[Steve_Seattle]

Atheistic Christian

You hit on the weakness of Fallaci's argument, and this weakness is both intellectual and moral. It is weak because there is no such thing as an atheist Christian, and a society full of "atheist Christians" will not have the moral fortitude or intellectual clarity to stave off a threat posed by a militant enemy grounded in self-righteous certainties about its historical mission. This is why America and not Europe is in the forefront of the war on terror - in America, there is still a sizeable body of real Christians who realize what is at stake, whose thinking has not been rendered sloppy and self-destructive by a reflexive distrust or even hatred of our own culture.

[vanmorrison]

...Good Point!

[Travis McGee]

There are millions of "atheistic Christians" in Europe and the USA, who can't quite overcome their upbringing and fully believe in God, but who nonetheless understand and appreciate that Christianity allowed the development of enlightened Western civilization, and that without the underpinning of Christianity, the West is doomed.

[epigone73]

An atheistic christian is one whose culture is based in large measure on christianity, as is, indeed, a good chunk of their ethical and moral beliefs.

But, in the absence of belief in Jesus, these ethical commandments become recommendations, then habit, then custom, and finally superstition.

it's not her fault that some readers can't keep up.