Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins has shown us a great deal about the fruit of atheism this week. Without a belief in a sovereign God (and consequently believing that life is a gift from Him and that all humans are made in His image and therefore worthy of dignity and respect) you are left with Dawkins' worldview- kill Down's Syndrome babies in utero.
As a matter of fact, it is immoral to let them live. His words, not mine.
It is perfectly natural for someone with this worldview to arrive at this conclusion. After all, life has no point. We are simply a great cosmological accident- lightning struck a bunch of nonliving matter and life evolved from nothing. Human beings are simply some of the lucky ones to make it off the top of the pond, so to speak, and there is no difference between us and the slime mold that covers damp basement walls.
Why not kill a baby? We kill flies and ants and cockroaches. We have no more purpose than they do. That is, if you subscribe to atheism and the atheistic worldview.
Are all atheists this way? No. Some have a higher view of human life than that, but it isn't because of atheism. Atheism naturally leads to this conclusion, and Dawkins is simply stating what his beliefs have led him to- human beings are not inherently worthy of dignity and respect. The only ones who should be allowed to be born are those with normal, healthy, fully-developed bodies.
The life of a person with Down's Syndrome isn't worth anything. They will simply suffer, cause caregivers to put their lives on hold, and be an inconvenience to everyone. So, they should be aborted and save everyone the trouble.
Hence, the fruit of atheism.
Things are radically different when you hold a theistic worldview. I know this for a fact. My wife and I were faced with exactly what Richard Dawkins was talking about when we found out that our third child, Jacob Benjamin Kibler, had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning he was going to be born with a three-chamber heart. It was a condition that was 100% fatal without surgery, and even after three rounds of surgery, his prognosis wouldn't be good. He would be doing well to have an IQ of 100, wouldn't be able to play sports, probably would be slower than other children his age, etc. Our OB/GYN told us that many parents upon receiving this news choose to abort.
Now, if we held Dawkin's worldview, we would have said, "Well, here is a defective child. It will be immoral to bring him into the world. Let's just kill him now." Makes perfect sense, huh?
No, it doesn't. This isn't some blob of cells or nameless parasite growing inside my wife's womb. This is my son. He has a name. He has a family. He has a father who is proud of him. He has sisters who care about him. He has a mother who cries tears over him. This is a human being made in God's image whom God has fashioned together and whom God loves more than anything in the world.
That's who it is. Now, it would be immoral NOT to bring him into the world.
Mr Dawkins, I understand where you are coming from. I don't want to see people suffer, and to a healthy, normal human being, it would seem like people with special needs are suffering. However, have you ever spent time among people with special needs?
Have you ever known the love of someone who has Down's Syndrome? They are some of the sweetest, kindest, most humble people I've ever met. Do you know the love their families have for them? Do you know the bright ray of sunshine they bring to the lives of people?
Sometimes I wonder if special needs kids aren't the ones that are okay, and it is WE who have the problem. After all, I've never seen a Down's Syndrome kid call for the death of healthy people. I've never seen a Down's Syndrome kid commit mass murder- that is reserved for us "normal, healthy" people. I've never seen the mass numbers of Down's Syndrome rapists, or thieves, perjurers, or anything else. No, Mr Dawkins, that is the sole domain of people with "normal" sets of chromosomes. And we have the gall to say that THEY don't deserve to live?
Could it be that there is a purpose for special needs kids that you, in your limited human ability, can't see? Some eternal purpose that we could only see when we reach eternity?
But of course, you can't see that with your atheistic worldview. Therefore, you just want them dead. Even worse, you seem to think it GOOD to kill these babies before they are born. It is the moral thing to do, right?
My son only lived ten days. This year will be the tenth anniversary of his short life (9/5/04- 9/15/04). His short life was spent in a hospital, stuck with wires and tubes and test after test. He never saw the sky, trees, grass, or anything else. However, he was loved. He was held. He was prayed for. He knew the closeness of family, the love of his mother and father, and he brought a perspective on life to our family that we never would have had otherwise. He impacted more people in his ten days than most people do in their entire lifespan.
I believe Down's Syndrome children do the same thing, and therefore Mr Dawkins, you are wrong. Dead wrong. It is NOT immoral to bring a Down's Syndrome child, or any other child with special needs, into this world. I pray that one day you will be loved by a special needs child and you will see how truly wonderful they are.
