From here:
I would describe myself as a secular Christian in the same sense as secular Jews have a feeling for nostalgia and ceremonies,” said Dawkins.
[….]
Dawkins grew up in the Anglican faith but became atheist in his teens. Last year, he said in an interview with The Spectator that he could be described as a “cultural Anglican”.
Someone claiming to be a secular Christian is about as sensible as someone claiming to be a boiled kipper.
The fact that Dawkins also sees himself as a “cultural Anglican” appears – to me, at least – rather less oxymoronic since the recent divorce between Christianity and Western Anglicanism; it’s common knowledge that many North American Anglican bishops believe themselves to be boiled kippers.
Is it possible to have Christian cultural roots, in your view?
When one calls themselves a “cultural Anglican” this is a meaningless statement but I suppose there are a lot of people who would call themselves Anglican and do not believe what is written in the bible ,some even became leaders in the church. Being a christian never enters the picture .
He is not the first. Philip Pullman wrote an article for the New Statesman explaining why he calls himself a “Church of England atheist.”
It is not uncommon to have some practical atheists in our churches.
He’s spent his life selling a mess of pottage. Maybe as he approaches the end of it he’s now more in the buying market than selling. And looking over what’s for sale, maybe it seems not so palatable. What better then than seasoning it with some stale garlic of cultural Anglicanism? I’m sure that will do the trick….