This is really funny, because it is true. Dont do bad things to others cuz its mean, not because your afraid that you will go to hell. And yeah, why fight over a desert. That is dumb. And even if he did promise the land to someone, they are dead. Also why do you need that land so bad, its not like you are going to be homeless anyway.
Gee, I’m not an atheist and I go along wholeheartedly with the strip. Religion is for the weak. But I still believe in God. Does that make me religious? I don’t think so…
I totally get the humor in this strip, and to an extent, the message is true, but it’s also false. Not every Christian is defined like they are in this strip and neither are atheists.
Hey guys, I have an idea…let’s point out how the strip doesn’t apply to all 6.6 billion people in the world….because it wasn’t so ridiculously obvious already that I’m reeeeally glad some good Samaritan pointed it out to me. Thanks Lyndsey. :-P
I am a christian but do not find the teaching of an everlasting hell in the bible nor am I motivated by it. I am vegan, exercise regularly, and would be, if drafted, a consciencious objector, all these I find as Biblical principles and they among many other principles have given me such a real and happy life, one i do not deserve yet can only be understood if one tastes it for themself. Christianity itself teaches that many will call me Lord, Lord, but He will say He never knew them, why, primarily because they lack the fruits of truly knowing the truth that would set them free from self. There are many moral people who are godless, and many moral people who are attempting to follow God. They cannot be lumped into a heap, one who makes the choice to learn from the Bible is on a path. The Bible says light shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Christians are people willing to learn more and change as they perceive the light. Some are farther on that path and some are just beginning. God delights to be recognized as the guide, just as a parent delights when their child asks them for help. God has given all to those who acknowledge Him as well as to those who acknowledge Him not,yet appreciates it when the gifts He bestows so abundantly and without strings are recognized as gifts and thanks is returned. The atheist is the child who takes all the credit to himself when all of it belongs to another. Yet the greatest of God’s gifts is the power to choose and all are free to choose to ignore and even ridicule. He is saddened for the narcissistic view they have of life when He wants only to widen their view, broaden their horizon, teach them a depth of love that can only be understood when we truly seek it from Him.
Enochs author Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 8:32pm
Two Responses:
Bison: why do people think that the statement “atheism is a religion” has import. Atheism is not about religion, it is about a disbelief in God.
Dianne: Am impressed you know how God thinks. Good for you.
It is true that atheist do not invoke God’s name, but an atheist ideology was the greatest force for misery in the world in the 20th Century (you know that communism thing). Due to communism, I would be willing to bet more people have been killed and oppressed in the name of atheism than in the name of religion.
What you’re referring to as “communism” was not a true communism, but a dictatorship.
Know what the crusades are? Ever READ “the bible”? You can count the people “god” or his followers have killed and see just how insane your “peaceful” religion is.
need i use more quotations?
Also find a definition for communism, I’m sure you don’t understand it.
I have to agree, with everyone else. Aaron, that is one of the dumbest and close-minded things I have ever heard. It doesn’t even make sense. I think you need to go look at the real world and its history, maybe even go to a library. Perhaps pick up a history book that wasn’t published and written in Texas.
Atheism, by definition, is a lack of a belief. A religion is an organized system of spiritual beliefs. Therefore, atheism is not a religion, any more than the denial of the existence of leprechauns is a religion.
And the notion that communist regimes ever killed “in the name of atheism” is too absurd for words. Communism is a political ideology, it has nothing to do with atheism or any other view regarding religion.
What is it with Christians? It’s as if they are offended by every single statement. You can’t make any generalizations about Christians because they all think differently. Basically I don’t care how loving or vengeful your god is, I simply don’t believe.
i see the humor, both in the cartoon and the ideological assumption by some of the responses as if their beliefs or non belief in this case is any more defined or provable. To disregard religion is tantamount to believing that humans are all there is to existence and reality. It’s ok not to believe in God, or religion for that matter, as there has been atrocities inflicted in its name, but those same atrocities were inflicted by us lowly and unknowing humans, and recognizing that is the first step to enlightenment. Religion can and has brought peace and prosperity to many people, why would one wish to discourage or diminish that? I hope you find the peace your looking for, but to simply dismiss religion entirely without absolute proof is not using reason or logic, it’s simply another form of racism. Peace.
I would be willing to bet that the 2 million that Pol Pot killed far surpassed the number of people who were killed in the Crusades. You do realize the the world’s population was far less in the time of the crusades as compared to what it was in the 20th century. Then you have Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Fidel, the Kims in Korea, etc. There is no comparison. Atheism has been the world’s greatest bringer of death and oppression thanks to communism.
