If Atheists Ruled The World

[Tim]

No thank you, because I don't believe it has anything to do with religion. For the most part, it's to do with evil....God doesn't command this of anybody. Are you seriously gonna sit there and tell us that what Osama Bin Laden stood for had anything to do with God??? He was a killer, a sadistic murdering bastard....end of story.

Oh, so if it isn't in the name of God (meaning the god of Abraham from the bible) then it isn't really in the name of god, right?
So it only counts if people kill in the name of the god you believe in?

But you said "Nobody kills in the 'name of religion'"

 

[sexysadie]

Oh, so if it isn't in the name of God (meaning the god of Abraham from the bible) then it isn't really in the name of god, right?
So it only counts if people kill in the name of the god you believe in?

But you said "Nobody kills in the 'name of religion'"

There is only 1 God, and I'm more than certain that He wasn't the brains behind 911. Just because some losers decide to go on a murdering rampage using religion as an excuse, it doesn't make it so.

 

[Tim]

There is only 1 God, and I'm more than certain that He wasn't the brains behind 911. Just because some losers decide to go on a murdering rampage using religion as an excuse, it doesn't make it so.

And in the name of YOUR god, hundreds of millions were slaughtered over a 200 year period. Do yourself a favor and read a book about the crusades and learn why so many people were murdered.

 

[sexysadie]

And in the name of YOUR god, hundreds of millions were slaughtered over a 200 year period. Do yourself a favor and read a book about the crusades and learn why so many people were murdered.

For example..???

 

[Tim]

There are many good books on the crusades... or you can just wander over to wikipedia for a brief synopsis.

 

[sexysadie]

There are many good books on the crusades... or you can just wander over to wikipedia for a brief synopsis.

In other words, you have no idea...lol..that's ok, it wouldn't be the first time somebody rambled on and on about something they know absolutely nothing about. E for effort though.

 

[Tim]

In other words, you have no idea...lol..that's ok, it wouldn't be the first time somebody rambled on and on about something they know absolutely nothing about. E for effort though.

Do you even know what you are saying half the time? I am not going to sit here and describe the crusades to you. I would spend half the night just trying to give you the cliff notes so you could get a basic understanding only to have you type out a one sentence insult showing your unwillingness to learn basic history.

Sorry if you didn't get a proper education, but the crusades were a pretty big part of history.

 

[HK]

Sadie, whether or not it is right to use religion as an excuse for murder and war isn't relevant - the fact is that people do it all the time, from many different religions and cultures including our own. People are only too quick to use their beliefs to justify hating and harming others. It isn't right, and it isn't what religion was intended for , but it still happens.

You can't deny the fact that people do it - your own example of Osama Bin Laden is a good one. He used his religion and turned it into a tool for hatred against the west. Now okay, he's still a bad person. But the fact that he had a fervent belief system that was shared by others allowed him to manipulate and convince other people that they were doing the right thing by hurting others - because their religion supposedly commanded it, or they interpreted it that way.

If he hadn't had any religion to fall back on, he would still have been a bad person, but he wouldn't have been able to convince so many other people that he was right. His power came from their shared belief that anything commanded by their holy texts must be above reproach.

That is why religion can be so much more harmful than atheism.

 

[Zorak]

Saddam Hussein was, if not an atheist, a staunch secularist. But he understood the best way to get people on board in his plans to gas the Kurds was to play on his peoples hatred of the Shia Muslim faith.

Nearly 20 years later, George Bush told us God told him to invade Iraq. I guess it's true American's don't understand irony. :surrender

 

[BornReady]

Saddam Hussein was, if not an atheist, a staunch secularist.

Isn't that the way of it. The people who use religion to persuade others often don't believe it them selves. The same can be said of Hitler. I seriously doubt the guy believed in God. But by pretending to, he was able to persuade Germans they were doing God's work by persecuting Jews.

 

[Tuffdisc]

Atheist regimes have been the most murderous in human history. Nobody compares to the Soviets and Chinese. We're talking tens of millions dead by each.

Don't forget the Nazis, Pol Pot and a few other atheist governments. And atheists claim they are all about peace....pffft if that was ever the case..........:24:

 

[Tuffdisc]

But the worst were the Spanish, they killed billions. And destroyed almost everything that remained of the rich and different cultures they encountered.

And for what? Because they wouldn't accept stories of a pregnant virgin and some bloke turning water into wine...

I think you are exaggerating far too much there. That also happened in the (North) Americas, and if that was the case, I think Christians would of murdered the Jews along time before Hitler ever thought about it

 

[HK]

And atheists claim they are all about peace....pffft if that was ever the case..........:24:

'Atheists' as a whole don't claim to be anything, because atheism is not a grouping with a set of shared values and beliefs like religion is. The only thing atheists have in common is that they don't believe in God - all other aspects of their morality and outlook are entirely unpredictable and individual.

No one is saying people who are atheists don't do bad things. However, the tool of religion is often used by people to justify actions that atheism wouldn't be able to justify in the same way. A Christian says 'God told me to do it' and people think he's on a divine mission. An atheist says 'a voice in my head told me to do it' and people think he's crazy.

 

[Zorak]

I think you are exaggerating far too much there. That also happened in the (North) Americas, and if that was the case, I think Christians would of murdered the Jews along time before Hitler ever thought about it

I'm sorry, you've completely lost me.

 

[Tuffdisc]

I'm sorry, you've completely lost me.

I would suggest you stop taking something illegal, clearly isn't helping :24:

 

[Zorak]

Yes, very droll. Carry on.

 

[Tuffdisc]

'Atheists' as a whole don't claim to be anything, because atheism is not a grouping with a set of shared values and beliefs like religion is. The only thing atheists have in common is that they don't believe in God - all other aspects of their morality and outlook are entirely unpredictable and individual.

No one is saying people who are atheists don't do bad things. However, the tool of religion is often used by people to justify actions that atheism wouldn't be able to justify in the same way. A Christian says 'God told me to do it' and people think he's on a divine mission. An atheist says 'a voice in my head told me to do it' and people think he's crazy.

Define a Christian, is it:
1/ A person who believes in Christ, who follows his teaching down to the letter
or is it
2/ Someone who pronounces themselves to believe in Christ, and yet doesn't follow his commandments?

 

[Tuffdisc]

Yes, very droll. Carry on.

As much as I can say for you as well :24:

 

[HK]

I'm really not going to get into a defintions argument, the point is that people in a religious group supposedly have shared beliefs and morals, atheists do not. Your comment about 'atheists claiming to be peaceful' isn't relevant, because atheists aren't a grouping in the same way that people of the same religion are.

 

[Tuffdisc]

I'm really not going to get into a defintions argument, the point is that people in a religious group supposedly have shared beliefs and morals, atheists do not. Your comment about 'atheists claiming to be peaceful' isn't relevant, because atheists aren't a grouping in the same way that people of the same religion are.

Really makes no sense at all, if you don't want to define, how can you say or judge a person to be Christian?

People have always gone with where ever the wind is blowing, and not necessarily held to the true meaning. Claiming that religious groups are always to blame for all wars, though I don't think you have, it is Zorak and EdGray that have claimed that, with a few others on this site

Anyway, I don't want to spend hours upon hours arguing on religion and atheist-ism anymore, some atheists respect people's belief than others