Your hairdo and wardrobe have nothing to do with this. Atheism brings nothing positive to society. It can't give us guidance on important issues and does not lead to peace. If you want to see what atheism looks like as its worked out in politics just look at Russia when Stalin was in power. Its horrible.
31 comments
Nah, what you're critiquing is totalitarianism, not Atheism. Totalitarianism was horrific in Russia under Stalin, Rome under the Christians, Europe under the Christians, and China under Mao.
If you want to look at what Christianity looks like when it's in power in politics, just look at the middle-ages. Fucking inquisitions all over the place, and not even the fun kind .
It's easy to blame a system of belief for one's perceived or real flaws. To actually try to change one's flaws... now that's something else entirely. That would require helpfulness, love, and affection. Hell, that'd be something Jesus would do, like giving away your money to the poor.
Yeah, been reading Jay's crapola over there for a while now.
"He" is one of those extra special "what evidence do you have that no god exists" types that ignores all attempts to get him to understand the burden of proof and agnostic atheism.
Proof there is no god? Osteosarcoma. Ebola. Leprosy.
So, either:
* god invented these diseases as punishment on mankind, in which case he is a total shithead and he should ignore him as we work to cure them; or
* he had nothing to do with them and we can ignore him because he has no impact on humans; or
* he does not exist and we can ignore him.
It can't give us guidance on important issues and does not lead to peace.
Apparently, neither can religion.
Atheism brings nothing positive to society. It can't give us guidance on important issues and does not lead to peace.
That's actually true, but not for the reason you think it is. Atheism is simply an opinion on the existence of God. Atheism doesn't in and of itself bring anything positive or negative to society and has no stance on war or peace. It simply is. You might as well say that heliocentrism doesn't lead to peace.
If you want to see what atheism looks like as its worked out in politics just look at Russia when Stalin was in power. Its horrible.
So the communism had nothing to do with it? The paranoia and sadism of Stalin had nothing to do with it? Power had nothing to do with it? This is just as stupid as blaming theism for Hitler and Osama Bin Laden.
And if we want to see Christianity in politics we have the witch hunts, Salem, MA, Inquisition, Dark Ages.
"Atheism brings nothing positive to society."
We could debate that, but for the sake of argument, fine. So what? There's no requirement for ideas to bring something positive.
Again, just because something doesn't give you a warm fuzzy feeling doesn't mean it's not true.
Stalin did not do what he did in the name of atheism. Stalin did what he did in the name of Stalin. State atheism was just one of the tools he used, but it was not the only tool, much less the end goal.
Indeed, because having christianity rule a society has always lead to positive outcomes that uplift a people and never lead to oppression, child abuse, rape, torture or mass deaths.
Oh, wait...
Why only look at the Soviet Union, with it's extreme political ideology? Why not look at the Scandinavian countries, which, despite having official churches, are immensely secular and have some of the highest HDIs in the world? In fact, in Europe, most of the problems come from Muslims, not atheists. And Muslims, Jay, do believe in a deity, regardless of what your favorite apologist tells you.
And Jay is suggesting that a war god can lead to peace? He obviously hasn't read the Torah, the writings of Paul, or the Book of Revelation.
Atheism brings nothing positive to society.
It doesn't need to. All you need is the Golden Rule. In fact, six of the 10 Commandments could be replaced by it.
Stalin? LOL! He was not an atheist! Joseph Stalin and the Orthodox Christian Church of Russia
"It is usual thing for religious people and societies, to name Josef Stalin as an “atheist”, like they did this many times with Adolf Hitler. Of course, there is no doubt, that majority of Soviet leaders, including Vladimir Lenin, Nikita Khrushchev or Mikhail Gorbachev, were atheists and few of them even militant. However, the bloodiest communist regime dictator Josef Stalin (1878 1953) was not an ATHEIST, but RELIGIOUS COMMUNIST. There was period in his life (during and after humiliating and cruel regime in Tbilisi Priests Seminary and revolution time, when Stalin fought against monarchical dictatorship, supported by church), when he hold grudge against priests and religion, struggled and leaned more towards atheism. But eventually he returned to his religious roots and chose to resurrect and protect religion in USSR. Stalin used blind faith-based religious principles to strengthen his own dictatorship. Stalin born in 1878. He received more power and started his mass murder journey through corpses in 1922 and died in 1953."
Russia when Stalin was in power was a Stalin-worshiping nation; very far from atheism.
Hairdo and wardrobe definitely have nothing to do with this; I agree with that. I dress similar to my Muslim, Christian and Buddhist friends, and our hairdos are fairly similar too.
@Nemo
It is difficult, however, to underestimate the problems caused in Europe by far-right-wing Christians. In fact, they did egregious things in former Yugoslavia in the '90s and are responsible for political nightmares throughout Europe, most notably in Hungary, Greece, and Russia.
Sorry*, Jay, you get an F in History, and you need to retake Introduction to Basic Logic. How does it feel being such an embarrassment to carbon-based life?
*Not.
How about this: We won't blame every modern Christian for the Crusades and Inquisitions, and you won't blame modern atheists for Hitler and Stalin. While we're at it, let's not blame modern Jews for killing Jesus, and let's not blame all modern Muslims for terrorists, and all modern Buddhists for Myanmar. Deal?
@NoncompliAut,
Not the best analogy, I'm afraid. Hitler wasn't an atheist. You could debate him being a Christian (he seemed to have some bizarre blend of Christian and neopagan beliefs), but he certainly professed a belief in a higher power at every chance. And the legions who carried out his orders were Christian without a doubt. As for Muslim terrorists, terrorism is a modern issue, unlike the Crusades and Stalin.
@Nemo
I know he wasn't an atheist, but we keep getting blamed for him anyway. Also, I know terrorism is a modern issue, which is why I added the word "all" when talking about it, because clearly a minority of modern Muslims are responsible for terrorism.
My suggestion is more that we stop blaming people for stuff other people with distantly (distance may vary) related ideologies did, because it's not useful for any side involved and just is unpleasant for everyone. People don't say "You know, I was going to be an atheist, but when you blamed atheism for historic atrocities, I decided that God existed." or "I was going to be nice to the Muslim students at school, but now that you pointed out that some radical Muslims in another country do bad stuff, I'm going to be a jerk to them instead."
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
To post a comment, you'll need to Sign in or Register . Making an account also allows you to claim credit for submitting quotes, and to vote on quotes and comments. You don't even need to give us your email address.
