Instead of a reaction to scripting languages, or maybe in addition to, I think the current trends of shepherding languages are reacting to the flexibility of C and, even more so C++. C++ in particular is such a mind-boggling huge language. It presents so many choices that designing anything new involves searching a massive solution space. A task better left to experts.
Newbies (speaking from experience) need a framework to lean on. Something that provides a starting point for solving problems. Opinionated languages provide that out of the box.
I think the "C++ is huge" complaints are a bit overblown. C++ is huge, but most of its new features are designed with backwards compatibility in mind - if the size of the language bothers you, then you can write the limited subset of whatever C++ you know, or even just straight-up C, while making use of new features (auto, foreach, smart pointers) as you see fit. It's an all-you-can eat standard library buffet.
Newbies (speaking from experience) need a framework to lean on. Something that provides a starting point for solving problems. Opinionated languages provide that out of the box.