Why Popular Influencers Like Joe Rogan Are Becoming More Interested In Religion

One of the most interesting case studies in this new trend towards religious curiosity is the evolving beliefs of historian Tom Holland, who co-hosts the wildly popular The Rest is History Podcast. In an excellent essay for The Spectator, Justin Brierley writes about how Holland started attending church while researching Dominion, his bestselling book that outlined the way the 1st-century Christian revolution shaped the 21st-century West’s moral imagination.

Brierly writes, "Holland is a secular liberal westerner who had lost any vestige of faith by his teenage years, came to realise he was still essentially Christian in terms of his beliefs about human rights, equality and freedom."

Brierly also explains why this shift in perspective in someone like Holland is so notable.

"The New Atheists of the early 2000s – led by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett – predicted a utopia founded upon science and reason once we had abandoned religion," he explains. "But their bestselling books proved to be full of empty promises. All that our post-Christian society has delivered so far is confusion, a mental health crisis in the young, and the culture wars. It’s not surprising then that a movement of New Theists has sprung up."

The New Theist movement refers to a growing number of intellectuals in the fields of history, philosophy, and science who are effectively challenging the strongest arguments made by atheists. And the movement's effects have been gradual but increasingly obvious.

"Influencers such as Joe Rogan and Douglas Murray are increasingly talking about the value of Christian faith and the dangers of casting it off," writes Brierly. "The former new atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali has been praising the virtues of our Judaeo-Christian heritage, after becoming convinced that secular humanism cannot save the West. The women’s rights campaigner Louise Perry has been advocating for a return to traditional Christian morality since writing her book The Case Against The Sexual Revolution. The evolutionary biologist Bret Weinstein often describes religion as ‘metaphorically true.’ Secular psychologists such as Jonathan Haidt and John Vervaeke have written extensively about the value of faith in the midst of a ‘meaning crisis’ in the West."

However, Brierly makes another important point in his essay. "Christianity is not just a useful lifeboat for stranded intellectuals," he explains. "If it isn’t literally true, it isn’t valuable...If conservative-leaning intellectuals only ‘cosplay’ at Christianity (Tom Holland’s phrase) without really believing it, then this ‘New Theist’ movement will inevitably fade away. Co-opting Christianity in the cause of an anti-woke agenda or in order to fend off radical Islam turns it into a useful political tool, but drains it of any life-giving power. A Christian nationalism of the right will become as pallid and pointless as the Christianity of the progressive left that parrots the latest politically correct talking points."

He cites Jordan Peterson as an example of this kind of approach that sees Christianity as "useful" but not literally true. Interestingly, Peterson's own wife, Tammy, recently converted to Catholicism, as did former adamant atheist Russell Brand. Other unexpected converts include tech leader Jordan Hall, poet and climate activist Paul Kingsnorth, tattoo artist and former occultist Kat Von D, and former Muslim-turned-atheist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who said she embraced Christianity after "realizing she was spiritually bankrupt."

"They say God moves in mysterious ways," concludes Brierly. "As a believing Christian, I see signs that he is moving in the minds and hearts of secular intellectuals. Many of them are recognising that secular humanism has failed and, against all their expectations, seem to be on the verge of embracing faith instead."

Read his full essay here.

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