It would be nice if the only posters here were only truly seekers. But it only goes round and round, each side accusing the other of being narrow minded.

I agree that in the name of religion; in the name of God, people have and continue to do horrible things.

But equally horrible and even worse things have been committed by those without religion. Just a couple of examples; Stalin's Soviet Union, and Hitler's Third Reich

Now some might say Hitler was religious. No, he was not. He sought to silence every Christian or other faithful voice against his.

Were Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot atheists?

April 17, 2010 Acharya S/D.M. Murdock


In debunking atheism and using the tu quoque or “you too!” argument to point fingers in the opposite direction whenever religious atrocities are raised, defenders of theism often bring up the notion that some of the most destructive and genocidal ideologies in history, Communism, Nazism and “Pol Potery,” were “atheistic,” because their leaders were “atheists.”

In my book The Gospel According to Acharya S, I delve briefly into these subjects, raising a few facts and conclusions that may not be widely known – but should be, because of these anti-atheist arguments. Here is a pertinent excerpt from The Gospel, also included in an Examiner article, “Is atheism the answer, Part 3?”, which is the source for the last two paragraphs of commentary here. (All facts in the following excerpt are carefully cited in The Gospel from reliable sources.)

Were Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot atheists?

Theists hold up Communism and Nazism, along with the regime of the Cambodian tyrant Pol Pot, as evidence of murderous “atheist” tyrannies that have caused the deaths of tens of millions. While it may be true that Communism portrayed itself as “godless,” it did not wage war in the name of atheism, nor were its founders and leaders raised as atheists. They were, in fact, preponderantly Jewish and Christian. Communist Manifesto writer Karl Marx was born a Jew, the grandson of two rabbis, and was converted to Christianity at age 6. Leon Trotsky, whose real name was Lev Bronstein, was born and raised a Jew but later declared himself “an internationalist.”

Josef Stalin’s “very religious” mother named him after St. Joseph, and wanted him to become a priest. Stalin himself supposedly claimed that his father had been a priest, and he was purportedly “damaged by violence” while being “raised in a poor priest-ridden household.” As a youth, Stalin spent five years in a Greek Orthodox seminary, after which he purportedly renounced his religion. In his later years, Stalin apparently embraced Christianity once more. As Stalin biographer Edvard Radinsky remarks, “During his mysterious retreat [of June 1941] the ex-seminarist had decided to involve the aid of the God he had rejected.” Radinsky likewise chronicles a number of religious comrades in Stalin’s immediate circle. It is evident that, whether for good or bad, religion played a significant role in Stalin’s life.

Adolf Hitler was raised a Catholic, and in a speech in 1922 he remarked, “My feeling as a Christian points me to my Lord and Saviour as a fighter…” In his autobiography Mein Kampf (1.2), Hitler stated:

Hence today I believe that I am acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator: by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the Lord.

Throughout his life, Hitler invoked God and “the Lord,” demonstrating his religious, not atheistic, nature. Pol Pot was raised a Buddhist and Catholic. In this regard, Dr. Ian Harris, a Reader in Religious Studies at the University College of St. Martin, relates: “In one of his early writings Pol Pot wrote approvingly that the ‘democratic regime will bring back the Buddhist moralism because our great leader Buddha was the first to have taught [democracy].'” Although in comparison to the Abrahamic religions its history is far less violent, Buddhism has not been entirely devoid of atrocity in its spread and practice.

If we are to insist—as many people have done, including numerous theists and atheists alike—that religious human abuse is the cause of atheistic reaction against religion, we need look no further, it would seem, than to Josef Stalin’s religiously abusive childhood to discover from where much of his rage appeared to emanate. His atheistic reaction therefore would be caused by religion. Hitler, who was also fascinated by mysticism, could not be deemed an “atheist” by any scientific standard, and Pol Pot also was not raised an atheist in a vacuum devoid of religion but was obviously affected and motivated by it.

If atheism is frequently but a reaction against human abuse by religion, then in itself such disbelief may not be the cause of malfeasance.

I intend on taking a leave of absemce from posting in the forums, primarily the religious forum.

The religious forums should be for like-minded people who desire conversation.

Seems that Fog has been so traumatized that this was his last post. Not just to this forum but any forum.

No, he'll be back. Just as, God willing, I will.

Just as it is hard to understand why a dog would return to his vomit....it is hard to understand why people would do the same. Spitting their vial wickness out and then gobbling it all back up.

I intend on taking a leave of absemce from posting in the forums, primarily the religious forum. It's the same old people who are simply here to cause kaos and friction without any true desire to learn. By all intents and purposes they should be kicked from the religious forums as they do not have a faith. The religious forums should be for like-minded people who desire conversation.

Great post, Josie. Bulls-eye. On the mark

Thank you.

And also those who are sick, and not aware, or do not admit it.

"God is near the brokenhearted and saves such that are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34

And also those who are sick, and not aware, or do not admit it.

So that's why christianity crushes its members' spirits and does all it can do to break their hearts ..... to bring them closer to god and save them from nothing.

Peace

If you don't like your church, instead of concluding that all churches are bad, why don't you look for a good church?

"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as some do..." --Hebrews 10:25

Do we actually HAVE to attend church in order to be saved? The answer is yes we do, because Jesus said that if we don't eat His Body and drink His Blood we will not have life in us, and His Body and Blood are only available in church, and only in Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

All your posts clearly show that you are a delusional religious nutcase.

Peace