The true intention of religion is to supplement spirituality, not to control your daily actions with fear of retribution by God for your misdeeds. Indeed, many people do not understand the true meaning of believing that God exists. A true believer does not need to fear God in order to be righteous, because that person loves God. A parallel can be made here with loving a person. You won’t fear someone you love, instead you fear disappointing that person. Your actions are a result of wanting to please that person.
Action without purpose tends to leave one cold and open to self satisfaction. This is similar to knowledge without reason. Many people I come in contact with in the United States have told me they believe God exists, but have no denomination. Most of the time they want the freedom to make up rules to fit their needs, which has an inherent problem.
Even if someone is a good judge of their actions, there are moments in life that require faith. Without a spiritual understanding of the world around your fears will control your actions.
Only the true intellect can see that reason and revelation are only two different forms of intelligence, each needing the other for completeness.
I feel rather tempted to enter in a statistical debate about how many human beings have died by the hands of atheists against god believers, or even christians, but that would be really stupid… Specially if its all about a strip. Anyway, after two thousand years, can someone even estimate a figure for the number of those slaughtered in the name of the Lord?
Aaron Durst Tuesday September 30th, 2008 @ 10:39am
“can someone even estimate a figure for the number of those slaughtered in the name of the Lord?”
Almost certainly less than the 70 million that Mao and Stalin killed.
The point of the strip was that Atheist are morally superior than religious people because “Atheist do not kill in the name of God”. That is false and ignores the history of communism. Every communist war was about forcefully spreading the ideology of communism. Intertwined with communism was the requirement that you had to accept atheism or be killed or oppressed. So in essence, yes atheist do kill and oppress people in the name of [eradicating] God.
I didn’t know this post was about Christians. Do only christians believe in god? Huh, looks like the other half of the world has got some splannin to do.
This has been a fun forum lately. Seems to be some anger running under the surface too. I like the idea of adding up the numbers of dead people. Statistics tell it all, don’t they? I’m sure your God is counting too.
But isn’t atheists attacking religion almost as bad as religions attacking each other. I mean I know your not planning to go to war but neither are any of the other religious sects in modern America. Except maybe the scientologists. So shouldn’t we all just live and let live and not harass people for having different beliefs or opinions.
Aaron before you start spouting that communism is intertwined with athesim maybe you should look up the definition of communism =]
or also the fact that there are CHRISTIAN Communists.
You’re limited on your facts and don’t take the time to research everything
I do see your point though
Stalin and Mao killed millions of people and forced them to believe what they believed
but in 2000 years that people have committed atrocities in the name of the lord far out weigh those in the past 80 years by people who were atheists.
Im not saying atheists are morally supieror cause thats not true
theres good and bad people everywhere you look
but saying that Communism and atheism are the same =]
First off, I am not a religious person. I find it rude to attack another persons religious beliefs, espicially when that attack is based upon a lie. Any atheist who reads the original comic strip should be appalled by the cartoonist use of a lie to attack other people’s religious beliefs.
For the record, I have read the communist manifesto. Communism is intertwined with atheism. Anyone who denies that is lying because it is an inconvenient truth to the message they want to spread. Here is Karl Mark on religion “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Here is Vladimer Lenin on atheism: “Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.”
The history of Soviet Union is that the whole Russia Orthodox church was wiped out with Bishops, Priest, and parishoners killed and oppressed for no reason other than they would not embrace atheism.
If anyone wants to do the statistics, they are more than welcome to. Atheism loses in a landslide. The world’s most prolific mass murders have almost all been atheist (Mao, Stalin, Lenin, the Kims, Pol Pot, Fidel, Ho Chi Mihn).
If you want to be an atheist, by all means be one. But don’t go around implying that atheist are morally superior because they have rejected God and hence do not kill in the name of God. Atheist do kill in the name of [eradicating] God, which has been proven by history. In fact, thanks to communism, atheism has become the world’s greatest spreader of death and oppression. If anyone wants to do a statistical analysis to prove me wrong, by all means go ahead, but you are almost certainly going to prove me right not wrong.
C’mon! I’m sure that god can be eradicated without killing people.
Besides, atheists still have a lot to go to match eliminating 90% of the population in a continent, thus eliminating several ethnic groups COMPLETELY.
@Aaron: Do you really, seriously expect us to believe that the atheism espoused by rational people in post-industrial nations, the atheism of the likes of Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins, bears *any* resemblance at all to the atheism of the horrible communist dictators of history? That’d be like trying to say that Christianity is bad because it’s a religion and therefore in the same category as some, I dunno, satanic death cult. Atheism was a part of communist regimes because it took away religion in order to better control people. Contemporary atheism just isn’t about that, and there isn’t a brush broad enough to make trick rational people into thinking otherwise.
