Richard Dawkins on Pres. Obama

Dr. Richard Dawkins, a well-known atheist from the UK and author of The God Delusion, recently appeared on the HBO-TV program Real Time with Bill Maher to promote his new autobiography. Now, Dawkins has spoken out of against Christianity and biblical creation over and over again, making outrageous statements with no support—and this recent interview was no exception.

In his first inflammatory statement on the Maher program, Dawkins twists the Word of God. Maher points out that Dawkins was religious as a child. But Dawkins speaks to his childhood religious interest and his embrace of atheism as an adult by making a mockery of Scripture, saying, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child. But when I became a man I put away childish things.” Unsurprisingly, Dawkins distorts the Word of God to spread his belief (his religion) that there is no God, that a belief in God is somehow childish.

Dawkins then ridicules young-earth creationists outright. Of course, his claim is incredibly flawed. He states, “Let me tell you the analogy I use for this. If you believe that the world is only 6,000 years old, as some of these people do, given that the true age of the earth is 4.6 billion years, it’s equivalent to believing that the width of North America is eight yards. That’s the equivalent. That’s the scale of the error.” Dawkins can’t disprove biblical creation, so instead he resorts to mocking creationists as people who make great scientific errors.

But what Dawkins doesn’t seem to realize is that there is a difference between observational (operational) science—which is testable and repeatable—and historical science—which can’t be proven. For instance, humans can use measuring tools in the present to measure the width of North America—they can then do it again and again—repeating the measurement in the present. That’s observational science.

But the same humans cannot go and measure the age of the earth in the same sort of way. One has to use a process that changes with time and assume many things about the past (and such assumptions could be very wrong) to try to attempt to age date the rock—that’s historical science.

Biblical creation falls into the category of historical science, and so does Dawkins’s belief in evolution! Neither can be proven. They’re both systems of interpreting the evidence in front of us. But the evidence confirms a biblical framework, not an evolutionary one. (For more on this, see our Answers magazine article, The 10 Best Evidences the Earth Is Young.)

But then Dr. Dawkins made a statement that was surprising. In the course of the interview, he claims that President Obama is an atheist: “Like many people, I’m sure Obama is an atheist . . . ” Now, President Obama professes to be a Christian. But he holds to numerous positions that are directly contrary to biblical teachings. For instance, he’s for abortion and same-sex “marriage,” and he has praised the Koran and shown a disdain the Bible. During a speech in 2006, President Obama took a number of Bible verses out of context:

Should we go with Leviticus, which suggests slavery is ok and that eating shellfish is abomination? How about Deuteronomy, which suggests stoning your child if he strays from the faith? Or should we just stick to the Sermon on the Mount - a passage that is so radical that it's doubtful that our own Defense Department would survive its application? So before we get carried away, let's read our bibles. Folks haven't been reading their bibles. (See also Obama Praises the Koran & Disrespects the Bible on YouTube.)

Now, only God knows the heart, but what would compel Dawkins to make such a statement about President Obama? Dawkins’s claim actually raises a good point. Scripture tells us how we can recognize fellow Christians: “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). If such an avid atheist believes a professing Christian is actually an atheist in disguise, perhaps President Obama needs to examine the fruits of his self-proclaimed faith. I urge you to pray for President Obama and his family.

Richard Dawkins is no friend to Christianity. Christ tells us that if we are not for Him, we’re against Him (Matthew 12:30; Luke 11:23). We at Answers in Genesis and the Creation Museum continue to pray that Dawkins will repent and believe the gospel of Christ, before it’s too late.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken