Is Richard Dawkins like Jesus?
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In a This much I know piece at guardian.co.uk the British philosopher A.C. Grayling writes: ‘I would imagine Jesus was a kind of Jewish reformer. If you were looking for an equivalent to the figure you dimly perceive through the gospels it would probably be a Richard Dawkins.’ I can go along with the argument that Jesus was a kind of Jewish reformer, provided that we understand the extent to which he self-consciously embodied that reformation in his own story. But can Dawkins really be cast as a reformer? I see him more as an exorcist, seeking to banish the demons of religious belief and superstition from the modern soul – which, of course, means that he is still like Jesus. Perhaps, then, Dawkins needs to be reminded of Jesus’ little story about the demon that is evicted from its house, returns later to find it swept and put in order, and so calls up seven anti-social mates and they trash the place (Luke 11:24-26). Jesus, I think, was talking about the demons that would possess the house of Israel in years to come, precipitating a catastrophic war. But Dawkins should take note of how in the 20th century the extremely nasty demons of secularism trashed European civilization following the progressive banishment of Christian faith in the 19th century. Does he not risk setting the same depressing narrative in motion again? I wonder what others think of Grayling’s analogy. Who would be the best modern equivalent to the Jesus that is dimly perceived in the gospels? |
Re: Is Richard Dawkins like Jesus?
Don’t forget the 19 centuries that preceded the 20th Century – notable for their chronic crusades, inquisitions, witch hunts, ‘heretic’ persecutions, wars, famines, abuse, stupefaction, guilt, slavery, capitalist indifference, and general religious pillory that was often the stock and trade of those mean years when the church ruled western civilization. Readers must not forget that it was the head of the Church of England and all his cousins on thrones across Christian Europe who brought us the “Great War” that started the 20th Century by killing millions of humans in an unmatched misery of trench warfare. Then there was the Concordia between the Vatican and the Third Reich that solidified Hitler’s feeble rule in 1933 (and whose German Bishops annually celebrated his birthday until 1945). No top Nazis were excummunicated save Goebbels, who ironically was not excummunicated for his demonic atrocities, but rather for marrying a Lutheran! Not to mention that Stalin was a seminarian who learned the value of absolute rule from the annals of religious instruction.
If you believe that the Victorian 19th Century witnessed the marginalization of Christianity, well you would be only partly correct. While most educated began to loose their faith with the advent of science that could put technology on the table and change lives, the church still maintained great influence during those years. It was the misery of the first 50 years of the 20th century that sealed the deal for Europeans. But in America, are you joking? Or don’t you read your own press, you know, the part about this being a Christian country? It’s partly true, we remain pilgrims, children really who never were visited by those demons of the 20th Century, not on our soil like the Germans, French, Russians, British, Belgians, Italians, Czechs, Dutch, Danish….you get the idea. These are the truly secular countries that have by and large left the flock.
While the communist atrocities and murders you appear to refer to were very real and horrible, it wasn’t rational humanists who were responsible for them. Rather it was craven nihilist sociopaths who, coupled with acts of immense stupidity, caused widespread famines that racked up millions of deaths, not to mention the gulags and killing fields. This is a breed of devil that won’t adhere to any code of morality, no matter if the source is man or God. History teaches us that these demons haunt all manner of human institutions cravenly seeking power and it doesn’t matter if the power resides in a palace, beer hall, or cathedral.
Double blessed are the meek peacemakers who seek after truth, wherever it leads.