Posted on 11/22/2006 1:53:35 PM PST by theothercheek
Noting the recent spate of books arguing that religion is the underlying cause of war (in the Balkans, the Middle East and Northern Ireland, to cite a few examples) and large-scale murder (the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition), Dinesh D'Souza contends that atheistic despots and regimes of the 20th century have racked up exponentially higher body counts than all the deaths that can be attributed to so-called “religious wars” – more accurately characterized as political or cultural conflicts, territorial grabs or power plays - as well as to the Inquisition and other large-scale persecution of religious minorities. D’Souza, the Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution, writes in The Christian Science Monitor: "In the name of creating their version of a religion-free utopia, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong produced the kind of mass slaughter that no Inquisitor could possibly match. Collectively these atheist tyrants murdered more than 100 million people."
(Excerpt) Read more at thestilettoblog.com ...
Thank you for the post....good article.
Someone should enlighten Rosie O'Donnell ...
"The missionaries of the nineteenth century were a special breed of men and women. Single-handedly and with great courage they attacked the social evils of their time: child marriage, the immolation of widows, temple prostitution, and untouchability in India; footbinding, opium addiction, and the abandoning of babies in China; polygamy, the slave trade, and the destruction of twins in Africa. In all parts of the world they opened schools, hospitals, clinics, medical colleges, orphanages, and leprosaria. They gave succor and sustenance to the dregs of society cast off by their own communities. At great risk to themselves and their families they fought famines, floods, pestilences, and plagues. They were the first to rescue unwanted babies, educate girls, and liberate women."
-Dr. J. Herbert Kane, author and missionary in China from 1935 to 1950, on the contributions of missionaries worldwide.
UNDISPUTED.
Excellent post!
I would like to see dispassionate, scientific study of homosexualty (don't hold your breath). Rosie O'Donnell, like many gays and lesbians I have observed, lost her mother in childhood -- IIRC, to breast cancer. Severe childhood trauma and loss of the same-sex parent should be studied as factors along with child sexual abuse.
during the worst 50 years of the Spanish Inquisition, a total of about 2,000 people were killed.
there are about 3,000 abortions per day in the USA.
Bump for later.
I just wish that people associating Jesus' teachings as the cause of man's sin would spend some time reading the Bible. I read through the last two chapters in John this morning before heading off to work and was left in wonder at His truth. I can only shake my head when people say Christianity is the cause of evil.
Well, the Islamofascists are racking up huge body counts (2,000,000 dead in the Sudan, 1,500,000 in the Iraq-Iran war, 50,000 dead in Kashmir, 200,000 dead in Algeria, etc.) so the jury isn't out yet.
If we let Hillary! take power with a Democrat Congress, seeing several American cities nuked is not beyond the realm of possibility.
I wonder where the author gets the bizarre idea that Hitler was an atheist. Anyone who has read Mein Kampf will know that Hitler considered himself a good catholic. The following are some quotations from Hitlers most infamous book:
“The folkish-minded man, in particular, has the sacred duty, each in his own denomination, of making people stop just talking superficially of God's will, and actually fulfill God's will, and not let God's word be desecrated. For God's will gave men their form, their essence and their abilities. Anyone who destroys His work is declaring war on the Lord's creation, the divine will.”
“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.”
From a speech given by Hitler on July 5th 1944:
“I may not be a light of the church, a pulpiteer, but deep down I am a pious man, and believe that whoever fights bravely in defense of the natural laws framed by God and never capitulates will never be deserted by the Lawgiver, but will, in the end, receive the blessings of Providence.”
And from a speech by Hitler in October 1933:
“We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out.”
By their fruits...
I see French Enlightenment, deism in the quotes you posted, not Catholicism.
For those interested, Google "democide" - You will find it very interesting!
A fact the God-haters always seem to overlook. Certainly, Christianity was used as the excuse for a lot of predations. But the ABSENCE of Christianity (or any other religion) has permitted countless more.
To be honest, if you're going to look at what religion's done WRONG, you also have to look at what it's done RIGHT.
Good article.
Neither atheism or theism is the cause; its big, oppressive, tyrannical... governments that are. And they come in all shapes and sizes, including theocratic, communist, dictatorial, etc...
This is an old debate that both sides (atheist and theist) are wrong about, and that both sides try to use for political purposes. And this D'Souza piece is just another example of it.
You're an expert in this debate, with all the facts, I assume? If so, please point me to them.
You are right, Hitler was not an atheist. He was an occultist.
Hitler was Catholic until he was about 15. He stopped going to mass after his father died.
'By their fruits...
I see French Enlightenment, deism in the quotes you posted, not Catholicism.'
But not atheism. . . .
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