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American Liberty, BBC, Christianity, Christianity and Islam, Christianity vs Islam, Christopher Hitchens, Civilisation, Counter-Jihad, Daniel Dennett, Defend the modern world, Muslims, politics, Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, Religion, richard dawkins, Sam Harris
I wrote a post last week that seemed (and was) hostile to the school of thought labelled as ‘New Atheist’ – more explicitly, the works of Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens.
Specifically, I criticised these personalities for repeatedly lying about Hitler’s religious convictions – for claiming, as they do, that the Fuhrer was a believing Catholic, when his real views were closer to rational unbelief.
I don’t want to write the same article twice, so if you’re interested in my argument, please scroll down to ‘Hitler Was an Atheist’ in last week’s bunch. On this occasion, I’d like to clear up my position in regard to the ‘New Atheism; and atheism in general, lest my previous words have failed to communicate my true opinion.
I’ll start by restating that I am the son of a Church of England minister, and (as it goes for most vicar’s sons) the experience has often led me to an extreme and reactive rationalism, inspired by (among other figures) Nietzsche and Sartre, the traditional heroes of the thinking Western adolescent.
At the time of my enrolling in University, I was so convinced by atheism that I rarely thought about it. As far as I was concerned, the debate was dead, and all that remained to do was for the rising generation to destroy any legacy of Christian thought; to liberate the West from its dusty idols, arbitrary loyalties and primitive moral worldview.
Since then, I’ve not gone back on my view of the cosmos, the historicity of religious texts, or the facticity of evolution. But what I have done is read more about the human animal and the role that religion plays in sustaining him, in reminding him of things he might otherwise forget.
I remember at college coming up with what I considered to be a bold new scientific theory: the idea that there is an ‘optimal IQ range’, below which the human behaves in a destructive or abusive fashion to others, and above which the human being malfunctions, seeks to destroy himself or otherwise rebels against natural law. The ‘theory’ (if it can be so dignified) was drawn from the observation that high-IQ people tend to neglect the fundamental practices of nature, most notably the need to reproduce, to avoid suicidal thinking, and to maintain connections with the rhythms of their fellow man.
In retrospect this seems slightly daffy. There are clearly benefits to high intelligence and not just for the individual possessed by it. But that said, I still believe there is something vital in the wisdom of the less able, in their commitment to the essentials of life.
This very week it was reported that by 2070, the number of Muslims will overtake the number of Christians to make Islam the largest religion on Earth. This has to do with three synergetic factors. First, Muslims still believe in reproduction. Secondly, Europeans and Latin Americans no longer reproduce at the required pace and quantity. And thirdly, Europeans are becoming more disjointed and secularised, leading to a collapse of the only cultural coalition large enough to compete with the spread of Islam.
This has less to do with theology than with natural priorities. Religion, though it may on occasion go against science and progress, nevertheless tethers the human mind to very important primal truths. To sever the European from his traditions is to sever him from the destiny those traditions were laying out for him.
According to Richard Lynn, Japan is the most intelligent country on Earth, yet it is turning into a high-tech nursing home. Sweden is similarly dying. Norway is dying. Germany is dying. Italy is dying. Even China is dying.
And that last example is an especially illustrative one. China has been forcedly atheist for over fifty years. In that period of skyscraper building, the birth rate has steadily but surely declined. This has been helped by – but cannot be wholly explained by – the ‘one-child policy’ that (in any case) accompanies the confident atheism of Communism.
Outside of reproductive issues, the abandonment of Christianity by Europeans has another global effect. The more impressionable and cultureless races, most notably the booming population of Africa may be increasingly drawn to confident religions like Islam and turn away from the tired out, apologetic religion of their former colonial masters. The wonderful civilising effect of European Christianity may vanish and plunge great swathes of the world into barbaric darkness.
To repeat my general position – none of these concerns imply religion is true or science false. All I recommend is to consider the void that comes after religion and weigh its benefits against those of history.
D, LDN.
Defend the Modern World 
You are right (in a way) DTMW.
A lack of confidence in a cultures’ own values often results it being too weak to stand-up to irrational but confident ideologies.
Personally, I’m alarmed by how much my own White British colleagues constantly demean their own culture and ancestral religious identity, and I feel reassured when any native British person is a regular church goer.
But, you have to also understand that the bulk of the ideological fight against Islamism is now been conducted by the New Atheists.
