link:
http://www.christiannewstoday.com/christian_News_Report_116.htmlfull story:
By Wolfgang Polzer
MAINZ (ANS) -- Professor Richard Dawkins, one of the world’s best-known
atheists and evolutionists, has accused Christians of committing spiritual abuse, if they teach their children the existence of hell.
Dawkins, author of the bestseller “The God Delusion”, took part in a television debate on the German channel ZDF, November 15. His opponents were the leader of the main line Protestant Churches in Germany, Bishop Wolfgang Huber, and the Roman Catholic auxiliary Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke.
Dawkins said both Protestant and Catholic clergy in America threatened children with hell’s torment, if they do not believe. Dawkins also criticized modern theology for selecting more or less arbitrarily which bible passages were acceptable. He described the God of the Old Testament as a malicious and cruel figure.
Bishop Huber rejected these allegations and called them an expression of anti-Judaism. God’s history with Israel was one of liberation from slavery, he said. In this context the Ten Commandments were given to Israel.
The Christian faith manifests itself in love, said Huber, even the love of one’s enemy. Such a love could not be explained without God. The Bishop conceded that there are controversial views of hell. But it was also inappropriate to speak of a “cute God”. Everyone is accountable to God, Huber said.
He accused Dawkins of presenting a “very fundamentalist atheism”. The aggressive tone of his arguments could be a result of the fact that today’s intellectuals do not automatically embrace atheist positions any longer.
According to Jaschke hell has not played a prominent role in the churches during the last 50 years. Religious education concentrated on teaching trust and confidence. A child was assured of being accepted by a loving God.
Jaschke emphasized that the key to biblical understanding is Jesus Christ. “Never believe for one moment that all evil will cease, once you have got rid of religion,” Jaschke warned Dawkins.
This piece shows the rather lack of knowledge and understanding of God and spiritual welfare. How sad. It's like talking to a baby who has no concept of life and where he came from. Pray for these folks to receive the gift of faith and that God would remove the veil from their hearts and open their sight. Amen.
Peace