In the comments section of the previous post, andrew stated that his grandparents remembered how horrible an atheist state was. There is nothing to prevent an atheist state from being horrible. That would depend on the individual leadership style (or lack thereof). I'd be the first to admit there are genuinely evil atheists. However, there is nothing inherent in being an atheist that guarantees evilness. There is, however, the inherent property of religious leadership that results in discrimination, forcing legislature on constituents based on imaginary friends, or so-called sacred books.
Nothing prevents atheist leadership from being bad, but religious leadership will always be biased to say the least.
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"Good people will do good things and bad people will do bad things, but to get good people to do bad things, it takes religion." (Or something close to that. I don't recall the author of this quotation).
And remember, Johnny, for a few people to kill millions at one swipe, that takes SCIENCE.
After all, Dawkins assures us most scientists are atheists, and yet they have provided nuclear weapons to those with the means to pay.
If you put guns, for example, in the hands of waring groups, you are complicit, so its time to end the fiction that Science can be separated from its consequences.
Just as Clemenceau said that war is too important to be left to the generals, we can now say, with confidence, that science is too important to be left to the scientists.
Maktia, I appreciate your response but I didn't say that atheism guarantees evilness.
My point was about atheistic states, and their unequaled record of mass murder. Its going on as we speak. According to Amnesty International, the Chinese are enforcing atheism on the Tibetans in an attempt to destory their cultural identity.
After all, when the official positon is that there is no higher power, then that means the state is the undisputed highest power.
THAT guarantees evilness.
andrew,
I disagree. For a few people to kill millions at one swipe, that takes evil people misusing the knowledge obtained through science.
And as for governments, I still maintain there is nothing inherent about atheists that would result in bad regimes.
States with religious-based regimes are responsible for a fair share of mass murder. You can't put that on secular/atheist regimes exclusively. The difference is that religious governments do rely on their believe system to make flawed decisions, and wage wars of intolerance.
andrew, i find it ironic that you choose as your representative evil atheist government the example of china and tibet. you claim that the chinese are enforcing atheism on the people of tibet. you are referring to the suppression of tibetan buddhism, but buddhism is, essentially, an atheist faith. so, you are arguing the wrong point. the government of china is doing harm to the culture of tibet, but atheism is not the vehicle.
people are good or bad. what they believe in is just the excuse. at least i have no excuses. my behaviours are my own, i own them, good and bad. what's your excuse?
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