The root of all evil?

If you want to know how I view atheism and the like, then here's a quote that pretty much rings my bells.

Religions desperately need criticism. As the Church has learnt – time and again – Christianity drifts furthest from its moorings when it suppresses questions and crushes criticism. It needs critical partners with which to dialogue, to keep it fresh and faithful to Christ. As the reformers recognised, a reformed church is a church always reforming.
Dawkins’ inability to be a constructive partner in critical dialogue reflects the increasing nervousness of many secularists. Religion never did die a natural death and appears to be growing again, sometimes in unpleasantly militant forms.
Dawkins’ tone may, to be fair, change next week when he talks to more sophisticated religious advocates. Nevertheless, if his critique continues to disappoint, it should not leave Christians feeling smug, still less allow them to slip into intellectual laziness or stop them from engaging with other, more nuanced critics.

The disappointment is the tired old arguments and the lack of engagement with those who are not straw men. Though to be fair, as the quote hints, it's not hard to find Christians taking pops at straw men either. Nothing quite as feelgoody as preaching to the choir. [Though in actual fact, given some of the choirs I've known, preaching to the choir is quite a trepidatious undertaking].
The root of all evil?: Filed in: atheism, Dawkins, Christian, Church, secularism, religion