On Crutches

Some thoughts for Richard Dawkins

“So you need a religion of some kind, and Christianity seems the least bad alternative? Ayaan, I have always thought of you as one of the bravest people I know. How could you succumb to such weakness?”

Thus Richard Dawkins, charmingly adding his .02 to the discourse around Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s recent announcement that she now considers herself a Christian. His open letter is an exasperated ramble, addressing Ayaan as an old friend, wondering what in the world she’s thinking.

To begin with, he’s frustrated that she appears not to “tick the boxes” of authentic Christian belief, meanwhile playfully referring to Dawkins himself as “the most Christian man I know.” But “Ayaan,” he splutters, “you are no more a Christian than I am.” Presumably, he assumes, she doesn’t actually believe all that silly stuff about virgin birth, substitutionary atonement by an incarnate God-man, and resurrection of the same. No reasonable, intelligent person in Dawkins’ world does, after all, and Richard thought Ayaan was nothing if not a reasonable, intelligent person.