Keep searching Ayaan!
by Rod Bower
Many jaws have dropped at the news of Ayaan Hirsi Ali declaring she has converted from atheism to Christianity. On reading her declaration I noted the following:
- there is no mention or suggestion that Ayaan has considered humanism — only atheism, which she correctly notes lacks in itself any offer of meaning or purpose in life
- Ayaan talks about “the West” facing collapse without “the Judeo-Christian tradition”, but appears to have a very USA-centric image of “the West”. She seems to see the choice as being only between Christianity and strong atheism.
Ayaan concludes “The lesson I learned from my years with the Muslim Brotherhood was the power of a unifying story, embedded in the foundational texts of Islam, to attract, engage and mobilise the Muslim masses. Unless we offer something as meaningful, I fear the erosion of our civilisation will continue. And fortunately, there is no need to look for some new-age concoction of medication and mindfulness. Christianity has it all.”
I fear that Ayaan has fallen for the polarisation and false dichotomy that is America today. I agree with her that we need a compelling story, and I wonder if what Ayaan and some of us atheists are missing is the vision of ‘human heartedness’ that Lyndon Storey describes. Or perhaps it is the story of a ‘global’ love — the “agape” that Christianity often likes to talk about but sometimes has trouble delivering.
These stories are human creations with a foundation in human wisdom and experience — they require no supernatural input. Humanism based on those stories may have the unifying meaning that I believe Ayaan has not yet found.
I hope she keeps searching.