Funny, the last comment by Raven. Aren’t those that use the crusades as a reason religion (Christianity) is bad comparing post-industrial Christianity to those of the dark ages? The biggest issue I have is that those people that scream about religion being pushed down their throat are the same ones that try to push their belief systems on others. Name calling always seems to be the outcome. On either side. Organized religion is naturally a way to control people. Christianity never started as a bunch of rules, it was to tell the good news of the Christ and to love all other people. Jesus teachings at times were hard to take “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” But at the same time, he loved all and commanded his disciples to do the same. He said that there was a wide path and gate that leads to hell and a narrow path and gate that leads to salvation, but he also spent time with thieves and prostitutes. If more Christians would live like Christ and a lot less “religious” there might be more Christians. You can believe or not believe, and you can tell me that, but remember, I have the right to tell you about Jesus love for you. You don’t have to listen, just like I don’t have to listen to you. But you are as free to share your belief system as I am. And vise versa.
TheGodlessSwami Thursday October 23rd, 2008 @ 8:19pm
Wait, so someone is seriously considering comparing the atrocities committed by Communists (according to him a.k.a. atheists) to the religious? First, should I include the Muslims or not? OK, let’s leave them out and leave some room for the religious to win this debate… then let’s count the numbers starting with the W’s war in Iraq because, you know…”God told him to…”, Balkan “ethnic cleansings”, Hitler (hmmm… let’s see 8 million right there?), murders by various White Supremacists (including the KKK, neoNazis), Isreali and Zionist caused deaths (oh, yes… they get included because Jews and Christians claim to believe in the same God.. but Jesus worshiped Yahweh, who’s actually the God incarnate of Jesus or is that Jesus is the Yahweh made flesh?…or…) in their reclamation of the Holy Land… I haven’t even left the 20th century… (and I haven’t even added up the vunderverks God does in the Bible) so why don’t you tally up your numbers and see if they stack up to the murders, slayings, killings and other death caused by, ordered by or done in the name of the Judeo-Christian God… and to the person who said Christianity is God trying to find me… why, so he can kill me or send me to hell? because based on God’s track record in the Bible, hell, the guy even let’s his own kid get tortured and murdered and sent to hell to fight his archenemy, those seem to be the only options he gives anyone
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours —
Stephen Roberts
Aaron you state, “Here is Karl Mark on religion “religion is the opiate of the massesâ€.”, yet you and most others who use this argument fail to realize Karl’s very next line is “the heart to a heartless world.”
“Religion is the opiate of the masses,the heart to a heartless worldâ€.
-Karl Marx
You also fail to realize that it these killings were not in the name of disbelief but in the name of control, it is a way of controlling a society by taking away their culture and making them mindless machines in the name of producing for the state. Very different from say hitler who wanted to kill jews because they were “christ-killers”
“Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man—state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.”
The Modern Atheist Dictator death vs. religious-caused deaths debate:
-The answer to this debate is that religions (mostly he western variety), next to disease, are the complete winners (or, erm, losers…) in the number of deaths. Both Aaron and the opposition in this forum have a point, but Aaron is contending that the communist leaders who died with the blood of millions on their hands in some way “outweigh” the atrocities religion has done. All the commies Aaron has noted were all from the 20th century- ONE century in the history of humankind. Religion has been here well over 3000 years-and some could even argue since the dawn of man- across all cultures around the globe. Religion is not necessarily evil itself, but it presents itself as a powerful language for people to do evil, and humans have had a lot more time to kill in the name of god than in the name of erasing god. So when it comes to Religion vs. Atheism, its not even a contest- religion has more blood on its hands. I have to agree with You_Fail on this one- evil communists (and Hitler) saw religion as a powerful agent of social control. The communists attempted to destroy it as a measure of increasing their capacity to control to populace.
Now to my next point: I think everyone on this forum is missing the point.
Atrocity itself is the evil beast here- not religion or atheism. The problem with atheism is that it enfranchises the idea of a god by posturing against it. Atheism without a moral code is analogous to god without religion- hence, the common argument against atheism “where do you derive your moral code?” Marx was right- religion is the heart of the masses, because sometimes we lose our own. This is why life stance philosophies, such as humanism, are so important; they behave as the social conscious of atheists. Humanism (the musing poet of atheism), being a relatively post-industrial idea, lends credit to the comment that modern atheism bears no resemblance to the atheism of the mid-1900’s, much like the modern catholic church bears no resemblance to itself a thousand years ago. Ideas evolve, people.