In debate after debate which I have watched online, it’s the New Atheists like San Harris, Richard Dwakins, Douglass Murray and Ex-Muslims New Atheists like Ayaan Hirshi Ali, Ibn Warraq, Ali Sina, Ali Rizvi, Maryam Namazie and ‘cultural’ Muslims like Maajid Nawaz who question and redicule Islamic orthodoxy, and (the sad spectacle of) a Christian Minister or a priest is the one who is the apologist for Islam.
The Pope equated the Charlie Hebdo murders to ‘punching a person who insults my mother’: A very bad and I’ll-thought out statement, which the ‘British’ islamists proudly displayed in banners in their odious rally in London.
The Archbishop of Canterbury issues a statement accepting Sharia law in Britain.
Is this the fight that the Christians are giving?
Compare it with the vigorous, going-for-the-jugular attacks on Islamic Orthodoxy by New Atheists like Chris Hitchens, Pat Condell, Douglas Murray, Sam Harris and even Richard Dawkins, on occasions.
You mentioned Japan and China.
They are in no way comparable to what’s going on in Western Europe.
The Japanese population may be aging and shrinking, (which is a natural condition of all developed and advanced societies, even religious ones), but, the Japanese are so proud & confident of their culture that even if their population is declining, it still remains Japanese, with no threat of demographic takeover. The same could apply to China. This pride and confidence, is less in Western Europe.
But, I’m an optimist.
I think that the spectacular growth of UKIP in UK, PEGIDA in Germany and National Front in France and even blogs like yours, as signs that a core body of patriots exist in Western Europe who will resist the Islamization of their societies to the death.
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I hope you’re right. But I look at America and its proud Christian identity (and lack of Muslim infiltration) and wonder if they have the better approach to the problem.
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1. I think that the World Wars and associated genocides of both the Nazis & the Communists, somehow broke the spirit of the European nation states and sapped their confidence in themselves as a culture & a people.
America has a clean slate compared to this blood-soaked history of Europe & thus Americans are more confident about their culture.
2. The second and most important reason, in my opinion is that Europe is far more left-wing than America. Even the church leaders are left-wing, which is unthinkable in America as the Christian preachers in America are usually center-right (even the black preachers)
And, as I’ve noticed in India as well as in the UK, there is a vile alliance between the leftists & the Islamists, and this is a significant factor too.
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The Nazi ghost is certainly a factor, but that is used by the Left in America as much as it is here. The greatest difference is the proud religiosity of the American majority. They are united by something, and we are not. That’s my opinion anyway.
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I always smile when new atheists are blamed for the downfall of Christianity in the face of the rise of Islam. How about Christians in Britain taking responsibility for self-castrating themselves in the face of the evil of Islam? Where are the Christians not saying ‘Islam is wrong, this is why it is wrong, we must not delude ourselves about Islam?’ Why the silence? Why the ‘interfaith’ nonsense? Muslims are not shy of downgrading Christianity, and actively evangelise in our cities and towns. Why is the church not specifically looking the enemy in the eye and counter-evangelising?
Islam is a bigger threat to Britain then ‘New Atheists’. Why don’t Christians start acting like it?
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I wish they would. It’s not like this everywhere. Christians in America are much more decisive.
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Birth rates have fallen in staunchly Catholic countries like Italy as well as less religious ones. Even Iran has seen a dramatic fall in its birth rate, to Western levels, although the authorities are now desperately trying to reverse this trend in the face of the looming Sunni threat. Birth control is the game changer here, and in a free society you cannot limit the availability of birth control.
Has religion not been part of our weakness as well? Have we been turning the other cheek when we should have been defending ourselves? Are we forgiving those who trespass against us when we should be opposing them? Have we been helping the poor too much, discouraging them from self-reliance, and fostering negative forces in society? The welfare state is probably one of the biggest reasons we still have such a high Muslim birth rate in the West, but every time the government tries to make cuts, they are attacked by the (Christian) church.
Is it maybe not so much the decline of religion as what has replaced it – leftist ideology – that is the problem? The media and political spheres are dominated by this ideology, which never dares to suggest that women raising children is just as valuable as having a career. So many media articles practically encourage “free” love without reminding us of the consequences. Better morality in the media and in education might encourage more stable relationships which are more likely to lead to marriage and families.
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It depends on the interpretation of Christianity. American Christianity is certainly not of the ‘turn the other cheek’ variety. I agree about Leftist ideology. When the masses give up on religion, Leftism or Fascism are given room to develop.
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