How Former Critics Are Defending Christianity’s Influence on Civilization

Among the top worldview stories of 2024 was the series of unexpected admissions from prominent atheists of the cultural good of Christianity. Even as hostility toward Christianity and Christian morality has increased in recent years, a growing number of atheists, former atheists, and secularists verbalized the role Christianity played in shaping the Western world and why it is a necessary factor in preserving civilization. Most notable was Richard Dawkins. Author of The God Delusion, one of the so-called “four horsemen” of New Atheism, and longtime critic of Christianity, Dawkins made this fascinating confession after seeing lights celebrating Ramadan on a street that once celebrated Easter: 

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 love hymns and Christmas carols, and I sort of feel at home in the Christian ethos. … We [in the U.K.] are a “Christian country” in that sense.   

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.  

The world first learned that Ayaan Hirsi Ali was considering Christianity in 2023. In 2024, it’s become clear that what’s happening with this former atheist is more than just a cultural admission. Asked by Dawkins how she could accept the “nonsense” idea that Jesus is the Son of God and rose from the dead, she replied:  

…when you accept that there is something, that there is a powerful entity, for me, the God that turned me around…(w)hat the vicar says no longer sounds nonsensical, it makes a great deal of sense. And not only does it make a great deal of sense, it’s also layered with the wisdom of millennia. Like you, I did mock faith in general, probably Christianity in particular, but I do not do that anymore. 

Historian Tom Holland, whose journey of faith preceded the last year, made similar, powerful observations on a social media thread. “Essentially what I’m talking about,” he wrote, “… is … what makes Western civilization distinctive.” His list included lifelong marriage, an understanding of sexuality that protected women and children, the modern scientific project, and the idea that humans bear the image of God. These ideas ended slavery, expanded care to the poor, established democracy, educated the masses, and insisted that everyone be under the same law. In short, Christianity has given the Western world nearly everything that matters the most.  

Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk also jumped on 2024’s “cultural Christian” bandwagon. In an interview for The Daily Wire, Musk said:  

While I’m not a particularly religious person, I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise. … I would say I’m probably a cultural Christian. There’s tremendous wisdom in turning the other cheek.  

In these comments is the tacit admission that Christianity has been good for the world. This is a significant change, of course, for the so-called “new atheism,” a movement that claimed that God was a delusion, faith was foolish, and religion “poisons everything.” However, as science and reason have been terrorized by the moralizing witch-hunts of progressivism, many of Christianity’s harshest critics find themselves the target of the woke left, especially due to pseudoscience on sex and gender.  

They are now discovering what has always been true: that the Western ideas of human rights, political equality, and science and art are products of Christianity. These things do not occur in most civilizations, and there is no reason to expect that they will endure in the West if Christianity fades. It’s incredible to watch secular prophets recognize the debt owed to the religion of Jesus.  

However, the West benefited because of people who really believed in Jesus. Cultural Christianity came from real Christians. Their faith was good for the West and the world because Christianity is true. Cultural flourishing and renewal will not come by merely adopting the best ideas of Christianity but by advancing Christ. This is what Chuck Colson meant by the Church being the Church.  

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Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Pool/Pool

Published Date: December 2, 2024

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.