Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history

Ahnimus wrote:

I'm 25, atheist, living alone at an entry-level job and I'm quite happy. My life isn't all together, I'm malnourished, can't quit smoking and have some kind of sleep disorder, but all in all I'm pretty happy. The reason for this is just being happy. It's not all bad, I'm alive right?

I find things I can enjoy, like posting here, listening to music, learning and researching. There are many many things I would like to do that aren't quite in reach, but that won't get me down. I guess if I"m still alive when I"m 65, I'll be even happier to be alive.

look at it this way: you could be in a fox hole in Iraq.

Not going to read through everyone's replies. Just read the article and thought I'd pop in my two cents. The author's ludicrously interchangeable usage of "secular" and "atheist" just illustrates he doesn't have the first clue what either word actually means. I'm not even going to begin with his laughably skewed "understanding" of history.

Nonsense, beginning to end.

And just for the record, I'm an atheist who thinks Richard Dawkins is a moron.

Jeremy1012 wrote:

that was possibly the stupidest thing I've ever read. Joseph Stalin was a single example of a psychotic person taking control of a vast nation, the same applies for Hitler. How can you pin that on atheism?

You can't. You can't pin it on religion or faith either. Both are equally ridiculous.

surferdude wrote:

Why is i when a religious person does something bad it's because of their beliefs, but when a non-religious person does something bad we don't blame their lack of belief?

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It all depends upon the deed... and the intent.
A guy straps on a bomb and steps onto a crowded city bus, cries out 'God is Great' and dentonates in in order to kill as many Jews as possible in a Jihad against his religion and his homeland.
A woman believes that her child is going to live a horrible life on this Earth and wants him to be with Jesus... so she smothers him in his sleep with a pillow.
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Yes... in both cases, the individual is to blame and should be held for their actions. Are they nuts? Are they crazy because of their beliefs?
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A kid comes into a classroom and shoots up the place because he was picked on by the jocks.
Would having religion in his life changed a thing?
Who knows... maybe... maybe not.

Ahnimus wrote:

Perhaps sympathy, understanding and tolerance would have change something in all those lives.

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That is correct. And Religion is not a pre-requisite for sympathy, understanding and tolerance. I know several people who are kind and charitable and caring for people, animals and the environment who do not belong to any religion and some who do not believe in God.
I'm not anti-religion for others... I just haven't found a religion I can believe in. If someone chooses Islam or Christianity or Scientology... and it makes them happy... good for them. It's not my call to decide who should believe what.
I do not believe one religion has cornered the market on God's love... and that God accepts us for who we are and what we do... not what we believe.

cornnifer wrote:

Fact is i don't know what Hitler held in his heart regarding God and whatnot (again his WORDS mean absolutely nothing). My point, is you simply cannot blame Christianity for the holocaust. You just can't. Regardless of what hitler believed. This is what you are ignorantly trying to do and you are full of fucking shit. Period.

watch that language, corny.

that's a violation here.



say you are sorry!

Cosmo wrote:

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Boy... here's an extreme case of denial of truth.
The truth that Hitler used the Christian religion to fuel Christian German Soldiers to put bullets in the ears of Jews in Buchenwald cannot be denied... no matter how much you want it to be. The Soldiers who wore belt buckles proclaiming 'Gott Mit Uns' (God With Us) and were not godless baby eating rapists. Yet, these soldiers carried out the orders and commited the horrible deeds.
You know... and your fellow Christians know... that HAD Hitler been an admitted Atheist, you and your religious fellowship would hold all Atheists responsible for the Holocaust. You would see Atheism synonymous with Nazism, right?
I have never stated that Christianity was responsible for the Holocaust... that is probably due to the years of religious guilt the church reigns down on you. I am saying that Christianity's hands are not clean, regarding the Holocaust and the responsible thing to do... in my book... is to accept it as one of the flaws of major organized religions... all organized religions... and learn from it so it never happens again. The flaw that normally good hearted Christians can be swayed by their belief into doing horrible things to others. To pretend it wasn't true means you haven't learned a damn thing... you stand there with clean hands, pretending it was some other belief system to blame... ready to repeat the same thing all over again.
No one wants Hitler on their side of the fence... I understand that. But, he clearly stands on the side of Christianity (if you consider Catholics as Christians), no matter how much you wish him to be on the Atheist side... deal with it, learn from it, do not repeat it.

Pure bullshit. Every bit.
NOTHING in Christian teaching or scripture encourages the type of behavior Hitler demonstrated. Christianity cannot be blamed. That type of logic is abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. Try to absorb this. i know its difficult for you. What Hitler said or what the Nazis had on their fucking belt-buckles means nothing.
But hey, if thats the way it has to be around here, i now declare Pol fucking Pot to be a shining example of Atheism and Atheistic behavior. Pol Pot is the worlds leading Atheist represrntative. Pack that in your bowl and smoke it.

Wake up. Your hatred has you completely blinded. Just like Hitler. i also declare that you are barely more enlightened than him.

surferdude wrote:

Blaming Hitler's action on his religion is as ridiculous as blaming it on his being German. His action were not promptedby either.

