Arrrrgh!
I’m listening to Meet the Press, and I heard something that made my blood boil. Dr. Rick Warren, author of the international best-seller “The Purpose Driven Life,” and Jon Meacham, Newsweek’s Editor and author of “American Gospel,” were Tim Russert’s guests. One of them, I’m not sure who, stated that in the 20th century, atheists caused more deaths than Christians did in their entire history. The guy singled out Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Zedong. Let’s look at the facts:
- Adolph Hitler – he was raised a Roman Catholic and favored Protestantism. He believed, in exterminating the Jews and non-Aryans, that he was doing God’s work.
- Josef Stalin – Stalin attended the Gori Church School, graduated first in his class and was awarded a scholarship to the Seminary of Tiflis. It was here that he became involved with the nacent Communist/Socialist movement. He quit the seminary just before his final exams.
- Mao Zedong – Was he an atheist? Perhaps he was, but oriental religious philosophy is dominated by taoism, which is polytheistic, and Buddhism, which is non-theistic. Mao didn’t care, he wanted all religious doctrine eradicated in favor of his political philosophy.
To say that the three men committed some of the biggest atrocities in history because they were atheists is disingenuous at best, and in the case of Hitler and Stalin, it is more correct to state that the biggest atrocities in Western history were committed by theists, rather than atheists.
It’s so fucking annoying to me. Christians try to paint themselves as the most pure and clean religion out there, as if they are a bunch of goody-goody two-shoes. The problem is, they aren’t. Not that I claim to be perfection in human form (damn near close, though), but they need to take responsibility and make reparations for the atrocities they have committed over the last 2000+ years. And, they need to stop blaming Atheists, Muslims, Pagans, and other religions for all the evils of the world. Especially the ones caused by people who hold their beliefs.
Maybe if they took that chip off their shoulders, and got off their holier than thou kicks, perhaps some real progress can be made in the world.
