simplegiftsgalleries

Mom of 2e son who is mechanically inclined. Painting by Carroll Jones lll, close-up of Vermont Afternoon (2014). Both Dyslexically gifted. (1)

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

The alphabet kids...AuDHD: What you need to know about the overlap of autism and ADHD via @psypost https://t.co/FaO8C7TP8I

[Ayaan Hirsi Ali @Ayaan]

@RichardDawkins Richard,
I think that our discussion on stage is a splendid example of the uniqueness of our Western Christian culture and society.
For where else in the world can you have a similar encounter? We really must strive to preserve it.

[Richard Dawkins @RichardDawkins]

.@Ayaan is a hero, a staunch fighter against the violent intolerance and bossy control freakery of Islamism. She is also a personal friend of whom I am very fond. When she recently announced her conversion to Christianity, I assumed that she must be no more than a political Christian, regarding Christianity as a bulwark against Islam. I have some sympathy with the view that if you must have a religion at all, Christianity is hugely better than the leading alternative. In Hilaire Belloc’s words, “Always keep a-hold of Nurse for fear of finding something worse.”

I agreed to have a public conversation with her in New York, in which I was all prepared to emphasize the distinction between a political Christian and a true believing Christian, who actually thinks Jesus was born of a virgin and rose from the dead. I think the distinction is a really important one. I don’t think a political Christian is a real Christian, any more than the kind of cultural Christian I am myself.

When we met on the stage at the Dissident Dialogues meeting in New York, I was wrongfooted when Ayaan began with a personal statement which seemed to suggest that she really is a believing Christian, not just a political Christian. Well, her form of words was “I choose to believe.” I’m not sure what to make of that. Anyways, see what you think; here is the recording of our New York meeting.

https://t.co/gbnc7QYt3s

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@iamAtheistGirl As much as they understand science. Fact.

[County Highway @countyhwy]

Regardless of how you identify yourself politically, you owe it to yourself and your family to read this speech and grapple with what this man is saying. Right or wrong, it’s how serious people who care about others used to think and talk.

https://t.co/4QCzQI4hhq

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@eryxun @MichaelBakkense @countyhwy @BenjaminPritcha I was there and went thru it with my son in 1996. It was 1 in 250 then, so probably 1 in 150.

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@wcgrimley @RichardDawkins A friend brought it to my attention it is John 6:66 where "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

Probably a coincidence 😉

[Ian Miles Cheong @ianmiles]

Richard Dawkins, renowned atheist, now embraces being a cultural Christian and he says the West must be preserved.

[The Gospel Coalition @TGC]

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 (𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐞)

A growing number of public intellectuals have recently taken to making statements to the effect that Christianity, although in their mind untrue, is nevertheless good for society. Perhaps the most startling was world-famous atheist and one of the so-called Four Horsemen of the New Atheism, Richard Dawkins. In an interview for the U.K. radio station 𝐿𝐵𝐶, Dawkins described himself as “a cultural Christian” and expressed how grateful he is to live in a Christian country, with the values that come with that.

Similarly, Douglas Murray, a well-known journalist and author, has also acknowledged Christianity’s crucial role in shaping Western civilization, especially foundational values such as human rights and freedom of expression. Murray has even gone so far as to call himself a “Christian atheist”—in that he deeply appreciates Christianity's values but doesn’t believe it’s true. When asked what it’d take for him to believe, Murray replied, “I’d need to hear a voice.”

Another surprising traveler on this road is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. She grew up in Africa and became a deeply committed Muslim in her teens, but after the 9/11 attacks forced her to ask tough questions about Islam, she became an atheist. Her book 𝐼𝑛𝑓𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑙 gained her a huge public profile (as well as death threats), and she regularly hung out with people like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. But then in November 2023, she stunned the world by announcing she’d become a Christian—a change made in part because she feared that all she loves about the West has its roots in Christianity. Hirsi Ali was influenced by the historian Tom Holland, who has also gained a name for himself in recent years by publicly advocating for Christianity while doubting it’s true.

I can appreciate why "Christian atheism" may be attractive to people. The New Atheism, which promised to lead the way to the sunny uplands of secularism where there’d be roses and kittens, has failed, its arguments exposed as hollow and many of its advocates mired in controversy. Meanwhile, the Western world has faced a barrage of challenges: from COVID-19 to financial crashes, from environmental chaos to political stagnation and tribalism. All this has led to a crisis of meaning, with many people struggling to answer the basic questions: What is life for? Where is hope to be found?

For Christians, these are both exciting and challenging times. Exciting because after years of Christianity being ridiculed as “the root of all evil” and believers described as deluded, the New Atheism has given way to a cultural moment where Christianity is being spoken of warmly again. Yet at the same time, there’s a challenge: Christianity isn't merely 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑎𝑑𝑣𝑖𝑐𝑒; it’s 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑠. How can we help our friends see that the social goods of Christianity flow from its truth claims?

𝗣𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗢𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅

One way forward is to point out the paradox. For example, suppose I have a good friend who’s a committed member of the Flat Earth Society. One day, my friend cheerfully announces she’s terrifically excited because she has just won a round-the-world cruise and departs next week on an ocean liner for two months.

