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Don’t gloss over all the atrocities committed by the Soviets and Chinese in the name of aetheism. Evil people will harness whatever philosophy is convenient to

Don’t gloss over all the atrocities committed by the Soviets and Chinese in the name of aetheism. Evil people will harness whatever philosophy is convenient to justify their actions.

cfadvan 8y ago
They didn’t commit them in the name of atheism, they committed them in the name of economic and social revolutions of which atheism played a relatively small part compared to communist ideology. By comparison with “in the name of god” there is no honest comparison. @Jumpcrisscross: One can make similar arguments for the Crusades. Then why not make that argument? Remember to put “Deus Vult” in that context. Of course they did since the pretty much first they did was to imprison in concentration camps the clergy, and destroy all religious buildings as well. “Pretty much” is doing yeoman’s work there, bravo. I like how it also glosses over the fact that most of what happened was anti-money, anti-status, and anti-intellectual.
- deleted 8y ago
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- ekianjo 8y ago
  > They didn’t commit them in the name of atheism, Of course they did since the pretty much first they did was to imprison in concentration camps the clergy, and destroy all religious buildings as well. This comment is so incredibly naive.
trentnix 8y ago
Gloss over? The parent poster buried it in concrete! The Soviets and Chinese killed more than everyone before them, combined. And you are 100% spot on - evil will use and abuse anything in pursuit of its goals. But those people that we clearly identify as evil - they were utterly convinced of the righteousness of their actions, whether it was Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, or the terrorists of the 21st century.
falcrist 8y ago
Were they not also religiously motivated? Stalin himself was educated at a theological seminary. You should also be aware that Stalin drew upon the ideas of divine right that previous monarchs of Russia had used to claim authority. He used the Russian Orthodox church to grant himself legitimacy, and that church never left his side even through all of the atrocities. To this day, they create iconography of Stalin (typically with a halo). Either way, this is decidedly NOT secularism. I certainly didn't "gloss over" anything, having given approximately equal time to talking about religion and the suppression thereof. That's entirely unfair, by the way, since it's hard to find examples of the latter, while history is replete with examples of the former.

Don’t gloss over all the atrocities committed by the Soviets and Chinese in the name of aetheism. Evil people will harness whatever philosophy is convenient to justify their actions.

cfadvan 8y ago

They didn’t commit them in the name of atheism, they committed them in the name of economic and social revolutions of which atheism played a relatively small part compared to communist ideology. By comparison with “in the name of god” there is no honest comparison. @Jumpcrisscross: One can make similar arguments for the Crusades. Then why not make that argument? Remember to put “Deus Vult” in that context. Of course they did since the pretty much first they did was to imprison in concentration camps the clergy, and destroy all religious buildings as well. “Pretty much” is doing yeoman’s work there, bravo. I like how it also glosses over the fact that most of what happened was anti-money, anti-status, and anti-intellectual.

deleted 8y ago
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ekianjo 8y ago
> They didn’t commit them in the name of atheism, Of course they did since the pretty much first they did was to imprison in concentration camps the clergy, and destroy all religious buildings as well. This comment is so incredibly naive.

trentnix 8y ago

Gloss over? The parent poster buried it in concrete! The Soviets and Chinese killed more than everyone before them, combined. And you are 100% spot on - evil will use and abuse anything in pursuit of its goals. But those people that we clearly identify as evil - they were utterly convinced of the righteousness of their actions, whether it was Stalin, Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, or the terrorists of the 21st century.

falcrist 8y ago

Were they not also religiously motivated? Stalin himself was educated at a theological seminary. You should also be aware that Stalin drew upon the ideas of divine right that previous monarchs of Russia had used to claim authority. He used the Russian Orthodox church to grant himself legitimacy, and that church never left his side even through all of the atrocities. To this day, they create iconography of Stalin (typically with a halo). Either way, this is decidedly NOT secularism. I certainly didn't "gloss over" anything, having given approximately equal time to talking about religion and the suppression thereof. That's entirely unfair, by the way, since it's hard to find examples of the latter, while history is replete with examples of the former.