Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Politics and Religion
New Atheist Richard Dawkins Debates Ayaan Hirsi Ali

New Atheist Richard Dawkins Debates Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Last updated on: June 13, 2024 at 6:00 am by Gene Veith

0 Comments

New Atheist Richard Dawkins Debates Ayaan Hirsi Ali 2024-06-10T15:35:04-04:00 Gene Veith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

We blogged about Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Somali immigrant to the Netherlands who became a scathing critic of her fellow Muslims who support jihadist terrorism. She then renounced Islam and was numbered among the New Atheists. Recently, though, she announced her conversion to Christianity.

The target of numerous fatwas calling for her death, Hirsi Ali has expanded her critiques to include woke progressivism and cancel culture. She has also become an American.

The online magazine Unherd sponsored a debate between her and her New Atheist mentor Richard Dawkins. In it, she tells more about her conversion, which–contrary to what some Christians worried about–is not just the embrace of a cultural religion necessary to preserve Western civilization, but a genuine faith in Jesus Christ.

In the debate, Dawkins, who now calls himself a “cultural Christian” while considering its beliefs to be nonsense, starts by saying this is surely what Hirsi Ali means by her “conversion.” He asks, “I mean, do you really take it seriously that Jesus is the Son of God? That Jesus rose from the dead? Jesus was born of a virgin?”

She replies to Dawkins, yes, she does. From the transcript of The God Debate:

I know you very well, we’ve been friends for a long time. In fact, in some ways, I think of you as a mentor. I would say you’re coming at this from a place of: there is nothing. What has happened to me is I have accepted there is something. If you accept that this is something and that there is a powerful entity. For me God turned me around. I think what the vicar is saying no longer sounds nonsensical, it makes a great deal of sense. Not only does it make a great deal of sense, it’s also layered with the wisdom of millennia. I did mock faith in general, probably Christianity in particular. But I don’t do that anymore. That is where humility comes into it. It doesn’t seem like that now in 2024, after I went through that experience. It doesn’t seem nonsensical to me and I don’t mock it. I think I’ve come down to my knees, to say, perhaps those people who have always had faith, have something that we who lost faith don’t have. . . .

I find that Christianity is actually obsessed with love. That is in the figure of the teaching of Christ. As I see it, and again, I’m a brand new Christian, but what I’m finding out is that this is the opposite of growing up as a Muslim and the message of Islam. The message of Christianity I get is that it’s a message of love. It’s a message of redemption. And it’s a story of renewal and rebirth. So, Jesus dying and rising again for me symbolises that story. In a small way I felt I had died and I was born. That story of redemption, and rebirth, I think makes Christianity actually a very, very powerful story for the human condition and human existence. . . .

Compared to say, growing up as a Muslim where I was taught that the only way for you to be faithful, is to have fear, naked fear, and to have these sets of obligations which you basically obey. . . .When I was an atheist, I was going all over both the United States and all over Europe, mocking Christians making fun of them, making fun of faith, as you’re doing now dear Richard. I was walking with six to seven men at any given time, protecting me, armed, from things that I said that were offensive to millions of Muslims. Christians were writing me letters saying, we’re going to pray for you, you’re misguided. And I think that alone defines for me the distinction between Christianity in general, mainstream Christianity at least and mainstream Islam.

I was impressed with the concessions she drew out of Dawkins:

I came here prepared to persuade you Ayaan that you’re not a Christian. But I think you are a Christian. And I think Christianity is nonsense. You have to appear to be a theist, you appear to believe in some kind of higher power. Now, I think that the hypothesis of theism is the most exciting scientific hypothesis you could possibly hold. And the idea that the universe was actually created by a supernatural intelligence is a dramatic, important idea. If it were true, it would completely change everything we know. We’d be living in a totally different, different universe. That’s a big thing. It’s bigger than personal comfort and nice stories and these things. The idea that the universe has lurking beneath it an intelligence or supernatural intelligence that invented the laws of physics, that invented mathematics is a stupendous idea, if it’s true. To me that simply dwarfs all talk of nobility and morality and comfort.

Dawkins is right. “If it were true, it would completely change everything.”

The newness in the New Atheists came primarily in their moral assaults on God and Christianity and their contention that religion has had a negative influence on the culture. In the words of the subtitle to Christopher Hitchen’s book God Is Not Great, “religion poisons everything.”

Now, though, New Atheists are admitting the moral value and the positive cultural influence of Christianity. I suspect this is largely because of the impact of historian Tom Holland’s book Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World. (See my post about it.) To the point that one New Atheist calls himself a “cultural Christian” and another calls herself an actual Christian.

I propose that we pray for Dawkins like the Christians who prayed for Hirsi Ali.

Read the transcript of the so-called “God Debate” or watch it all on this video:

Illustration via YouTube

conversions to Christianity

new atheists

Richard Dawkins

Previous Post

June 12, 2024

Degrowth Communism

Next Post

June 14, 2024 DISCUSS: Double Life

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"Turns out, she wasn’t the right tool for the job."

1another

Luther on Tools

"You may have just given me my next sermon opening line."

1another

Luther on Tools

"So Katie Zacharia lasted only a demiScaramucci as press secretary......"

reg

Luther on Tools

"Apropos to the post on Gen Z a couple days ago: "If you want the ..."

Steve Bauer

Luther on Tools

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category America Apologetics Art baseball Bible Blog Christ Church crime Culture Economics Education Ethics Family Food Football Government History Holidays Holy Week Humor International Islam Language Law Life Issues Literature Media Medicine Movies Music Nature News Personal Philosophy Politics psychology Reformation Religions Sacraments Science sex Social Science Sports technology television terrorism Theology Uncategorized Vocation war

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many chapters are in the book of Luke?

Select your answer to see how you score.

24 28 20 22

Books by This Author Books by Gene Veith

See All Titles »