Atheism is a word that shouldn’t even exist. We don’t have words for people who don’t believe in astrology, or who don’t believe that Elvis is still alive. Atheism is not a belief system, or even a view of the world. It is simply a lack of belief in Gods. It is impossible to do something wrong because of atheism, same as it’s impossible to do something wrong because you don’t put any stock in horoscopes.
Marx intentionally dismissed belief in God as a necessary component of his (economic) philosophy, and why shouldn’t he? He also stated plainly that “atheism is far from Communism”. It’s atheistic in that theism is irrelevant to an economic model. The teachings of Christ, meanwhile, are pretty easily read as Communistic (or, at the very least, socialistic). Just like Christianity, the way Communism was practiced did not often square with how it was put forth as a philosophy.
Oh, but Marxism is only part of Communism.
The moneychangers in the temple?
It is an economic model and has nothing to do with god.
Christian communism is like meat-eating vegetarianism.
Very good for you to have been to a good school instead of the crappy one I did. Well done.
I didn’t invent the word.
I know of moral (lack of) implication of atheism, but that also means that atheists canoot use it as a moral backdrop or compare their moral outlook to toehr atheists.
It wasn’t a hand, it was a kick-ass whip.
And it’s no more warped than your endless, foaming-at-the-mouth tirades against religion in general and Christianity in particular. Radical secularists killed more than a hundred million people in Europe and Asia in the twentieth century. You need to quit pretending that this fact is somehow unimportant or trying to make it go away with silly word games (e.g. calling Communism a religion).
Nonetheless, Marxism is an explicitly atheistic philosophy, and it is brand of communism which came to rule in Russia and China. It is no more reasonable to expect a Christian to apologize for every crime committed in the name of Christianity than it is to expect an atheist or secularist to apologize for the crimes of Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot.
I don’t get it. You realize that communism has nothing to do with god but still think Christian communism is self contradictory?
Yeah.
Note to self…
He turned over their table and said unkind things. He never lifted a hand on them. Please give me book, chapter and verse.
Christianity and Marxism (the most prevalent form of communism today) are certainly mutually exclusive.
He made and used a whip. I assume he was using it on somebody.
Christians should come out and explain the differences in him and core beliefs of the christian faith. people should realize that what a person does is their choice just because they are part of whatever religion does not condone that the religion is at fault. some people are just crazy or turn crazy and so many times for no good logical reason need to blame an organization or religion that the person is in. very bad logic. same reason that we should not blame violent video games for peoples behaviors because 99% of the time the rest of the people play violent video games, watch violent movies etc are sane. now i know that this man had a sh!t ton of papers calming he did this because he was christian but either a. he was just insane or b. like so many other times using religion as a front to do whatever the hell he/she wants.
It’s worth adding “(the most prevalent form of Christianity today)” to the above as well, since the current forms bear little similarity to the original, which was indeed somewhat communal.
What really upsets me is that the best photo they could find of Breivik was him in full Masonic regalia. Way to make us look bad, Breivik. You created more fuel for the Anti-Mason fire. Dumbass.
The thing is: why stop at religion?
Should all Norwegians do the same?
All Freemasons? All people who own guns?
I get your point that it’s a good moment (coming out of a tragedy) to highlight certain aspects of your beliefs, especially those that include not killing 80 teenagers in cold blood, but it could alo be understood as one feeling guilty in some way.
i would stop at religion because its the medias main topic and his reason for doing what he did right?
So if you sell all that you own to feed the poor and live a simple life of sharing, you can’t be a Christian?
In answer to the OP, I don’t blame the Muslim for acts of terrorism anymore than I blame Germans or Jews or Christians or testosterone. I don’t blame Norwegians or blond hair. I blame the people who committed the acts of terrorism and the people who willfully inspired those people to react with violence.
Der Trihs, your words are filled with generalizations and mischaracterizations of religious people. Some may fit your descriptions, but not most. Your responses have become as unthinking as a delivery from a gumball machine. You are capable of much clearer thinking than that.
Christians are not all alike. Most of us are not violent or even threatening. Many of us agree with you about the negative influence of fundamentalism when it becomes too involved in controlling the government. You have a very large blind spot which you never acknowledge and that is a weakness in your arguments. Consider becoming a peacemaker yourself. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
This is backwards. Theism is belief in god. Religion isn’t. So irreligious fits your argument, but atheist doesn’t. You can, for example, be an atheist and a Buddhist.