Fruit without the Root - The Myth of Enlightenment Humanism

Fruit without the Root - The Myth of Enlightenment Humanism

What if everything that we have said in previous episodes is true? What if it is true that despite Christians being far from perfect, the teachings of Jesus and the New Testament have been the source of the most positively transformational contributions to human flourishing that have occurred in human history? 

What if it is true that religion, and Christianity in particular, is not uniquely prone to violence in ways that secular or non-religious ideologies are not? 

What if it is true that war and violence is a human problem, not a uniquely religious problem, and removing God only makes things worse not better?

Recently many unbelievers are recognizing the positive contributions of Christianity to the best features of western culture and speaking out publicly about it. Humanist historian Tom Holland, psychologist Jordan Peterson, secular journalist Douglas Murray, humanist historian Niall Ferguson, politician, former Muslim & former atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, even outspoken biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins are all affirming that the fruit of Christianity is good for human flourishing, but they can also see that the fruit is disappearing or being twisted into something almost unrecognizable. 

That is, they are acknowledging that they want the fruit of Christianity even if they are still not so sure they want the root (the supernatural grounding that produces and nourishes the fruit.) 

This view that the fruit of Christianity can be had without the root of Christianity, that is, the existence of God and the supernatural, is what I am calling The Myth of Enlightenment Humanism – The Fruit without the Root!

The last 300 years has been a mix of functioning as though the Christian values are true and even self evident, and at the same time pushing back against the moorings and foundation of these values. But this is inherently unstable – apart from the root the fruit will not remain!

Enlightenment style humanists and atheists should revisit not only this myth that the fruit will be just fine without the root of Christianity, but especially their aggressive campaign to completely eliminate it from public influence.