Atheists like Dawkins are themselves dishonest. They have formed a substitute “church” mainly occupied with attacking Christianity. The most a scientist can say about any god through his scientific research is, “I don’t know.” However they approach values, ethics and morals, they are in the dominion of philosophy and theology. They often are proud to say that humans are nothing special and have no more intrinsic value than dung beetles. All their actions belie that statement.
Of course humans are vastly different than other creatures in that they are the only creature that can understand where in the universe we are, what the universe is and hold beliefs in what is good or evil. Therefore, it’s not a stretch to say that human life is special and valuable. As this author says, are we to abort a human without understanding each person’s potential (Steven Hawkins example).
Let me mention briefly the notorious atheism of science ... Science has to suffer this reproach again and again, but unjustly so. No personal god can form part of a world model that has only become accessible by removing everything personal from it. We know, when God is experienced, this is an event as real as an immediate sense perception or our own personality. Like them he must be missing from the space-time picture.
Anyway, it's a very interesting essay, and I recommend it.