Like Richard Dawkins, I am an atheist and a cultural Christian. Really, is there any other legitimate choice? I mean, you can be a Christian or a Jew, but if not, what are your choices? No matter what you may think of other religions, they are all objectively inferior to Christianity and Judaism. All of them. Certainly the modern religion of puritanical leftist ideology is detrimental to human understanding and progress, and individual mental health.
I say this as someone who stands back from the Christian church and looks at it and also looks at the alternatives. As an objective observer, it is impossible to believe that Islam offers a preferable life path. Let's murder all the gay people? And anyone who might leave the faith? Please. I mean, they reason like angry toddlers. And even if I, as a Muslim, would not do this myself (note, because of something beyond my own religious convictions), I support, directly or indirectly, those who do.
Let us be serious and stop pretending that there are redeeming qualities in the Islamic faith system. Say it with me: My apostate friends and family, and my gay friends and family, and any and all apostates, from any religion, and any and all homosexuals, should not be put to death. If you cannot say this publicly, your convictions are inferior. Period.
And I say this as someone who is, at best, ambivalent about gay demeanor and behavior, and honestly about gay people themselves. Ambivalent at best, and sometimes quite a bit less generous than that. However, I do not think that they should be killed. No genuinely moral person does. And no genuinely moral religion calls for such.
But here, I only use Islam because it is the largest alternative to Christianity. This logic applies to all non-Christian, non-Jewish religions. Asian religions may not murder apostates, but they tend to be morally ambiguous.
Certainly there are questionable elements in the Christian and Jewish faiths as well. But I submit to you, dear reader, that they are the best of the many alternatives. Certainly as Jews and Christians practice their respective faiths today. And whether you are a believer in the Divine, or not, Christianity and Judaism do allow each of us to pick and choose what to practice and believe without fear of, well, death.
So as a moral person, your choices are: Be a Christian, be a Jew, or be an atheist and a cultural Judeo-Christian. That's it. And yes, if you were born in India or China or Saudi-Arabia, this admonition still applies to you. I mean, what are the alternatives? Be an atheist and a cultural Muslim? What does that even mean? Again, okay, you, yourself, do not murder the apostates. Perhaps it is more plausible to be a cultural Hindu. But I submit if you are an atheist and a cultural Hindu and a moral person, you have been greatly influenced by Judeo-Christian ideas.
Anyway, all of this to merely explain that even as an atheist, I can appreciate a discussion of the role of the Church in our culture. And how I would rather live in a culture dominated by Christianity than any other religion. Most especially the religion of puritanical leftist ideology. Just look at the United Kingdom to see a society where the role of the Church is now, basically, nonexistent, replaced by leftist ideology and Islam.
I have said this before, and I will say it again, almost all people, including most atheists, need faith in something. And if it is not going to be Christianity, it is most likely going to be something significantly worse.