Christianity Is The Root Of Western Civilization, Including Freedoms Being Lost As Christian Faith Declines

This past April a seismic event occurred when Atheist evolutionary biologist and author of “The God Delusion”, Richard Dawkins, proclaimed the importance of Christian culture in the United Kingdom. During an interview with Rachel Johnson of LBC News, Dawkins noted his concern about losing Christian culture after seeing Ramadan lights on a street that previously featured Easter Lights “I call myself a cultural Christian. I’m not a believer, but there’s a distinction between being a believing Christian and being a cultural Christian.. I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos… We are a Christian country..”

This was from the man who was known for previously slamming religion as malevolent and divisive. Dawkins also said “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.” https://x.com/AaronBastani/status/1774570273561337985 This was a watershed moment for those of Christian culture, though it must include the understanding that culture will only remain with the root of Christianity.

Dawkins’ admission created a firestorm, but mainly for him not recognizing the inseparability of Christianity with Christian culture. From John Stonestreet and Shane Morris at Breakpoint: “A torrent of.. reactions followed the (Dawkins) interview. Rod Dreher pointed out that for Dawkins to claim he likes cathedrals and Christmas carols but is glad church attendance is declining is like saying he enjoys eating but is glad his country’s farms are closing. Writer Henry George remarked that ‘Rebuilding [civilization] means accepting the source, not the effect, of Christianity.’…. Another posted on X that Dawkins’ desire for a Christian society without allegiance to Christ is a ‘hydroponic Christian culture that doesn’t actually have its roots down in that dirty soil of actual belief in God…. Dawkins’ comments were a tacit admission that, for decades now, he has been wrong to claim that science and secularism are the source of all that’s good in Western culture. In fact, it is the worldview centered on a 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….” https://www.breakpoint.org/richard-dawkins-a-cultural-christian/

Non-Christian historian, Tom Holland, has long made the case based on secular history that Christianity gave Western culture the emphasis on freedom, science and human rights. Holland has also noted that even Dawkins’ atheism and the enlightenment were fruits of Christianity, writing “Secularism and Dawkins own brand of evangelical atheism are both expressions of a specifically Christian culture – as Dawkins himself, sitting on the branch he’s been sawing through and gazing nervously at the ground far below, seems to have begun to realize. https://x.com/holland_tom/status/1774680923113398287  Important to note that the 2021 religious census of England and Wales showed that only 46% identified as Christian, whereas only a decade earlier (2011) 59% identified as such https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/culturalidentity/religion/bulletins/religionenglandandwales/census2021 The percentage of Christians continues to drop, while the non-religiously affiliated and Islamic population continues to rise, with the effects noted by Dawkins.

     The plummeting rates of Christianity are being experience throughout the Western world, though the United Kingdom is unique for the speed of this change. Based on current religious and demographic trends, by 2050 Muslims will make up almost 20% of the UK, France and Italy, likely overtaking those identifying as Christians, while outnumbered by those with no religious affiliation  https://www.statista.com/statistics/871324/projected-proportion-of-muslims-in-select-european-countries/ These are ominous trends for Western culture.

A de-Christianizing Europe, and particularly the United Kingdom, is suffering the resulting loss of the values which Tom Holland noted arose from Christianity. For example, the previous Christian United Kingdom had been renowned for the high value it placed on freedom and protections against the power of the government and Crown. British Common Law, which has protected individual rights in court, was based on a Christian worldview. Seminal legal theorist, William Blackstone, was clear about the foundation of Common Law: “For as God…. when he created man, and endued him with freewill to conduct himself in all parts of life, he laid down certain immutable laws of human nature… gave him also the faculty of reason to discover the purport of those laws.” Common Law was finding God’s natural law through cases and resulting precedence of judicial decisions. With the steep decline of Christianity, individual rights in the United Kingdom have been eroded substantially. The UK Free Speech Union recently wrote about the various new infringements of free speech and claimed that these are the worst restrictions “since 1642” and continue to worsen. Labour Party and PM Keim Starmer attacks on alleged “misinformation” and “disinformation” are the justification to jail social media posters. https://freespeechunion.org/labours-war-on-free-speech/ The loss of freedom goes beyond speech and effects privacy and property rights.

Richard Dawkins should be commended for admitting the good of the Christian culture he has attacked, but it’s time for him (and us) to recognize that Christian and Western culture will not remain without the root of Christian faith. For the sake of our children and grandchildren having Christian Western Culture in the future, it’s time to boldly proclaim the truth of the Gospel.

Col. Bill Connor——Bio and Archives – Col. Bill Connor is a retired U.S. Army Infantry officer, attorney, and founding partner of NATIONAL DEFENSE CONSULTANTS, LLC. While in the Army, Connor logged multiple deployments to the Middle East, and he has commanded both light Infantry and Ranger training companies. From 2007 through 2008 he was deployed to Afghanistan where he became the senior U.S. military adviser in Helmand Province. Since the start of the October 2023 war in Israel, he has provided analysis to NEWSMAX.