Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s conversion to Christianity described in his article “Why I’m a Christian Now” in UnHerd magazine is a sign of the times. For those who don’t know her, Ali is an intellectual of Somali origin (she was once a Dutch citizen, now she’s an American) who became famous for her fierce criticism of Islam at a time when everyone was (and she still is). ). are) full of fingers to point out problems in religion. When she published her first books, Ali was a staunch atheist. He was part of the socalled “New Atheism” around 2010 along with Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Christopher Hitchens and others.
Today the “New Atheism” is a museum exhibit. In fact, there was a certain naivety in him. First, belief in the power of reasoning to overcome belief in the supernatural. And secondly, the certainty that history had come to an end: liberal and secular democracy was the undisputed champion in the world; All that remained was to eradicate the atavisms of religion, whatever it was.
But the story isn’t over yet. Neither does faith. In the war of civilizations, Ali sees Christianity as a more effective weapon than philosophical rationalism. His testimony of conversion is above all a political document. There is a clear desire to defend the democratic and liberal world against obscurantism. The word “civilization” and its derivatives appear seven times; the name “Jesus”, zero.
Ali is more than personally convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and resurrected to forgive the sins of the world and sees Christianity as the source of a legacy: “This legacy consists of a set of sophisticated ideas and institutions aimed at “To protect life, freedom and humanity.” Dignity from the nation state and the rule of law to the institutions of science, health and education.”
These values are believed to be a direct result of Christianity, an idea recently defended by historian Tom Holland in the book Empire.
There is no doubt that Christianity was and is one of the elements that made up the liberal democratic world, which rightly needs to be defended from forces that want to destroy it. But the process was lengthy and complex. An important step in this was the rediscovery of ancient Greek philosophy especially Aristotle by European universities from the 12th century onwards. And what brought this rediscovery to the Western Christian world was precisely the intellectual work of the Islamic world.
Incidentally, the institutions and rights that are so important to us such as freedom of conscience and freedom of expression could only be achieved despite the efforts of the churches. The death penalty for apostates and homosexuals that horrifies us today in the Muslim world was once part of Christianity. According to some Brazilian pastors, they would easily back down. The Catholic Church is still fighting against the legalization of divorce today.
Young people dream of crusades and repeat the slogan “Deus Vult”. This cult of the European and white Christian past, alongside an incomplete vision of Christianity itself, has already given rise to horrors such as the Christchurch terrorist attack, in which a New Zealander murdered 51 Muslims.
“We cannot resist China, Russia and Iran if we cannot explain to our people why this resistance is important.” I agree. However, the question remains: what really matters? Defend democracy, individual freedoms and the primacy of reason in this world or defend orthodoxy and forgiveness of sins for happiness in the afterlife? One can certainly exist without the other.