Letter to a Post Christian Nation Part 1 – The Big Questions

Dear Fellow Australian Citizen,

If I can address you as such! I am writing in the context of Australia, but this applies just as much (with a few nuances) to the citizens of every Western liberal democracy. Can I ask what kind of country do you think we live in? What do you want for our country? And what kind of country would you like to live in? These are big questions.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to examine them whilst interacting with Sam Harris’s “Letter to a Christian Nation”. This small book was published in 2006 and was consider by some to be a gamechanger. Richard Dawkins for example stated “I dare you to read this book… it will not leave you unchanged. Read it if it is the last thing you do”.

So, I took Richard’s advice. I read it almost 17 years ago. I wasn’t impressed then…and am even less impressed now. Richard and Sam believed that if we could just get rid of religion (and for them that especially meant Christianity as the predominant religion in Western countries) then we would be led into the sunlit uplands of a secular Nirvana – where all would be peace and light, and where, in the imagination of John Lennon, there would be ‘nothing to kill or die for’.

Harris challenged his readership who he thought were US Christians (in reality it was written for the New Fundamentalist Atheists, who needed to hear some reassurance that they were the ones ‘on the right side of history) with this observation “that WHILE YOU believe that bringing an end to religion is an impossible goal, it is important to realize that much of the developed world has nearly accomplished it. Norway, Iceland, Australia, Canada, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom are among the least religious societies on earth.”

17 years on, it is true that in all of these countries’ religion has declined even further. Therefore by Harris’s metric we should all be happier, more enlightened, just, united and stable societies. I doubt there is anyone delusional enough to think that has happened! Of course, it could be the case that Harris and others would double down and suggest that it is precisely because we have not gone far enough, and eradicated all religion, that we have failed to reach his Promised Land. But that is to use the same reasoning that Hitler used about another religious group, the Jews. If only Germany got rid of the Jews, then they would get the poison out of society. Likewise, when Harris and Dawkins argued that religion (and especially Christianity) was a virus that poisoned everything – then of course what you need to do is get rid of the virus!


Here in Australia, we have seen the continued rise of the ‘nones’ (no religion). In the 2021 national census 44% of Australians stated they were Christian (down from 64% in 2006) and 39% said that they were no religion (up from 19% in 2006). Has this resulted in a happier, less divided, more enlightened and just society?

Another way to frame this question is to ask three sub questions. Where do we come from? Where are we now? And where are we going? In future letters I want to answer these in more detail – but before I go let me just unpack them a little.

In terms of where we come from – it is always to good check on our history. Our values, culture and customs did not just appear yesterday. Like our genes we have inherited a great deal. Some of which we might be proud of – and others we might consider harmful. But when people speak of Australian values (or New Zealand, US, UK, Canadian etc) what do we mean by that? There is a tendency in an a-historical society (i.e. one where history is either forgotten or not cared about) to think that we just make up our own values – according to the whims of the elites who govern us. If we are going to reject our past, then hadn’t we better make sure we have some idea of what we are going to replace it with? You might not like the house you live in, but would you move to another one without inspecting it first?

And where are we now? Are you happy with the way Australia is going? As I read my newspaper today, I read of racism, division, corruption, abuse, inflation, despair and violence. Whilst there were a handful of good news stories the reality is that the major issues tend to be ignored when we become sidetracked by increasingly superficial and shallow trivialities. Surely, we want to progress from this?

And where are we going? What is the trajectory? Are you filled with hope for the future? Or do you think that the planet only has a few years left, that there is no point in having children for a dystopian future, so let’s eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die?

There is a book in the bible called Ecclesiastes. The writer said that he examined everything ‘under the sun’ – wine, women, song, education, work, pleasure, life, death, philosophy etc and found that it was all ‘vanity’ or ‘meaningless. I would suggest that his analysis was correct – if we just look at things ‘under the sun’ – ie. limit our view to a narrow materialistic, time bound human bubble. But there is another way to look at things – in the light of eternity and the God who is Love. Before you dismiss that out of kind, I would suggest it is worth examining. Indeed, as Dawkins challenged people to read Harris’s book (which is now SO dated) I would challenge you to read God’s book – which will continue eternally. As Jesus said ‘heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear (Matthew 24:35). If that’s true – then maybe you should have a read….

See you in a couple of weeks’ time,

Your fellow citizen (almost!)

David