Dawkins Sings Christmas Carols
by Suzanne Hadley Gosselin on 12/14/2007 at 2:18 PM
Dr. Al Mohler reports that Richard Dawkins, well-known atheist and author of The God Delusion will be singing Christmas carols this year. According to the BBC:
Prof Dawkins, who has frequently spoken out against creationism and religious fundamentalism, replied: "I'm not one of those who wants to stop Christian traditions.
"This is historically a Christian country. I'm a cultural Christian in the same way many of my friends call themselves cultural Jews or cultural Muslims.
"So, yes, I like singing carols along with everybody else. I'm not one of those who wants to purge our society of our Christian history.
"If there's any threat to these sorts of things, I think you will find it comes from rival religions and not from atheists."
This is shocking to me, considering Dawkins' assertion that belief in the God of the Bible is immoral. From The God Delusion:
The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all of fiction. Jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic-cleanser; a misogynistic homophobic racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal….
If this is what you believe, why would you want to partake in celebrating such a God? We don't sing songs about other evil beings simply because they are part of our history. Is Dawkins simply trying to "go with the flow" and boost the image of atheists everywhere? Or does he really enjoy singing songs about the God he hates? Mohler writes:
We can only wonder which Christmas carols are Richard Dawkins' favorites. The sight of an avowed atheist joining in the Christmas chorus is a bit hard to imagine. At the same time, there is something comforting about the idea that even the world's most famous atheist will move his lips to the songs that celebrate Christ's birth. Perhaps those words will move from his lips to his head and his heart. We should pray that it might be so.
Merry Christmas, Mr. Dawkins!
1. Sara said the following at 3:36 PM on Dec 14:
There isn't any contradiction: Singing 'Hey Diddle Diddle' entails "stating" that a cow jumps over the moon, but that doesn't mean I actually believe in flying cows: the point is that it's plain fun to sing. Even imaging that this nursery rhyme was originally a worship song among evil people whose god was a flying cow, that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy it purely for the melody.
Dawkins doesn't believe that God is vindictive and bloodthirsty: he doesn't believe there's a God at all: it's people's stories about God--the character 'God'--that he thinks are evil, so the pleasure Dawkins would get singing 'Silent Night' is nothing like, say, Dawkins merrily singing about the Holocaust: that, he believes actually happened, whereas God for him is as imaginary as the 'evil' bogeyman and goblins we might joke about at Halloween.
2. Jared said the following at 3:40 PM on Dec 14:
Given that he is an atheist, he does not have any moral authority other than himself with which to make decisions. We dont celebrate pagan festivals because we believe them to be anti-Christian according to a higher aurthority, Dawkins however, can do what he likes, because he claims he cannot be answerable to any higher being.
I have no problem with him singing carols, i guarantee he wont be the only atheist singing carols this christmas.
3. Anu said the following at 4:07 PM on Dec 14:
I don't really see what the big deal it--its called TOLERANCE.
4. Andrew R. (aka Canadian Boy) said the following at 5:21 PM on Dec 14:
Yeah, think of all the Christ-worshipping carols he'll be singing: Jingle Bells, Let it Snow, Frosty the Snowman, Baby It's Cold Outside...
5. Reid said the following at 5:50 PM on Dec 14:
Anu--TOLERANCE is Mr. Dawkins allowing everyone who believes in the coming of the Incarnate Christ to sing about it. Tolerance is also those same people allowing Mr. Dawkins to not sing about it.
Mr. Dawkins singing carols is surprising to me, too, but as he says, in his viewpoint it's a cultural not a religious thing. As Sara and Andrew R. commented, if he thought the songs were more than meaningless traditions, he wouldn't be singing them.
This is an interesting counterpoint to the doubts people have raised about the actual date of Jesus' birth, the pagan origin of some Christmas traditions (the tree), etc...
6. Stanhope said the following at 6:29 PM on Dec 14:
Well said, Sara.
One hardly needs to believe the entire Christian mythology in order to enjoy carols, eggnog, and tree decorating.
