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"Even atheists"? Are atheists pretty evil, but not quite this evil? Are atheists well-known for being anti-freedom? Why "even atheists"?
by EliRivers 9y ago
"Even atheists"? Are atheists pretty evil, but not quite this evil? Are atheists well-known for being anti-freedom? Why "even atheists"?
- wand3r 9y agoI think they meant that it is evil; also atheiest-- people who do not believe in any religion, would not do such a thing.
- TaylorAlexander 9y agoI think just because atheists don’t tend to care for the book. But yeah we’re typically less in to banning books than religious people so it is an odd comment.
- whatshisface 9y agoAthiests (the community) are known for being outspoken about the damage that certian religions have caused and are causing, but they're also known for supporting the free exchange of ideas including those that they think are harmful. Atheists (the definition) aren't known for anything because atheism doesn't demand any specific behaviors.
- tjoff 9y agoI haven't seen that and is starting to believe that might be something typical for the US.
- lurquer 9y agoI wonder if there have been any explicitly Athiest regimes? That is, governments based on an ideology that explicitly denies the existence of God and devalues all religions? If only we had historical examples of such regimes, perhaps we could see if they were benign or murderous. Oh what a pity we don't have such examples.
- harimau777 9y agoMy understanding is that most Communistic regimes were explicitly Atheist. I'm not a historian so I may not have my facts completely correct, but my understanding is that: The Soviet Union more or less outlawed religion. China is officially Atheistic but tolerates certain recognized religions. My understanding is that they outlaw/suppress certain things they view as "superstition" (such as supernatural and moral aspects of Qigong) in a way that would be considered questionable in the west. On a more positive side, I wonder if there are any of the Scandinavian countries that could be considered to more or less implement Humanism. I say that because it seems like Humanism fills a lot of the same roles for Atheists (moral system, providing hope, providing meaning etc.) that religion does for theists.
- dragonwriter 9y ago> I wonder if there have been any explicitly Athiest regimes? Some, but not all, regimes in the Leninist (and Stalinist, etc., derivatives) tradition were/are, and early the French Revolutionary regime briefly was during the period of the establishment of the Cult of Reason (which, while called a “cult” with good was, was atheistic and thus not a religion in the theistic sense), but that was soon replaced by the Cult of the Supreme Being (which was deistic, but not atheistic) during the Terror.
- lurquer 9y agoI seriously doubt you're correct. The communist regimes (as well as their demented cousins such as DPRK, Pol Pot, Viet Kong, etc.) murdered millions upon millions of their own people in the 20th century. These regimes could not have been atheistic as such horrendous genoicidal bloodshed is typically the result of Christisnity. I know this to be true, as I've read it many times here. Stalin and Pol Pot and Mao and Kim were undoubtedly Christians. Atheists are generally rational and not given over to such genocidal tendancies. You need to check your facts.
- reitanqild 9y ago> Stalin and Pol Pot and Mao and Kim were undoubtedly Christians. This is just plain wrong as can be verified by reading up on history. And this is circular reasoning: > These regimes could not have been atheistic as such horrendous genoicidal bloodshed is typically the result of Christisnity.
- harimau777 9y agoAtheists have a reputation for being anti-religion. This certainly isn't inherent to Atheism or reflective of all Atheists. However, I have met many Atheists who were highly intolerant or disrespectful of religion.
- icebraining 9y agoI'm disrespectful of many things, that doesn't mean I want to ban them. Even if they're as dangerous as Christianity.
- acqq 9y ago...or as one another which can’t be named, as it would be “racist.”
- harimau777 9y agoI agree that we shouldn't ban something just because we dislike/disrespect it; instead I meant that, unfortunately, many people (on both sides) don't see things that way. Sorry if that's not what it sounded like I was saying in my original post.
- icebraining 9y agoI understood what you're saying; what I'm saying is that we should be careful not to assume someone want to ban something just because they're being disrespectful to it.
- acqq 9y agoThe religious people of all monotheisic religions don’t believe in almost all the same gods as the atheists. The atheists just don’t believe in one more.
- jsonne 9y agoI'm really not trying to start a tit for tat who is worse argument as all religions, including mine (Christian/Catholic) has their fair share of atrocities, but certainly many people were murdered and otherwise oppressed under state atheist regimes in Communist countries. It's worth calling out and remembering.
- reitanqild 9y agoI'll take it a bit further: I'm no Catholic and have never been. But honestly: while Catholics has done much wrong they don't come anywere near Pol Pot, Stalin, the Reign of Terror etc
- reitanqild 9y agoTo late to update my post but I should add that I don't blame you or any other current Catholic for what happened during the dark ages. And by the way, since that's not clear from my first post: I'm a Christian as well, just not Catholic.
- dang 9y agoNo religious flamewars on HN, please. Upthread was teetering, but here it plummets.
- EliRivers 9y agoSure thing, Dang. FWIW, I'd have said the exact same if it had been "even botanists" or "even car mechanics". It just seemed massively orthogonal.