show don't tell wrote:This fallicy of religion being the cause of all wars and genocide is getting old.
Although religion has been a excuse for many deaths in history it comes no where close to the 100 MILLION deathscaused by godless communison just in the last 100 years.
So were those deaths all perpetrated by the state because of "godless" principles, or were those deaths perpetrated by the state because communism is a failed system of government whose leaders rely on force?
If the former, I could easily mention the deaths caused by countries with a national religion that is a Christian denomination, and show 10 million really isn't much...
Remember it was orginized religion that ran the under ground rail roads to help free the slaves.and I go on and on how religion has done good in the world please tell me where a godless society has been a force of good in the world?
What's a godless society? Is America a secular society? Although founded by Christians and deists, it's supposed to be all-inclusive, and doesn't (or isn't supposed to) espouse a single creed over others. We can look at its deeds. We could also look at the deeds of France, for example, as one of the more secular of societies. Thomas Jefferson was a deist, and didn't belong to any organised religion, so he would have had the same "principles" as an atheist. I could also say that science, being based entirely by observation, is an atheistic philosophy that has made many important contributions to society. But that wouldn't be entirely truthful.
As far as I know, no organisation or society based on atheistic principles has ever existed
because atheistic principles don't exist. Thus any blame laid on secular communism is wrong, and should be laid on the people behind those actions, just as any praise for the contributions of atheistic people or leaders should not be given to atheism, but to the individuals themselves.
Important atheists:
Christopher Marlowe, Voltaire, Benjamin Franklin, Denis Diderot (who gave us the first encyclopedia, Thomas Paine (deist, but that counts), Pierre Simon de Laplace (wrote a treatise on gravity), James Madison, Lord Byron, Shelley, Abraham Lincoln when he was young (though he believed in a god when older, he rejected organised religion), Thomas Edison, Sigmund Freud, James Joyce...
In fact, most authors who wrote social commentary in religious societies were actually atheists, disturbed by a system they thought was cruel and intolerant.
But this is a stupid contest that means nothing except people with even the same beliefs can still have different motives. Many of the churches at the time of the underground railroads were spouting anti-abolitionist propaganda. Most churches also opposed the cause of suffragettes. The majority opposed these movements, remember, and the majority were Christian-minded people.
The Christian socialist who wrote the pledge of allegiance left his church, and even decided against putting the word "equality" in it exactly for those reasons.
Altruistic people exist whether they're religious or not. One particular ideology cannot claim all the glory because of the contributions of some of its members.
Also, when posting a message, please press the little spellcheck button underneath the text box.
Do you think it will ever be the case that the ancient holy texts will be interpreted in a non-discriminatory, tolerant way?
Yes, as we as a society grow more rational, I think that will be the case. As we look back on traditions and old rules, we seem them with a distinctly modern bias. No longer do we see the god of genesis as some being strolling through a garden on sunday, but as an omnipresent albeit impotent deity. No longer do we take eye for an eye literally, or burn witches. In fact, we ignore most of the old testaments rules like its prohibitions against eating shellfish, wearing clothes of two fabrics, &c. Formerly we would have looked at the statement that "All men are created equal" and thought it only applied to the male sex, not "man" as a race, or savages. Our interpretations grow increasingly liberal as tension between religions and races grow less.
Christianity, dominating all other religions in europe since the fall of Rome, did absolutely nothing to address inequality and tyranny until the last 200 years. I wonder why? Shifting perceptions, inspired individuals.
A problem lies with organised
anything. People lose their individuality when they become part of an organisation and must follow the directions of leaders. It's up to the leader's interpretation or motives as to whether the religion or ideology will be a force of good or bad.
The only other problem is that every religion believes its the ultimate authority on the supernatural.
Will religion be a solution to its own problems? Perhaps. Really, things don't get done until a group exists that does it, unfortunately.
