Oops, there goes Western civilization.

I find myself in a peculiar position as someone who regularly debates Muslims online and finds myself addressing the materials of Western skeptics as presented by Muslims. Interestingly, I also use the materials of Western skeptics, to dig beneath the surface, to try to figure out the common ground, often what such skeptics are saying and not saying, to then rebut the assumptions of Muslim apologists, who are quite happy to take the assertions of Western skeptics at face value, in my experience.

It is with this in mind, that I have an issue with Western skeptics, as you might imagine. I'm not Bart Ehrman, I don't have his credentials, I don't have his career or reputation. I'm just trying to read these materials and trying to be fair, trying to understand, or make sense of much of what I think is rhetoric that attacks orthodox Christianity. This is what I see, that I rarely hear addressed, an acknowledgement that there is a post-9/11 market for books like the Da Vinci code, which has nothing to do with the Jesus of history, and everything to do with a culture that seeks to attack traditional Christianity. Why? Because there is a political divide, especially in the U.S., where to attack orthodox Christianity, is seen as giving weight or support to what might be called center or left of center views. There is also an incredible anger out there, and people want someone to blame, and religion is seen as an appropriate target.

Secularists tend to lump religions together, not bothering to see their differences. I would suggest that this is a myth of our own time, that all religions are the same. People who say such things often mean well, but they're not living under Sharia law, they're not living at the bottom of the caste system, often they're Western-minded cultural Christians who celebrate Christmas and Easter, but who have watered down the origins of Christianity, and generalized about the alternatives, picking and choosing what they like, while viewing alternative worldviews through a Western, culturally Judeo-Christian lens. Reincarnation for example, becomes a me-thing, interestingly. Such Western cultural Christians seem to assume that all worldviews will maintain a high view of the individual, but they don't seem to ask why, or based on what worldview?

May I suggest, we are coming to the end of the shelf life of such views, in a globalizing world. We can no longer assume, looking at the mythical elephant -in the room, that the trunk is the same as the ears or the tail, etc. We need to begin to look at religions, seriously, based on the evidence, while asking, which worldview is the most coherent? Which worldview has produced the best outcomes? I would suggest that over time, Christianity has proven itself to be that worldview, which has produced the most desirable societies to live in. Secular societies that have been cut off from a Christian influence, have not produced such desirable places to live. They've produced societies that many people desire to escape from; communism or Middle Eastern dictatorships come to mind.

And so,  bringing this back to my opening comment, Western skeptics need to begin to take a broader view, of our past, of our future, of our needs, going forward. Feeding a near-sighted political division, even if it helps in the next election: what will be the result decades from now, if we succeed in fully discrediting the most trustworthy source from ancient history? Are we going to then hold great classical thinkers or historians to the same standards? What would be the result if we did? Oops, there goes Western civilization.

My friends, we are sawing off the branch we are sitting on, in attacking the Bible to the degree that we are. I'm not saying, don't ask questions. Just the opposite, I'm saying, ask questions, but ask questions broadly; ask questions of Eastern worldviews too. Where is the historical evidence for Eastern deities? On what do we ground Eastern philosophies? What is the historical evidence for Islam? What is the textual evidence for Plato or Socrates or Tacitus? That's fair criticism. Better yet, why should we believe secularism? Why should we believe that the material world -is all that exists? I long for the day, to hear those questions asked openly. The reason being, is that I know enough from many a debate with people who are also reading Western skeptics, who argue with me for child marriage, polygamy, and amputation for property crimes. We have a lot to lose.

Thanks for listening,

Margaret Harvey