We seem to be witnessing an aggressive attempt by leading atheists to portray religion in general, and Christianity in particular, as the bane of civilization. Finding the idea of God incompatible with science and reason, these atheists also fault Christianity with fostering a breed of fanaticism comparable to Islamic radicalism. The proposed solution: a completely secular society, liberated from Christian symbols and beliefs.
This critique, which comes from best-selling atheist books, academic tracts and a sophisticated network of atheist organizations and media, can be disputed on its own terms. What it misses, however, is the larger story of how Christianity has shaped the core institutions and values of the USA and the West. Christianity is responsible even for secular institutions such as democracy and science. It has fostered in our civilization values such as respect for human dignity, human rights and human equality that even secular people cherish.
Kendall, posting this from D’Souza is truly below the standards you uphold. Next we’ll hear from Ann Coulter on Judaism and Guiliani on the sanctity of judgement & marriage(s).
D’Souza’s rise is the perfect illustration of the success that right-wing foundations have had in cultivating a generation of conservative thinkers and leaders by throwing money at them, supporting their academic work, and hooking them up with internships, government jobs, and the right conservative network.
Among his signature pieces at Dartmouth as newspaper editor for The Review: a parody of African American students at Dartmouth entitled “This Sho Ain’t No Jive Broâ€; an interview with a Ku Klux Klan member featuring a graphic of a hanged black man; and selected words of wisdom from Adolf Hitler. The Review consistently referred to gay men as sodomites, and D’Souza himself publicly outed one gay student in an article based on stolen correspondence between members of the Dartmouth Gay Student Alliance.
My “fav” quote from his body of blathering:
“The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well.†(from D’Souza’s book, The End of Racism)
Have some self-respect, Kendall – this is not Christianity or conservative politics – this is well-funded propoganda.
Not to mention that the very idea of the scientific method was developed by the Church. Scholasticism (the idea that God can be known through reason) paved the way for the science and the understanding that there is a natural law of physics and chemistry just as there is natural law on human behavior. All science has its roots in the concept of God being rational.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
“Come, now, and let us reason together…” from Isaiah 1:18
D’Souza has some things to say that all, Christians and non, need to hear…I think that readers can sort out the helpful from the not.
What the first paragraph also misses is that atheism also has its own fanatics, and its own history of appalling inhumanity. To promote secularism as a solution, is to promote a non-solution.
bob carlton,
Spoken like a man unwilling to engage an argument. Why bother, since the messenger is Unclean.
Ed has a point. Bob’s comments are becomming increasingly shrill, partisan and off-putting. This latest ad hominem is unfortunately par for the course. Why engage with an argument if you can simply crucify the person making an argument?
D’Souza is mistaken when he says “Christians were the first ones who envisioned the universe as following laws that reflected the rationality of God the creator.†That’s not wildly off, but much better in my opinion would be to say that we first see this idea of an ordered cosmos coming into being via the logos of God in two places: the creation myth of the Jews and (later and independently) the Greek philosophers (e.g. Plato). Both very different streams of thought come together in Christianity.
Otherwise I like the piece.
What is equally as important is that atheism is becoming another religion, as Constitutionalism now is. Their very shrillness, their vituperation, their dogmatism, their intolerance, their blind faith in scientism (which is their bible), their division of the moral world into black and white, their certainty that they alone possess the truth, all these mark them as fanatics, true believers, in a religious cause. Their faith lies in this, that they believe that science will reveal all possible truths, and that there are no truths beyond that which scientific method can demonstrate. So we see again what we have see before, that when you push liberalism far enough, it becomes tyranical, indistinguishable from the farthest right.
Well, they are harmless, unless you regard them as buzzards in the mine. LM
Incidentally, I have met Dinesh a number of times, and Bob C is largely wrongedy wrong wrong wrong, but DS certainly has some right wing opinions. The Dartmouth REview, which he ran some years ago, is the only voice at DArtmouth that does not peddle the left wing agenda that now controls the school. IN fact, TDR is nearly the only clear wind blowing there any more. When a school allows men and women to live together in the same dorm room, then there ism’t much farther to go left. (This rule incidentally is to allow homosexuals to avoid living with guys) This is called inclusiveness.