Correct. Which means blaming atheism for all the genocides is just as futile and ridiculous. I'm guessing that's the point here.

Peace
Dan

cornnifer wrote:

Pure bullshit. Every bit.
NOTHING in Christian teaching or scripture encourages the type of behavior Hitler demonstrated. Christianity cannot be blamed. That type of logic is abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. Try to absorb this. i know its difficult for you. What Hitler said or what the Nazis had on their fucking belt-buckles means nothing.
But hey, if thats the way it has to be around here, i now declare Pol fucking Pot to be a shining example of Atheism and Atheistic behavior. Pol Pot is the worlds leading Atheist represrntative. Pack that in your bowl and smoke it.

Wake up. Your hatred has you completely blinded. Just like Hitler. i also declare that you are barely more enlightened than him.

Wow, Cosmo writes two of the most enlightened, pursuasive fact based responses to this article in the thread, and all you've done is spit vitriol while calling him a hater. Religion is a symbol, people commit atrocities for their belt buckles just as easily as for their flag. Hitler used religion, and he used a lot of old German folklore to justify his Aerian race. People ate it up, symbols have a way of severing that nerve cord to the brain that makes us question our actions in the present. But thanks for making absolutely no valid points, being obscenely rude in response to tactful, well thought-out discussion, and in fact I think making everyone who read this thread a little dumber.

cornnifer wrote:

Pure bullshit. Every bit.
NOTHING in Christian teaching or scripture encourages the type of behavior Hitler demonstrated. Christianity cannot be blamed. That type of logic is abso-fucking-lutely ridiculous. Try to absorb this. i know its difficult for you. What Hitler said or what the Nazis had on their fucking belt-buckles means nothing.
But hey, if thats the way it has to be around here, i now declare Pol fucking Pot to be a shining example of Atheism and Atheistic behavior. Pol Pot is the worlds leading Atheist represrntative. Pack that in your bowl and smoke it.

Wake up. Your hatred has you completely blinded. Just like Hitler. i also declare that you are barely more enlightened than him.

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This is a perfect example of religious ferver short circuiting reason and cognitive thought. Your childish, unsubstantiated tantrum is the SAME type of things we hear from these Muslims that try to convince us that the rants of Isalmic religious leaders, preaching death and destruction have nothing to do with the religion of Islam. They need to accept the fact that the religion of Islam is being used by influential men to advocate death and violence... JUST LIKE HITLER used Christianity in his quest to rid Europe of the 'Jewish Scourge'. True or false interpretations of the religion or not... the religion is being used to convince followers of that religion to act in ways that is contrary to what the religion actually teaches. That is the dark side of blind faith (religion)... the ability of some to convince the masses of what their destiny is.
Your attacks on me do nothing to me, because I don't give a fuck what you think of me... you simply shine a light on your own narrow little mind. You can go on and continue to pretend that the factual truths of the past do not exist, simply because you are too small of a man to accept them. But, wish as you may... your faith will never change those truths or make them go away.
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Add... Regarding Pol Pot:
"People were executed for not working hard enough, complaining about living conditions, collecting or stealing food for their own use, wearing jewelry, having sexual relations, grieving over the loss of relatives or friends, or expressing religious sentiments. Even something as simple as wearing eye glasses could result in execution because the Khmer Rouge associated it with Western intellectualism. Sick people were often killed. The killings often occurred without even the pretense of a show trial, and they continued, uninterrupted, until Vietnam invaded in 1979."
"Article 20 of the 1976 Constitution of Democratic Kampuchea guaranteed religious freedom, but it also declared that "all reactionary religions that are detrimental to Democratic Kampuchea and the Kampuchean People are strictly forbidden." About 85 percent of the population follows the Theravada school of Buddhism. The country's 40,000 to 60,000 Buddhist monks, regarded by the regime as social parasites, were defrocked and forced into labor brigades. Many monks were executed; temples and pagodas were destroyed or turned into storehouses or jails. Images of the Buddha were defaced and dumped into rivers and lakes. People who were discovered praying or expressing religious sentiments were often killed. The Christian and Muslim communities also were even more persecuted, as they were labelled as part of a pro-Western cosmopolitan sphere, hindering Cambodian culture and society. The Roman Catholic cathedral of Phnom Penh was completely razed. The Khmer Rouge forced Muslims to eat pork, which they regard as an abomination. Many of those who refused were killed. Christian clergy and Muslim imams were executed.

The Khmer Rouge's treatment of minorities seems to have varied from group to group. The Vietnamese endured the greatest suffering. Tens of thousands were raped, mutilated, and murdered in regime-organized massacres. Most of the survivors fled to Vietnam. The Cham, a Muslim minority who are the descendants of migrants from the old state of Champa, were forced to adopt the Khmer language and customs. Their communities, which traditionally had existed apart from Khmer villages, were broken up. Forty thousand Cham were killed in two districts of Kampong Cham Province alone. Thai minorities living near the Thai border also were persecuted."
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Ref. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Kampuchea