I would surmise that her supposed conversion is one of convenience . Ayaan Hirsi Ali seems to hold to the same sort of outlook as that of neoconservative founding father Leo Strauss .
Kinneging noted that Strauss preferred the ancient rationalists over believers in divine revelation. Strauss had no anti-religious feelings but was not himself a believer. Despite this, he saw religion as an ally of philosophy in the quest for truth. The pursuit of the truth, according to Strauss, is indirect and depends on the work of great thinkers finding meaning in great works. Strauss humbly considered himself “only a scholar” and not a philosopher (i.e., a great thinker). He was trying to understand great philosophers, largely serving as a commentator rather than giving an account of what he deemed the truth to be. However, as Kinneging pointed out, Strauss did pass judgment in his writing, which shows that he was trying to grasp the truth after all. Lastly, for Strauss, contemporary mass, democratic, egalitarian education meant that great philosophers were no longer possible to produce. Next, Zbigniew Janowski, a former professor at Towson University (Maryland, USA), proceeded with his talk entitled “Is Leo Strauss Still Worth Reading?” Despite claiming that “Straussians are a philosophical sect” and that he was not a Straussian, Janowski made a compelling case for reading Strauss today. Janowski emphasized the ‘noble lie’ of equality in modern democratic societies, a lie that cannot be criticized in the West today without grave repercussions. Democracy veers into anarchy because of a lack of authority, after which there is a dissolution of the social order and a slide into tyranny. Strauss was not convinced of the veracity of religious claims, but he saw that religion could be needed to guarantee social order. According to him, “Philosophers have a moral obligation to lie nobly.” Strauss was an atheist who mourned the demise of the natural law theories that had played such a crucial role in the wider religious ethics of the West, since he saw a genuine need for them in our own age, but essentially, he remained unconvinced by them. [url]://europeanconservative.com/articles/essay/philosophy-as-knowledge-of-the-whole-remembering-leo-strauss/[/url]
To the neoconservative opportunist , the Christian faith is no more than a useful myth , that serves the purpose of the so called
noble lie. To quote Napolean Bonaparte , “Religion is what keeps the poor from murdering the rich.” As for me , while some might expect that as an avowed Marxist I would be by extension an atheist , I am actually more aptly termed an agnostic , who validates the arguable merit of both
natural law , and
natural religion. I do not deem it necessary to favor one particular religious faith tradition over another. However many , if any , gods there are is of no consequence to me. But to Ali ,
cultural Christianity underpins western civilization , and therefore is integral to her in group identity. I feel that these two videos present a quality critique of the situation , a take that I believe can be appreciated by Christians as well as atheists alike.