8 ms·

Certainly true. There's a larger gap between the atheism of Feynman et al and the "atheism" of Stalin, than between the latter and the major world religions.

• karma_vaccum123 10y ago
  Stalin grew up in a rigidly religious family, which extended to his early education. He was clearly psychotic, was beaten as a child, and maybe not even an atheist as an adult, who can say. Atheism...if you take it to imply a purely materialistic worldview, doesn't preclude mass murder...these are just organic forms that no longer perform certain functions. Since there is no god there is no eternal punishment, nor is there even any requirement that you assume others cherish their lives as you do yours. Indeed, a purely materialistic view might hold that mass murder was an inevitable outcome for Stalin (free will being a theistic construct). As an atheist I accept this as one interpretation of atheism...it's not mine, but we have no Pope to dictate beliefs (and yes, atheism is also a belief system). Richard Dawkins is no more an authority on atheism than anyone else This is why we have a criminal justice system instead of just leaving punishment to a deity...to prevent people from reaching and acting on the potential logical outcomes of a vacuum. Stalin basically had no authority beyond himself and he pursued one possible course of action one could in that situation, there was nothing to stop him from acting on his impulses and becoming one of history's most prolific mass murderers Is our position any loftier in a rational sense? I destroyed a parade of ants in my garage last week. I scrubbed my cutting board with bleach. Where is the line?