Western Atheists: Picking the Wrong Fight
In England, the most likely candidate is Islam. Where you live, what will Secularism’s heirs be? Islamic? Jewish? Christian? Mormon? Some other religious view? Secularists can’t keep up with the birthing numbers, so naturally, someone else will take over.
When they reshape culture to reflect their values, will they esteem the same institutions you cherish, or will those be done away with? Will they be philosophically committed to freedoms of speech, press, assembly, worship among others? Will they favor more despotic systems? What about fair and open trials with reasonable punishments for crimes?
How will they treat women? Minorities? Competing religions? Here’s one that might grab your attention: how do they treat their elderly? Because some of you may find yourself on the receiving end of whatever that treatment is.
This takes us back to the difference between New Atheism’s fight, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s fight.
The New Atheists claim to be courageous defenders of truth and reason. But of the two main religions on their doorstep, they have chosen to attack the relatively scattered and benign Christian church that loves the freedoms we’ve come to take for granted. They are not directing their energies against the more (physically) militant, aggressive Islamic religion, with Sharia law, lashes, stonings, restrictions on the freedoms of women, and where they can be killed for the “crime” of having been raped.
Ali doesn’t address Christians as enemies. Though our spiritual values are in conflict, many of our philosophical and political values are very similar. She is sounding the alarm that Christians are suffering and being systematically chased out and/or killed in the Middle East. Without the Christians, Islam’s excesses will flourish unopposed.
Suppose the plan succeeds, and crushes the presence of faith in the West — what then? To quote another African Atheist, Matthew Parris, when he described what would happen if Christianity were to cease influencing Africa:
“Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.”
The point is, Islam wouldn’t need to attack us if they had sufficient numbers to overwhelm and absorb us. Western Secularists may want to carefully rethink who the real existential cultural threat is, and which stands are worth taking in the long run.