Richard Dawkins Didn't Do It

On dying churches, doubting priests, and evangelical atheists

The future Bishop of Edinburgh was having a crisis. Easter Sunday was coming, and he hadn’t prepared a sermon.

It was not his first Easter sermon. Far from it. He knew the Easter sermon rhythm well. Year after year, he had climbed into little pulpits of little churches, ready to feed simple people hungry for the greatest story ever told.

He knew how to preach about the resurrection all right. But this year, he no longer knew how to mean it.

The priest’s name was Richard Holloway. If you’re wondering whether he rediscovered his faith in time to become Bishop of Edinburgh, he didn’t. He just got very good at hiding the lack of it—that is, until he decided not to hide anymore, and so eventually became the former Bishop.

Recently, Richard Dawkins pulled an old dialogue with Holloway out of the archives for his YouTube channel. The thumbnail calls the former bishop “Richard’s favorite Christian.” Dawkins fairly gushes in his new intro, fondly recalling their “meeting of minds.” Indeed, the two Richards got on splendidly. They hardly disagreed about anything. What differences they did have were chiefly differences of degree, not kind.

I’ve been thinking about that exchange, and what it signified, while watching the discourse over Dawkins’ latest Viral Moment. In a brief interview clip, Dawkins expresses dismay over the flashing of a Ramadan message in London’s King’s Cross Station. Like a public cry of “Allahu akbar,” it struck a jarring note for the peacefully retired Anglican atheist. As he’s said many times before, he reiterates that he feels “culturally Christian,” for all his strident atheist evangelism. Yes, of course he’s happy that England is more or less post-Christian, of course he’s happy the cathedrals are emptying out, but the cathedrals are still lovely to look at, aren’t they? Much nicer than mosques anyway.

I laughed at Rod Dreher’s take: Area man announces he’s happy all the farms and gardens are dying, but also, he very much likes food.

Not that Dawkins is developing any sudden warm feelings towards Christians like me, of course—that is, Christians who confidently believe basic Christian things about Jesus, miracles, or human rights for embryos or babies with Down’s syndrome. All those Christians must go, and good riddance. Meanwhile, thank goodness nobody in his circle is showing any signs of becoming one—or wait, are they? Better make sure.

And herein, of course, lies poor Richard’s conundrum. But in the end, I can’t be too mad at Richard and his friends. I’m much more annoyed with the other Richard, and his friends.