As a matter of fact, it is immoral to let them live. His words, not mine.
It is perfectly natural for someone with this worldview to arrive at this conclusion. After all, life has no point. We are simply a great cosmological accident- lightning struck a bunch of nonliving matter and life evolved from nothing. Human beings are simply some of the lucky ones to make it off the top of the pond, so to speak, and there is no difference between us and the slime mold that covers damp basement walls.
Why not kill a baby? We kill flies and ants and cockroaches. We have no more purpose than they do. That is, if you subscribe to atheism and the atheistic worldview.
Are all atheists this way? No. Some have a higher view of human life than that, but it isn't because of atheism. Atheism naturally leads to this conclusion, and Dawkins is simply stating what his beliefs have led him to- human beings are not inherently worthy of dignity and respect. The only ones who should be allowed to be born are those with normal, healthy, fully-developed bodies.
The life of a person with Down's Syndrome isn't worth anything. They will simply suffer, cause caregivers to put their lives on hold, and be an inconvenience to everyone. So, they should be aborted and save everyone the trouble.
Hence, the fruit of atheism.
Things are radically different when you hold a theistic worldview. I know this for a fact. My wife and I were faced with exactly what Richard Dawkins was talking about when we found out that our third child, Jacob Benjamin Kibler, had hypoplastic left heart syndrome, meaning he was going to be born with a three-chamber heart. It was a condition that was 100% fatal without surgery, and even after three rounds of surgery, his prognosis wouldn't be good. He would be doing well to have an IQ of 100, wouldn't be able to play sports, probably would be slower than other children his age, etc. Our OB/GYN told us that many parents upon receiving this news choose to abort.
Now, if we held Dawkin's worldview, we would have said, "Well, here is a defective child. It will be immoral to bring him into the world. Let's just kill him now." Makes perfect sense, huh?
No, it doesn't. This isn't some blob of cells or nameless parasite growing inside my wife's womb. This is my son. He has a name. He has a family. He has a father who is proud of him. He has sisters who care about him. He has a mother who cries tears over him. This is a human being made in God's image whom God has fashioned together and whom God loves more than anything in the world.
That's who it is. Now, it would be immoral NOT to bring him into the world.
Mr Dawkins, I understand where you are coming from. I don't want to see people suffer, and to a healthy, normal human being, it would seem like people with special needs are suffering. However, have you ever spent time among people with special needs?
Have you ever known the love of someone who has Down's Syndrome? They are some of the sweetest, kindest, most humble people I've ever met. Do you know the love their families have for them? Do you know the bright ray of sunshine they bring to the lives of people?
Sometimes I wonder if special needs kids aren't the ones that are okay, and it is WE who have the problem. After all, I've never seen a Down's Syndrome kid call for the death of healthy people. I've never seen a Down's Syndrome kid commit mass murder- that is reserved for us "normal, healthy" people. I've never seen the mass numbers of Down's Syndrome rapists, or thieves, perjurers, or anything else. No, Mr Dawkins, that is the sole domain of people with "normal" sets of chromosomes. And we have the gall to say that THEY don't deserve to live?
Could it be that there is a purpose for special needs kids that you, in your limited human ability, can't see? Some eternal purpose that we could only see when we reach eternity?
But of course, you can't see that with your atheistic worldview. Therefore, you just want them dead. Even worse, you seem to think it GOOD to kill these babies before they are born. It is the moral thing to do, right?
My son only lived ten days. This year will be the tenth anniversary of his short life (9/5/04- 9/15/04). His short life was spent in a hospital, stuck with wires and tubes and test after test. He never saw the sky, trees, grass, or anything else. However, he was loved. He was held. He was prayed for. He knew the closeness of family, the love of his mother and father, and he brought a perspective on life to our family that we never would have had otherwise. He impacted more people in his ten days than most people do in their entire lifespan.
I believe Down's Syndrome children do the same thing, and therefore Mr Dawkins, you are wrong. Dead wrong. It is NOT immoral to bring a Down's Syndrome child, or any other child with special needs, into this world. I pray that one day you will be loved by a special needs child and you will see how truly wonderful they are.
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