“But you’re a flat-earther; how is this possible?” I ask.

“Are you suggesting only globe advocates like you, Andy, have the right to cruise around the world? How arrogant!” she protests.

“You can believe whatever you like,” I reply. “But it’s only the reality of the world being a globe that will allow you to enjoy your forthcoming trip.”

There’s something not dissimilar going on with Dawkins, Murray, and others. They are, of course, free to believe in whatever values they like; the problem is those values don’t make sense when disconnected from the Christian faith that underpins them. For instance, the idea of human rights, value, and dignity, when you trace its roots, is thoroughly biblical, deriving from the foundational teaching in Genesis 1: "God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (vv. 26–27).

Incidentally, the desire of today’s “Christian atheists” to enjoy the fruit of this idea even while rejecting the root isn't entirely new; the tension was pointed out over a century ago by no less an atheist than Friedrich Nietzsche when he wrote,

𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨���𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵... 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮, 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦: 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘯𝘦’𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝗡𝗼 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝘁𝗵, 𝗡𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀

As Christians, we’d agree with Nietzsche at this point. The societal goods that Dawkins, Murray, Holland, and Hirsi Ali have seen in Christianity aren’t accidents; they flow from Christianity’s core teachings about who God is and who we are. If there’s a God who made us in his image—and if God did demonstrate his love for us through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross (Rom. 5:8)—then talk of human rights, dignity, value, and freedom makes sense. On the other hand, if we’re just molecules in motion, then Christianity is at best a fairy tale, at worst a delusion.

In her article announcing her conversion, Hirsi Ali recognized she needed to go beyond merely seeing Christianity as good for society:

𝘖𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥, 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘦���𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘐𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳.

In her recent dialogue with Richard Dawkins, she went even further, connecting the dots between her appreciation of Christianity’s benefits and her belief in Jesus's story and teachings.

𝗔𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆

How do we our help our friends who've similarly begun to appreciate Christianity's legacy—be it in terms of human rights, or culture, or truth, or art and literature—to go further?

I’m a big believer in the power of "wondering" questions, the approach Paul takes in Acts 17. Come alongside your friends, discuss the values they appreciate, and commend them for what they’ve seen, but then be bold and ask whether they’ve wondered about the source of the things they care so much about. And then ask whether they’ve thought at all about why these values would make sense if the story they’re based on isn’t true. Would you want to live in a house in an earthquake zone if you knew the foundations were nonexistent?

Finally, don’t forget the power of prayer. It’s easy, on the one hand, to criticize the likes of Dawkins or Murray for trying to have their cake and eat it too, or even for having their cake while denying the existence of the baker. But we're light-years on from the old New Atheism, which would have dismissed this very conversation as ludicrous. Let’s pray these thinkers—and our friends like them—take the next steps. Encourage them on that journey: perhaps give them a copy of a book like 𝑀𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑡𝑦 or 𝐻𝑎𝑣𝑒 ���𝑜𝑢 𝐸𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑?

And let’s be encouraged that Christian history, both recent and ancient, is full of the stories of people like C. S. Lewis, who began with an appreciation for the benefits of Christianity before finally coming to encounter the Jesus at the heart of Christianity.

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𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗡𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗯𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁𝘀 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 (𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗧𝗿𝘂𝗲) by Andy Bannister. Everything article you find on our social media channels comes from our website - get the best reading experience anytime at https://t.co/G7j8DpP9vG

[Marilyn Muller @1in5advocacy]

https://t.co/CQHaej9Fmo

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@hankgreen Ours had the guts to be the first to allow people to go back to work.People have to eat, covid or not. Had medicos in his family... reasonable there. I wish Kemp would have run for Prez. Good man, to me. Sensible.

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@SecCardona For better or worse...

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@JeanDled1215 @BrianMendler My son's BEST teacher asked for him. God love you, it was the year we could breathe. She built him up and taught me how to parent.

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

What difference does it make whether dem or rep?

[Invisible People ➤ Imagine Everyone With a Home @invisiblepeople]

As the Democratic National Convention approaches, Chicago is rapidly dismantling a major homeless encampment. Are these measures a genuine attempt to provide long-term solutions or just a temporary fix to clear the streets for the convention? https://t.co/emMBRmeWlN

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

Believe this will happen next week 🙄...right after all the machines break down and man continues to survive and thrive with his wits, without delusion. Give it to the rich, they deserve it.

Scientist Says Humans Will Reach the Singularity Within 21 Years https://t.co/cUhMUU8poW

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

ID science is less boring , to me, than stinky old men who consider themselves clever.

[Discovery Institute's Center for Science & Culture @DiscoveryCSC]

Though Rogan has had on a number of notable scientists over the years, including Richard Dawkins, Sir Roger Penrose, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Brian Greene, & Michio Kaku, he had yet to welcome a proponent of intelligent design. Until now.

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

@JohnHansel14 Happy birthday 🎉🎂❤️

[Pilgrim😎 @villagerssn]

https://t.co/pZ26ebaCpQ

[simplegiftsgalleries @simplegiftsgal]

Researchers may have found the cause of autism https://t.co/zg1B4GIViY "More research is needed..." Heard the same BS for 30 years. Determine why autistic/epileptic children have > chance of AEFI and you'll have your answer.