[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]Cheeky_Kea wrote:
[quote]pat wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
[quote]Sloth wrote:
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Yes an atheists action can be peaceful or violent.
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I know. That’s what I said.[/quote]
And you also said they were killing in the name of atheism, which is stupid.
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http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM
Atheism is a belief, not a not belief. Even if you’ve decided God does not exist, you made a choice and there for a belief. The opposite of belief isn’t atheism, the opposite of belief is an absence of opinion on the matter. Therefore, if you believe there is no God, then it’s still a belief and one atheists wish to spread because they think it’s superior.
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The link you provided states that (with copious disclaimers for inaccuracies at the bottom) Governments have killed approxiamately 262,000,000 people.
Nowhwere does it say Atheists killed anyone.
What was that supposed to prove?
There are also a bunch of inaccurate, estimated stats that put deaths in the name of religion at about 809,000,000.
How can I make a choice about something that doesn’t exist?, it isn’t there to choose to believe in or not.
How can I not believe in something that doesn’t exist…it isn’t there to not believe in.
If it doesn’t exist it doesn’t make a difference wether I believe in it or not.
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Ok, so Pol Pot, Mao Se Tung, Stalin, lenin, aren’t atheists? Your denying the historical fact that they had policy to kill theists to squash religious belief in their prospective countries?
You don't [b]know[/b] 'it' does not exist. You just think it, therefore you made a choice.
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I explained this to Sloth 2 pages back and I'll paste my response again.
[quote]therajraj wrote:
Yes an atheists action can be peaceful or violent. But his/her actions have nothing to do with atheism itself. It's not atheism that "has gone off the reservation" it's the person behind those actions. Sure there are no scriptures to tell an atheist they should not kill. But human beings, through their ability to empathise, are capable of determining ethical ground. [/quote]
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So you're just going to flatly deny history, so you can feel better about yourself? Eradication of religion through murder is a policy. I am not sure that needs much translation.
I suppose the holocaust was a farce too?
Yeah, it never happened....
"The main target of the anti-religious campaign in the 1920s and 1930s was the Russian Orthodox Church, which had the largest number of faithful. Nearly all of its clergy, and many of its believers, were shot or sent to labor camps. Theological schools were closed, and church publications were prohibited. By 1939 only about 500 of over 50,000 churches remained open."
http://www.ibiblio.org/expo/soviet.exhibit/anti_rel.html
http://www.globalmuseumoncommunism.org/features/war_on_religion
Yeah, it's all made up.
Do some research.
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No I was 100% wrong and making that Holocaust thread was stupid. I wish I hadn't done it.
In this case, I'm not flatly denying people were killed for their religious beliefs, I am saying they weren't killed in the name of atheism. I have explained why I hold this position and am not going to bother try explaining it again.
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You playing on semantics. the people who watch their entire family get shot and then got shot themselves for being a Christian or a Jew or in some a cases a Muslim, really couldn't tell the difference between doing it in the 'name' of atheism or doing it because the leadership was atheist and didn't like to theist point of view so he had them killed.
That's what the terrorists do, they don't like your point of view if your not Muslim so they kill you.
If your looking for redemption in the innocence of atheism you will not have it.
And if atheism isn't a kind of religion then why do some sects of atheists feel they need to evangelize and make their beliefs known? Why do atheists have unity in thought? Sounds pretty religious like to me.[/quote]
You're trying to play on emotion with this post.
"entire family get shot and then got shot themselves for being a Christian or a Jew or in some a cases a Muslim, really couldn't tell the difference between doing it in the 'name' of atheism or doing it because the leadership was atheist and didn't like to theist point of view so he had them killed."
What does this have to do with our discussion?
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I was illustrating a point based on something that happened. Would prefer I used the example of the time when Lenin brought out all the Christian school children and had them shot during the Bolshevik Revolution?
The bottom line religious people were killed or persecuted because they were religious and not atheist. You cannot spin this to me particularly, my parents escaped from Czechoslovakia in 1969. They saw this shit first hand, my family had everything taken from them and force to farm because they were religious. They were lucky in that many of their friends didn't. The stories of the horrors due to religious persecution in the eastern block are endless.
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And no it's not just semantics. When Muslims kill Christians, they are doing it based on their interpretations of scripture. In their minds they are doing gods work and following their religion. Atheism has no dogma or scripture to interpret.
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Correct, you have no scripture but you do have dogma. For instance, do you not believe that 'Religion is the opiate of the masses'? Do you not believe that religious people are brainwashed and programmed. Do you not believe we're stupid for believing in God. Do you not believe that religion makes people do evil shit? Ever heard of the 'Flying Spaghetti monster'?Bet you have.
Basically, you have a set of beliefs that if you did not hold them would not be considered atheist.
In fact aren't you right now defending atheism as being guiltless because people haven't done evil in 'it's name' and is therefore superior?
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Evangelize? First off, that's a term to describe converting someone to Christianity. Secondly, in what capacity have you seen atheists trying to convert people in your life? Debating over an internet forum? Please.
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Oh? You guys aren't trying to "Spread the word"? Then why do you need to advertise? See the attached picture.
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Atheists do not have "sects" that's another religious term but organizations. Why? It's simple. There is a stigma associated with being an atheist in America and Canada (to a lesser degree), you can't get elected to office and in many cases would be considered an outcast in your community. Atheist groups work to remove this stigma. Wasn't it just last week you thought atheist run charities did not exist until I posted links to some? That's exactly what I'm talking about.
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Sure you do...You have groups that advertise, political groups defending 'atheist rights', you have protest groups....You folks have all kinds of groups. Little groups with in a larger group are sects....
