Richard Dawkins admits he is a 'cultural Anglican'

The Telegraph ^ | 9/12/2013

[markomalley]

The evolutionary biologist was speaking before the launch of his new book which explains his passion for education and how he fears the profession has become dominated by a ‘box ticking mentality.’

Prof Dawkins admitted he would consider going into a church, and would miss ‘aesthetic elements’ such as church bells if they were gone. And he said he was “grateful” to Anglicanism which he claims has a “benign tolerance” - enabling people to enjoy its traditions without necessarily believing in them.

He told the Spectator: “I sort of suspect that many who profess Anglicanism probably don’t believe any of it at all in any case but vaguely enjoy, as I do… I suppose I’m a cultural Anglican and I see evensong in a country church through much the same eyes as I see a village cricket match on the village green.

“I have a certain love for it.”

[AlexW]

ping

[BroJoeK]

from the article: "Prof Dawkins, while cautioning against what he perceived as the dangers of faith, acknowledged there is also a danger that religious people can be put in the same group as those, such as suicide bombers, who take faith to an extreme.

"He said he was living in a post-Christian world in Oxford where he found it was rare to meet someone who was religious in academic life."

First of all, whatever "dangers" from Christian faith Dawkin's imagines today pale in comparison to actual dangers of non-faith or wrong-faith.

Second, suicide bombers don't "take faith to an extreme."
Instead, they wrongly pervert their "faith" to make it justify what they want to do anyway.

The second sentence above explains Dawkin's utter ignorance of such matters.

[ottbmare]

Sad. The Holy Spirit continues to work on Dawkins’s heart through the one chink in his armor, and he hardens himself against it.

[ReformationFan]

“I sort of suspect that many who profess Anglicanism probably don’t believe any of it at all in any case but vaguely enjoy, as I do…”

From what I’ve seen of much of Anglicanism and Episcopalianism over the last few decades it sounds like Dawkins would fit in with them quite easily(apologies to the orthodox Anglicans of the J.I. Packer/C.S. Lewis variety on these boards).

[dfwgator]

It’s the “elephant in the room” that atheists never seem to acknowledge....If you took away Judeo-Christian values, what would they replace it with? Would everyone be able to define their own moral code? What would the world truly be like if they got their way?

[GeronL]

A cultural Anglican is okay with “moderate pedophilia”??

I doubt that