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Atheist Admission
Kerby Anderson
Has Christianity made a positive impact on Western civilization? Most Christians would respond positively, with wholehearted agreement. In the past, atheists have usually pointed to how religion has been abused and misused and rarely acknowledge the contribution of Christianity to society.
Richard Dawkins is one of the most prominent New Atheists. Yet even he has begrudgingly admitted that a belief in God has made a difference. He expressed his fear that the removal of religion would be a bad idea for society because it would give people “license to do really bad things.”
He likens the idea of God to surveillance, or as he puts it, the “divine spy camera in the sky.” People generally tend to do the right thing when someone is watching them. They tend to do bad things when no one is watching. He does go on to add that the “Great Spy Camera theory” isn’t a good reason for him to believe in God.
John Rhys-Davies is an actor who has been in the Lord of the Rings films, the Indiana Jones films, and many others. Recently, he noted that we “seem to forget that Christian civilization has made the world a better place.” He reminded us that, “We owe Christianity the greatest debt of thanks that a generation can ever have.”
You might expect him to say such things since he is the lead actor in the film about Saint Patrick. I might mention that “I Am Patrick” will be shown in theaters later this week.
What you may not expect, is that he actually describes himself as a “rationalist and a skeptic.” He may not be a Christian, but he can see what so many of us have seen. Christianity has been a positive influence in society. Essentially, Western civilization rests on a Christian foundation. It is encouraging that even atheists and skeptics can see that.
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