Well-known atheist, Oxford biologist and author Richard Dawkins is under fire from Christian authors and media outlets after he recently identified as a “cultural Christian.” His comments also drew fire from several atheists.

“Richard Dawkins is admiring and eating the fruit of Christianity,” the conservative Aquila Report said in an article posted April 9. “He is happily tasting the sweetness and embracing the aromas and feeling the textures of the fruit, but he still denies the reality of the living tree from which the fruit has grown.”

British author and historian Tom Holland also criticized Dawkins, saying the evolutionary biologist is “sitting on the branch he’s been sawing through and gazing nervously at the ground far below….”

Dawkins Explains

The latest controversy involving Dawkins began after the LBC (London Broadcasting Co.) released an interview with him on March 31. Dawkins told LBC that he isn’t a believing Christian, but he was “horrified” when London celebrated Ramadan rather than Easter this year.

Dawkins said he believes Christianity is “a fundamentally decent religion (…) in a way that Islam is not. He cited Islam’s “active hostility to women.”

He also told the LBC that he doesn’t believe one word of Christianity but prefers to live in a culturally Christian country. “I’m a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends are cultural Jews or cultural Muslims,” he has previously said. “I would not be happy if, for example, we lost all our cathedrals and our beautiful parish churches” in the UK.

The Christian Network Europe News (CNE) quoted Dawkins as saying, “If I had to choose between Christianity and Islam, I’d choose Christianity every single time….”

“I love hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos,” he explained. “I feel we are a ‘Christian’ country in that sense,” according to the National Catholic Register and other media outlets.

Four Horsemen of New Atheism

Dawkins has authored several books including The God Illusion. In this best seller, he argues against the existence of God and says belief in a personal god is delusional.

He also is one of the so-called four horsemen of the New Atheism, along with authors Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. The four men published several critically acclaimed books that heavily criticized religion and promoted atheism between 2004 and 2007.

An Admitted Mistake?

The Christian website Breakpoint proposed that in the March interview, Dawkins admitted he has been wrong about at least one point: Science and secularism are not the source of everything good in Western culture, as he has claimed for years.

“In fact, it is the worldview centered on God who became man and died on a cross because He ‘so loved the world’ that is the source of hospitals, churches, esteem for women and children, human rights, and even the music, art, and culture that Dawkins cherishes,” Breakpoint continued. “For one of the world’s most outspoken God-haters to realize this is quite remarkable.”

The 83-year-old Dawkins has targeted the Christian faith many times over the years, but he also has been critical of other religions such as Islam. In 2018, he cautioned that we shouldn’t celebrate the decline of Christianity in Europe “for fear of finding something worse,” namely Islam.

Dawkins has called Islam the most dangerous religion in the world. He also has said Christianity is more compatible with British values than Islam, especially in its treatment of gays and women.

Cultural Christianity

So, what is a cultural Christian?

“A cultural Christian is someone who has some connection to Christianity (perhaps because he or she was raised in a “Christian home”) but is only loosely connected to the Church and Christ today,” explained the multi-faith platform Patheos. Patheos is an online religion resource that provides information on the Bible and other holy texts.

Patheos explained, “The cultural Christian may or may not attend Church; but upbringing, family traditions (or practices), or his or her social circle might keep the cultural Christian in a sort of “Christian orbit”—even if Jesus is not the “center” of that person’s own life.”

In its post on cultural Christianity, Patheos brought up Dawkins. “He sees himself as a “cultural Christian”—striving to live a moral lifestyle akin to what Jesus taught His followers to live; though Dawkins does not believe in the divinity of Jesus and may even question the historicity of Jesus.”

Dangers of Cultural Christianity?

In an article for The Christian Post, evangelical scholar and author Marlon De Blasio took aim at cultural Christianity. According to De Blasio, one danger of cultural Christianity is that it “can freely reinterpret the Christian faith to accommodate cultural trends one day, another tomorrow, and yet another next week.

“So, what was the point of the world’s most famous atheist when he recently complained about the decline of ‘cultural Christianity’ in the UK?” De Blasio asked. “In the midst of raging cultural wars, it’s necessary to highlight how attempts to undermine a Christian’s faith are intellectually disordered.”

De Blasio explained that the gospel offers grace, forgiveness, and a real personal relationship with God. “Skepticism does not engage in serious orderly conversation but seeks mostly to annoy by sarcastic rhetoric. Christian claims are nitpicked and disordered with intent to disable their potency.”

Hollowing Out Christianity?

Christian writer Rod Dreher criticized the evolutionary biologist for saying he is glad Christianity is declining. Dreher likened Dawkins to “a seemingly intelligent man (who) says he greatly enjoys eating but is also glad that farms in his country are closing and that gardens are not being planted.”

And Christianity Today cautioned that Dawkins poses more dangers as a cultural Christian than as an intractable atheist. “Richard Dawkins’s cultural ‘Christianity’ could hollow out our faith far more efficiently than straightforward attacks,” the online publication said in a post titled “New Atheism Finally Learns How to Destroy Christianity.”

And Christianity Today argued that cultural Christianity “hollows out the true core of the faith. True Christianity is not about a national identity or social cohesion, but about ‘a new birth, a renewing of the mind, a union with the living Christ,” said editor-in-chief Russell Moore.

“The devil is smart enough to use hollow, cultural Christianity to make us atheists in the long run, to realize that the best way to take down a cross is to replace it with a culture, a crown, or a cathedral – or a Christmas tree,” Moore added.

British author and theologian Theo Hobson noted that there would be no Christian culture without numerous committed Christians. And John Heathershaw, a Christian and professor of international relations at the University of Exeter, said “Christians should focus on witnessing about Jesus Christ in a secular society.”

“The fruit of Christianity, the ethics and architecture, the music and its role in shaping political theory and the marketplace, all have an origin story in the Bible and especially in the God-Man Jesus Christ,” according to The Aquila Report.

“The fruit comes from somewhere and that somewhere is more audacious and stunning than 21^st Century observers realize.”

Under Fire from Atheists

The Friendly Atheist, an online site focused on religion and politics, also criticized Dawkins. However, its emphasis was his belief that Christianity is better than Islam.

“(Dawkins’s) comments continue an irresponsible pattern of demonizing one religion while celebrating the one he grew up with,” the post said.

And several people who commented on The Friendly Atheist article also focused on that issue rather than Dawkins’s comments about being a cultural Christian.

“Why is one (religion) better than the other? Because he’s used to the former (Christianity),” one person asked.

However, another had questions: “Fundamentally decent? Christianity? Has Dawkins read the Bible?”

And another posed this argument: “Atheism is not a religion with a hierarchy. Dawkins is not the pope of atheism. I don’t give a flying **** what his opinion on Christianity is.”