Yes, like that. Compare and contrast:
"It is fashionable to wax apocalyptic about the threat to humanity posed by the AIDS virus, "mad cow" disease, and many others, but I think a case can be made that a lack of faith is one of the world's great evils, comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate."
You stipulated a moderate or liberal Christian church. That's nothing you'd hear there. That IS however what you would hear in a fundamentalist church. So the comparison stands, only for what I said.
Feel free to go ahead and google whichever "moderate" denomination you like; I'm sure you'll see examples of sermons and articles about the importance of faith that are even more denigrating to the non-religious.
As they say, 'where's your evidence'? While a moderate church may speak of the importance of faith, that in no way means they see a lack of faith, i.e, "
atheists or atheism" as "comparable to the smallpox virus but harder to eradicate". That is the comparison. Dawkins says religion is that. And the only religionists I know that would speak of atheism like that are.... fundamentalists. They are the haters. Not the moderates.
Here's one example from a random United Church (pretty much the most moderate, milquetoast Christian denomination in Canada):
Cottam United Church - Nine O’Clock in the Morning
I just read through that whole sermon, and the only thing I saw in there about faith and kids was this, "As parents it is our job to do our best to ensure that those children are raised in the faith. In fact, I will go as far as to say that the single most important things we can do for our children is raise them to be Christians, to accept our faith for their own. It’s the only thing that we do for them that has eternal consequences."
Not so sure what's offensive about that? Don't all parents want to raise their children with the tools they have found works for them in their lives? I don't see an attack on outsiders here, like you do with Dawkins' anti-theism rhetoric.
Perhaps you saw something in there I missed? But FYI, that group sounds like an evangelical Pentecostal group. That is fundamentalist. I was in a Pentecostal group. They are fundamentalists. I know this. You need to find a liberal or progressive, or even moderate church. Evangelicals tend to not be that.
I certainly wouldn’t wish to prohibit parents influencing their children. However, for the rest of the world, for Catholic parents not to raise their children in the Church, seems to me to be a form of child abuse. The child is too young to know.
This one is almost word-for-word out of my (Catholic) marriage preparation class. Nobody even flinched; it was just accepted as a priest saying the sort of thing that priests say.
They actually said to not raise you child in the church is a form of child abuse? Wow. That's pretty harsh! Can you provide the exact quote for confirmation that was what was said? But if what they meant was it's irresponsible to not give your child good guidance through religious principles, well, isn't that kind of like saying, "It's a terrible disservice to your children to let them grow up like weeds and not give them proper structures, boundaries, and guidance. It's a form of neglect"?
I don't see that at all comparable to what Dawkins meant. Not in the least. He meant that to teach religion, is to poison their minds. That's just plain old ignorance and disdain of religion on his part.
... and it's echoed in that United Church sermon I quoted earlier.
I think the effect of all religious faith is positive... I think that faith gives you strength and allows you to do great things... As a scientist and as an educator, I'm in favour of the idea of faith -- the idea that you believe something simply because you believe it.
... echoes of "with faith, all things are possible."
See what I mean?
Well the key difference here, is one is speaking of positives, the other is tearing the other down. If you want an apples to apples comparison, the church you're citing from should say something negative against science and rationality, "I see the effects of science as negative... I think science destroys your life... I hate science, because it denies faith".
Now that is a comparison to make. However, it doesn't exist in your references. Can you find that in a moderate or liberal church (not right wing evangelical/fundamentalist churches).