I loved DArtmouth and I still do love the real one, but what’s there in Hanover is a parody of the real thing, an ersatz Dartmouth. D’Souza at least fought for the real article. Larry
Larry Morse,
Can you help me understand how Dinesh can be taken seriously when he makes statements like:
“The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well.†(from D’Souza’s book, The End of Racism)
“[f]or many whites the criminal and irresponsible black underclass represents a revival of barbarism in the midst of Western civilization.” (from D’Souza’s book The End of Racism)
“If America as a nation owes blacks as a group reparations for slavery, what do blacks as a group owe America for the abolition of slavery?†(from The End of Racism)
He further states that segregation was designed
“…to assure that [Blacks], like the handicapped, would be…permitted to perform to the capacity of their arrested development.”
“What impact did the abortionists, the feminists, the homosexual activists, and the secularists have on the Islamic radicals who conspired to blow up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Unfortunately, this crucial question got buried, and virtually no one has raised it publicly.†(from The Enemy at Home)
“What disgusts [Muslims] is not free elections but the sights of hundreds of homosexuals kissing one another and taking marriage vows. The person that horrifies them the most is not John Locke but Hillary Clinton.†(from The Enemy at Home)
“In reality, the left already has a foreign policy and a strategy, and it’s called working in tandem with bin Laden to defeat Bush.†(from The Enemy at Home)
So many people on the right wing have called out Dinesh for his comments & his tirades – folks ranging from the New Republic to the Weekly Standard.
Larry, there is a big difference between the right wing and the wing nuts. I have always admired Kendall because he was unashamedly the former – people like D’Souza & Coulter are the poster children of the latter.
Bob – So, if we can find outrageous (from our point of view) statements from +Shori or +Robinson or +Spong or +(take your pick), then we can simply ignore anything else they have written or said?
I suggest that you either engage arguments (and not people) or simply stay quiet if you can’t engage the arguments because you find the person so repulsive.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
Phil,
I’ve always felt your ability to engage was admirable. I am curious about your advice:
simply stay quiet if you can’t engage the arguments because you find the person so repulsive
Can you honestly suggest that is the norm among commenters here ?
Bob – I’ll ask you the same question your mother (hopefully) did: Do two wrongs ever make a right?
Just because others may engage comments and/or attacks on persons, does that give either you or I the license to do so? I try very hard to engage ideas and positions, not people and, up to now, I have found you attempting to do the same. We are not always successful, but we should still strive for that goal.
So, I would urge you back to the goal of engaging arguments and not people.
YBIC,
Phil Snyder
In an article recently, Mr. D’Souze issued a challenge to believers, he states that, “…most Christians have taken the easy way out. They have retreated into a Christian subculture where they engage Christian concerns. He urges us as Christians to be ready to stand up for our beliefs: “You must know what you believe and why you believe it.â€
That’s what we should be paying attention to IMHO.
Bob- OK, I’m game to arrempt an answer to your questions.
“The American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well.†(from D’Souza’s book, The End of Racism)
– probably true. Thieves tend to take care of ‘things’ they’ve stolen.
“[f]or many whites the criminal and irresponsible black underclass represents a revival of barbarism in the midst of Western civilization.†(from D’Souza’s book The End of Racism)
– a popular view, probably, but not fair to the historical Barbaroi.
“If America as a nation owes blacks as a group reparations for slavery, what do blacks as a group owe America for the abolition of slavery?†(from The End of Racism)
– beare of groupthink.
He further states that segregation was designed
“…to assure that [Blacks], like the handicapped, would be…permitted to perform to the capacity of their arrested development.â€
– have you cited this fully?
“What impact did the abortionists, the feminists, the homosexual activists, and the secularists have on the Islamic radicals who conspired to blow up the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? Unfortunately, this crucial question got buried, and virtually no one has raised it publicly.†(from The Enemy at Home)
– well, Jerry Falwell did and see what happened to him! You should read the Islamists on their own terms – especially Qutb on church dances ….
“What disgusts [Muslims] is not free elections but the sights of hundreds of homosexuals kissing one another and taking marriage vows. The person that horrifies them the most is not John Locke but Hillary Clinton.†(from The Enemy at Home)
– I don’t think they’ve ever heard of John Locke. How Islamic states treat homosexuals is well known (except Iran, where there are no homosexuals), notwithstanding the widespread prevalence of homosexuality in Arab and Afghan culture.
“In reality, the left already has a foreign policy and a strategy, and it’s called working in tandem with bin Laden to defeat Bush.†(from The Enemy at Home)
– now here I have to agree with you. I don’t think the left has a foreign policy or strategy at all. It’s just reactive toward Bush. Whence this sudden concern about the Armenian genocide?
Also, Dartmouth Review is a college newspaper, and one on a campus unremittingly hostile even to conservatism of WFB’s level of gentility. You’re asking a lot of an undergraduate to kjeep his pinky properly extended at all times in those circumstances.