7. Kate said the following at 10:20 PM on Dec 14:
This is non-news. It seriously bothers me that of all the important issues facing Christians today, we're sitting around debating whether an academic at Oxford sings O' Holy Night. Isn't there a genocide going on in Dafur? Or a nationwide shortage of donations at food banks? Instead of discussing who should or shouldn't sing carols, why not do something to truly celebrates Christmas, like volunteering?
*steps off her cute designer soapbox*
8. Lydia said the following at 12:29 PM on Dec 15:
This is not non-news, but good news! It just goes to show Christ's enduring influence on the world, spiritual or cultural. The fact that people recognize his birth, whether or not they realize or believe it's significance, is enough proof that the good news of Jesus is out there for all who want to know about him. If Dawkins, who doesn't believe in the existence of God, doesn't mind singing a song proclaiming the birth of our savior, who are we to complain, much less call him a hypocrite?
9. Darin said the following at 7:19 PM on Dec 15:
Perhaps it's a publicity stunt? I don't know. Maybe he's trying to soften his image in order to make his philosophy seem more palatable to a larger audience. Or maybe he really doesn't take himself or anything that he teaches all that seriously. Maybe he simply likes to debate...to take up the losing side of an arguement and see if he can still win. I don't know what his motives are, but if he wants to sing Christmas songs then more power to him.
10. Naomi Enneking said the following at 5:23 AM on Dec 17:
Good point, Lydia. Another thing, it also goes to show that God WILL be given glory, just as He has ordained, even from the mouths of those who claim no allegiance with Him. Whether Mr. Dawkens realizes it or not (and I'm certain he doesn't), just the fact that he is opening his mouth in singing the Truth about Jesus' birth, means that he is giving glory to God. It may not be coming from his heart, but it is being proclaimed from his lips. God's main goal in all of His plan is that He would receive all the glory due to him, and he is issuing it forth from this man's lips. I think that's awesome!
Though I wonder, if Mr. Dawkens knew this to be true, would he continue singing the carols? Probably not, yet God is still receiving glory from this man who so blatantly rebels against him. Now, what glory God would receive in Dawkens actually proclaiming these Truths from his heart!
11. Chris said the following at 10:40 PM on Dec 17:
Naomi writes:
God's main goal in all of His plan is that He would receive all the glory due to him, and he is issuing it forth from this man's lips.
But is it really glory? Many people have cookouts and watch fireworks on the 4th of July. Are they really celebrating our nation's heritage? Many of these people don't even vote, a basic civil duty and right that results directly from the Revolution.
An empty proclamation is no proclamation at all. If Old Navy gives in and starts using the word "Christmas" in its advertising, is that glory?
12. Jason said the following at 5:09 AM on Dec 19:
I think a lot of the earlier replies miss the point of the blog.
Nursery rhymes are simply that - fairy tales that we sing to amuse little children. Christmas carols are songs, originally written and sung by devout Christ followers to worship him ... I think of the words of 'What Child Is This?' ...
"Nail, Spear, Shall pierce him through,
The Cross be bourne for me, for you,
Hail, hail, the word made flesh,
The babe, the Son of Mary."
Now think of what Dawkins thinks about religion - vile, filthy. He even states that the atonement is evil and masochistic - all of which are contained within the Christian Carols (granted there are festive songs that aren't Christian).
How can he therefore, claim to be a 'cultural Christian' and enjoy singing the very Carols that give glory to the 'God' (whether or not he believes or not) that he thinks is a cruel, vindictive God? Why would you put yourself in such a position? If I didn't believe the the world wars happened why would I bother to commemorate ANZAC day?
The fact is, he can't separate Christmas from Christ, from our heritage, our past and ultimately the birth of our saviour. He wants to be less extreme than he comes across as. He wants his cake and he wants to eat it.
Merry mas Mr Dawkins, you'll find it's not the same without the Christ ...
J
13. Maurog said the following at 6:35 AM on Sep 10:
Dawkins celebrates Christmas as the secular holiday it is.
If you think there are presents, carols, or jolly fat men riding sleighs of flying reindeer anywhere in the Bible, think again.