religious traditions of incoming migrants, immigrants, and refugees.

For most countries, that is Islam. As the culture clashes in Europe grow, Dawkins has gone from referring to Christianity as something children need to be protected from to something “benign.” As LifeSite reported, he actually defended Christianity: “There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings. I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death.”

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