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Richard Dawkins Laments The Decline Of Christianity In England, Calls Himself "Culturally Christian"

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by Contra, Apr 4, 2024.

  1. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    Damn good Catholic, that one...
     
  2. rivergator

    rivergator Too Hot Mod Moderator VIP Member

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    when he was praising Christian culture (very specifically not Christianity) he did quickly draw back from including American Christian culture in his praise
     
  3. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Why would the Bible mention a religion that emerged 700 years later ? And what does it mean that OT doesn’t count anymore ?
     
  4. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    If faith were 'individualistic', there'd be no religions. You wouldn't be Jewish, and I wouldn't be Catholic... bc there'd be no such collective with which to align or identify.

    Our respective faiths have their differences. It is incumbent upon us, to reconcile those differences individually, without also compromising our beliefs.

    (or compromise our beliefs)
     
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  5. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    Good luck finding any Christians who will openly own any of those televangelists.

    They seem only to exist on television.
     
  6. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Aww, come on back to church. There’s always room for one more hypocrite!
     
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  7. VAg8r1

    VAg8r1 GC Hall of Fame

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    Somewhat ironic, Richard Dawkins is an atheist who is supportive of the virtuous values and ethics of Christianity while in effect rejecting the divinity of Jesus. In contrast a large percentage of American White Evangelical Christians are true believers in the divinity of Jesus while selectively ignoring the ethics and values of the religion and even the teachings of Jesus for example the commandments to "Love thy neighbor as thyself" or to "welcome the stranger" or to "feed the hungry" and even among those that do believe in those commandments there is a segment that literally worships a demagogue who has built his political career on rejecting them.
     
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  8. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    ...or where in the Bible it mentions "the Bible", or even scripture that would come into being...

    (They became 'scripture' (NT that is) through the Church. The Christian Church, did not come into being, bc of, or by, scripture. Fwiw).
     
  9. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Unless the Bible is a unified document wherein Judaism and Islam are artifices that emerged later.
     
  10. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    FOOD FIGHT!!!
     
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  11. 92gator

    92gator GC Hall of Fame

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    Btw, did any of yall catch the line where the reporter/interviewer said something to the effect of "...every second birth is a virgin birth" like it was some kind of saying or addage...and if so, can anyone shed any kind of light on whatever she was referring to???
     
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  12. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Check out a funny Facebook page entitled Blame it on Constantine. Spoiler alert: everything’s Constantine’s fault.
     
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  13. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Dawkins likes his Bible buffet style.
     
  14. Contra

    Contra GC Hall of Fame

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    It is a fair question. This question could be answered on multiple levels. My first question back to you would be superior in what way? We could talk about truth. One could be superior to the other because one is true and the other is false. The Quran acknowledges the Bible as God's Word. That is an important point that means Islam grants merit to the truth contained in the Christian scriptures and the Jewish scriptures. So, a Muslim cannot outright dismiss the Christian scriptures and the Jewish scriptures in the same way that a Christian or a Jew could dismiss the Islamic scriptures. In the gospels Jesus said, "Scripture cannot be broken." So, when the Bible contradicts the Quran the Christian has grounds to dismiss the Quran as not being scripture because the scripture cannot be broken. The Quran contradicts this because it claims some scripture contradicts other scripture within the pages of its own book and abrogates the earlier written scripture with what is written later. It is important to note this statement from Jesus that "scripture cannot be broken" is made in the gospels that the Quran calls scripture.

    The Jewish scriptures also say that a false prophet should be put to death. So, a man who falsely prophesies is put to death in the Old Testament rather than simply abrogating his earlier statements and excusing him for being wrong in the first instance and correct in the 2nd instance. So, the Quran contradicts the Jewish scriptures on this point as well, the very scriptures it considers to be scripture, which cannot be broken according to other scriptures the Quran considers scripture.

    The early church fathers called Isaiah the 5th gospel. So, they considered the book of Isaiah to contain the Christian gospel they were spreading throughout the world in the first couple of centuries after the death of Christ. Isaiah 53 clearly foretells the key event that is at the center of Christianity, the atonement of Christ. So, a Jew cannot outright dismiss the scriptures that Christians derive their beliefs from either. Both scriptures from both religions, Judaism and Islam, authenticate the scriptures that testify to the core truth claims of Christianity. That is why Christianity stands above Judaism and Islam. It is the true and right interpretation of the scriptures that both religions testify are scripture.
     
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  15. wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    What does 'culturally Christian' even mean? Just a roundabout way of saying "Western Chauvinist?" Most of the people in the Dawkins New Atheist orbit were basically just anti-Islam, that was their whole deal.
     
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  16. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    Probably Trump Derangement Syndrome.
     
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  17. BigCypressGator1981

    BigCypressGator1981 GC Hall of Fame

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    This just seems to me that Dawkins is acknowledging that Christianity is far from the worst major religion on the earth and that something else in its place could be less desirable.
     
  18. rivergator

    rivergator Too Hot Mod Moderator VIP Member

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    I don't know how you can claim that Christianity doesn't permeate our culture. Here in the U.S. and I imagine in England as well.
     
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  19. wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    I'm more interested in what Dawkins and people using that term mean. Like, I celebrate Christmas, and never go to church. Never once told people "I'm culturally Christian" if they ask me if I'm religious. I feel like a lot of the moms for liberty types dont attend much church but think of themselves as 'culturally Christian' when they are banning books (but also doing threesomes) and being anti-gay. Is that a kind of culture war stance?
     
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  20. duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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    I consider myself a Bible believer and based on Dawkin’s definition of “cultural Christian”, I venture that that defines most Americans who call themselves Christians.

    Interestingly, way back in the 70’s Billy Graham said “America is a pagan nation in which many Christians reside.”