As strange as it may seem, I follow some prominent atheists on Twitter. I do it because I believe that the “New Atheist” movement is presently, and will continue be too influential to ignore. I have written earlier that the aggressiveness of this “New Atheism” creates a potential head-on collision for Christians, and all thinking people who might become Christians.
Richard Dawkins Video on Religious Labeling of Children.
The video I have linked is worth watching for several reasons. First, it is strangely entertaining and familiar. Maybe because it looks like a Mr. Rogers show. I don’t know if that was intentional or not. Second, it shows something very important about the methodology of converting people to atheism, and make no mistake, “New Atheism” is seeking to convert people. This video of Richard Dawkins, (36,820 followers on Twitter) who is one of the most prominent faces of “New Atheism”, shows that they understand that shaping worldviews ideally begins at an early age. The Bible states this often in passages like Deuteronomy 6:1-6 and Psalms 78:1-8. Third, notice that while he does not want anyone applying a religious label to a child, he somehow manages to keep from saying that it is additionally wrong to label a child an atheist. Surely atheist parents teach their children the tenets of atheism, and I am convinced Mr. Dawkins would be very much for that. It seems to me that there is minimally a thoughtless or inadvertent double standard, and more than likely an intentional one. Finally, his whole premise seems to be that parents can somehow be devoted to a worldview and not transmit that worldview to their children. This seems completely irrational to me. Whether for good or bad, we do pass on what we really value to our children.
Richard Dawkins is a very intelligent and idealistic man and I have no doubt that he is trying to accomplish much more than protecting children from labels. He and other atheists want to convert “religious” children to atheistic children. Christians would do well to be aware of this.
I pray that God would inspire us to be more intentional with our children in getting them the whole gospel and protecting them from unbiblical worldviews. I also pray that Professor Dawkins would repent toward God and believe in Jesus, because I can’t begin to imagine the wrath stored up for a man who would obstruct children from coming to Jesus.
