Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins shocked the world a few months ago with a declaration that he is a “cultural Christian.” This provoked scoffing at his desire to enjoy the fruits of Christianity without believing the truths at its core. Others noted the irony of Dawkins’ lifelong project of sawing at the branches of Christianity while admitting it has significant public benefit. Still, some saw an apologetic benefit to Dawkins’ words and, perhaps, a sign that the atheist is making an ever-so-slight turn toward faith.
What is indisputable is that Dawkins’ candid admission is an affirmation of the prophetic words offered 40 years ago by Richard John Neuhaus in his classic work of political theology, The Naked Public Square. Neuhaus, a Lutheran convert to Catholicism, presciently recognized the peril of pushing Christianity to the margins of public life in favor of secularism. “In a democratic society,” he wrote, “state and society must draw from the same moral well. In addition, because transcendence abhors a vacuum, the state that styles itself as secular will almost certainly succumb to secularism.”
If only Neuhaus could see how his words became reality. The steady march of the sexual revolution, the loneliness brought about by an atomized individualism, the abandonment of public virtue, and the decline of the family have left even atheists like Dawkins recognizing the social benefits of Christianity.
Neuhaus didn’t see religion as a threat to democracy, as do so many of the social critics today who hyperventilate at the slightest mention of God in public life. Instead, he saw religion as essential for democracy: “The chief threat comes from a collapse of the idea of freedom and of the social arrangements necessary to sustaining liberal democracy. … Indispensable to this arrangement are the institutional actors, such as the institutions of religion, that make claims of ultimate or transcendent meaning.”
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Daniel is director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. His forthcoming book is Agents of Grace. He is also a bestselling author of several other books, including The Original Jesus, The Dignity Revolution, The Characters of Christmas, The Characters of Easter, and A Way With Words, and the host of a popular weekly podcast, The Way Home. Dan holds a bachelor’s degree in pastoral ministry from Dayspring Bible College, has studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Angela, have four children.
