On Monday, November 05, 2001 3:57 PM J. R. Molloy jr@shasta.com wrote:
> Excellent point, and one that reminds us that, unlike theists, atheists
don't
> wage religious wars. The millions murdered by socialist totalitarianism
were
> the victims of ideology, not any pogrom against supernaturalism.
Not completely true. The Soviets, e.g., did murder a lot of people because
of their religion, especially the Patriarch and clergy in the Russian
Orthodox Church. They also made the life of believers much harder all
around. This goes on to this day. Witness China's policy to Tibetan
Buddhists and to that cult whose name escapes me.
In these cases, the ideology is the reason for the pogrom against religion.
None of this is to say atheists are the moral equivalent of theists, but
atheism in itself does not guarantee one will not murder people with
differing beliefs, especially theists.
Cheers!
Daniel Ust
See "Macroeconomics for the Real World"at:
http://uweb.superlink.net/neptune/Macro.html
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