Richard Dawkins and His 'Oh God' Moment

“The statistics purport to show that most people who identify themselves as Christian turn out, when questioned on what they actually think, to be ‘overwhelmingly secular in their attitudes on issues ranging from gay rights to religion in public life’. Dawkins’s conclusion is that these self-identified Christians are ‘not really Christian at all’.”

Yep, I know plenty of people that profess to be “Christian” simply because that was the historical religion of their family. However, they have never even stepped foot in a church for anything other than a wedding and a funeral, let alone read the bible or understand the first thing about Christianity. That is why it is easy for liberals to convince these folks that Jesus was swinging communist, who supported abortion, gay rights and wealth redistribution and then tell them as a “Christian” they should too.

The poll is probably suspect and it is the UK, but it would explain why I feel a lot like Lot these days.

Six in ten respondents (61%) agree that homosexuals should have the same legal rights in all aspects of their lives as heterosexuals, and those who disapprove of sexual relations between two adults of the same sex (29%) are greatly outnumbered by those who do not (46%).

Less than a quarter (23%) believe that sex between a man and a woman is only acceptable within marriage.

There is strong support for an adult woman's right to have an abortion within the legal time limit, with more than three in five (62%) in favour and only one in five (20%) against.

Three in five (59%) Christians support the legalisation of assisted suicide in the case of terminally ill adult patients where certain safeguards are in place, with only one in five (21%) opposing it.

The majority (60%) have not read any part of the Bible, independently and from choice, for at least a year.

Just a third (32%) believe Jesus was physically resurrected,

Around one in six (16%) selected the statement 'I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour'

Only a quarter (26%) say they completely believe in the power of prayer

Overall, the findings suggest that the number of UK adults self-identifying as Christian has fallen significantly since the 2001 Census. This research found that at the time of the 2011 Census, just over half (54%) the public thought of themselves as Christian, compared with almost three-quarters (72%) in the 2001 Census

“Just a third (32%) believe Jesus was physically resurrected, with one in five (18%) not believing in the resurrection even in a spiritual sense; half (49%) do not think of Jesus as the Son of God, with one in twenty-five (4%) doubting he existed at all.”

The problem with this article and the original radio interview is the false equivalency attempted at being built here. For a Christian to be Christian, the words and sentences in the Old and New Testament are critical. For an Atheist to be Atheist, Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species' is barely even required. Therefore, it is not the same thing for a Christian to deny (or be ignorant of) the Bible as for an Atheist to not know the full title of one of the works of Darwin.

The embarrassment is plainly on the author and the radio interviewer for even attempting to make a contrasting case out of this false comparison.

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