"Holy books are works of fiction" certainly strikes a chord with me!
Whooaaa.....
I can't speak for Mao but...
1) There was no evidence that Hitler was an athiest. The Nazi belt buckles had "Gott Mit Uns" - God Is With Us.
2) Stalin trained as a monk.
And as for abortion - this should remain the very right of a woman - aborting a collection of cells that MAY turn into a human life is not murder. Who's to say if the pregnancy would of gone full term?
Whooaaa.....
I can't speak for Mao but...
1) There was no evidence that Hitler was an athiest. The Nazi belt buckles had "Gott Mit Uns" - God Is With Us.
2) Stalin trained as a monk.
And as for abortion - this should remain the very right of a woman - aborting a collection of cells that MAY turn into a human life is not murder. Who's to say if the pregnancy would of gone full term?
Whooaaa, indeed!
Stalin may have been educated at a seminary under a scholarship, but this was for educational rather than religious reasons and he ended up quitting the seminary. As a committed Marxist (and like Mao) he was certainly not religious.
As for Hitler, you say there was no evidence that Hitler was an atheist. This may well be true, but you could as easily say that there was no evidence that Hitler was religious. The lack of religion in Mein Kampf, the closest thing we have to an ideological statement by Hitler, would suggest that he was probably atheist. Certainly Hitler's political philosphy, although rambling and incoherent at the best of times, would be philosophically difficult to reconcile with religious beliefs. Hitler believed in laws of nature rather than laws of God. If he was religious, I would suggest it was a vague, and not fully explored, form of paganism/mysticism.
I would certainly dispute Nazi belt buckles as evidence to suggest Hitler was religious. First, what do you mean by 'Nazi belt buckles'? The Nazi movement was a sprawling mess of ideas, an umbrella under which various strands sheltered. Whilst Hitler was clearly the central figure in the Nazi movement, beneath him was this myriad of competing power bases and organisations. These competing organisations tended to reflect their particular leader than their ultimate leader. If by Nazi belts you mean SA this would have reflected more Rohm; the SS would have reflected more Himmler, or maybe Heydrich depending on when this was; the Luftwaffe, Goring etc.
pious and self-righteous
detaching myself from my folly
atrocities which I have inflicted on others in God's name
I've read that Mao had the blood of 80 million on his hands,
I just need to know quite how evil and deluded I am for believing in God, that's all.
Matt
I was talking about organised religion itself and those leaders who have sought to use it as a tool to divide and inspire wars and killings. Having faith that there is a creator to this complex world doesn't make anyone a bad person in my eyes and my post was not intended to offend...but surely you must see how organised religion has been hijacked? The different faiths divide us with ancient doctrines that no longer hold relevance or stand up to scrutiny and in some cases are hateful.
Of course I can see that men (and it is always men) hijack religion for their own ends. One should never underestimate the greed, the over-arching ambition, the selfishness of mankind - and in particular the ends to which certain individuals will go in order to fulfil their cravings for power and their need for self-aggrandisement.but surely you must see how organised religion has been hijacked? The different faiths divide us with ancient doctrines that no longer hold relevance or stand up to scrutiny and in some cases are hateful.
Pickledseal . I cant really agree on the Bible aspect you point out ,which part do you refer too ? Old teastament is entirly a different creature to the New (most Biblical scholars often point out the massive differneces in YHWH alone !).
A lot of stories fables etc are very similar reworks of Bablonian (Gilgamesh /Samson for instance) or Greek tales which predate the Torah (which is teh first 5 books of what we call the old testament).
I do agree on the bashing part mind . Investigation of anything is always best . (Look at YHWH ,wife for instace or the similarites of Horus/Mithras and YHShinWH)