Okay. So I have a HUGGE problem with this comic strip and I am an atheist. The one thing I cannot stand is other atheists somehow getting this idea in their head that the fact that they are not part of a religion automatically makes them a better person.
Being an atheist does not make you smart. Any dumbass can stop believing in god…it is not some profound idea that takes a genius to realize.
Being an atheist does not make you hardworking. In fact most of the proud atheists are run into are fat, lazy slobs that rant on the internet all day.
Being an atheist does not make you a good person. History can tell us very clearly that an Atheist is just as able to become a mass murderer as a religious leader.
Part of being an Atheist, for me, is being an individual. Stop trying to lump us all together, and stop taking credit for the triumphs of great people who also happened to not believe in god.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 11:53am
This is really funny, because it is true. Dont do bad things to others cuz its mean, not because your afraid that you will go to hell. And yeah, why fight over a desert. That is dumb. And even if he did promise the land to someone, they are dead. Also why do you need that land so bad, its not like you are going to be homeless anyway.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 12:16pm
Funny stuff. People who makes choices for logical reasons rather than in the name of religion are using what God gave them – a brain! :)
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 6:07pm
Gee, I’m not an atheist and I go along wholeheartedly with the strip. Religion is for the weak. But I still believe in God. Does that make me religious? I don’t think so…
Monday March 15th, 2010 @ 9:06pm
please research a definition for the word “religion”.
Saturday March 27th, 2010 @ 9:03pm
Did you look it up “Making..”?
Religion,N; Def: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons
So, no believing in a Higher Power doesn’t alone make you religious. I don’t believe in a higher power and I still know that.
Sunday March 28th, 2010 @ 5:26pm
Buddhism is a religion, yet they don’t worship any god(s). Does that answer your question?
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 7:08pm
I totally get the humor in this strip, and to an extent, the message is true, but it’s also false. Not every Christian is defined like they are in this strip and neither are atheists.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 7:20pm
Hey guys, I have an idea…let’s point out how the strip doesn’t apply to all 6.6 billion people in the world….because it wasn’t so ridiculously obvious already that I’m reeeeally glad some good Samaritan pointed it out to me. Thanks Lyndsey. :-P
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 7:37pm
good Samaritan huh? Its funny that you would use
a biblical parable about how we should love even
those we don’t like………
Atheism is a religion as well. Hench this “evangelical” website that seek to “convert”
you to their way of thinking.
Monday March 15th, 2010 @ 9:07pm
“atheism is a religion as well”
also, the absence of sound is a noise? Quit the shit please.
Tuesday March 30th, 2010 @ 9:02am
0 is a number??
Tuesday March 30th, 2010 @ 7:11pm
Fred: That’s the worst comeback ever, for the sake of Atheism.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 7:41pm
I am a christian but do not find the teaching of an everlasting hell in the bible nor am I motivated by it. I am vegan, exercise regularly, and would be, if drafted, a consciencious objector, all these I find as Biblical principles and they among many other principles have given me such a real and happy life, one i do not deserve yet can only be understood if one tastes it for themself. Christianity itself teaches that many will call me Lord, Lord, but He will say He never knew them, why, primarily because they lack the fruits of truly knowing the truth that would set them free from self. There are many moral people who are godless, and many moral people who are attempting to follow God. They cannot be lumped into a heap, one who makes the choice to learn from the Bible is on a path. The Bible says light shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Christians are people willing to learn more and change as they perceive the light. Some are farther on that path and some are just beginning. God delights to be recognized as the guide, just as a parent delights when their child asks them for help. God has given all to those who acknowledge Him as well as to those who acknowledge Him not,yet appreciates it when the gifts He bestows so abundantly and without strings are recognized as gifts and thanks is returned. The atheist is the child who takes all the credit to himself when all of it belongs to another. Yet the greatest of God’s gifts is the power to choose and all are free to choose to ignore and even ridicule. He is saddened for the narcissistic view they have of life when He wants only to widen their view, broaden their horizon, teach them a depth of love that can only be understood when we truly seek it from Him.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 8:32pm
Two Responses:
Bison: why do people think that the statement “atheism is a religion” has import. Atheism is not about religion, it is about a disbelief in God.
Dianne: Am impressed you know how God thinks. Good for you.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 8:41pm
It is true that atheist do not invoke God’s name, but an atheist ideology was the greatest force for misery in the world in the 20th Century (you know that communism thing). Due to communism, I would be willing to bet more people have been killed and oppressed in the name of atheism than in the name of religion.
Monday March 15th, 2010 @ 9:11pm
What you’re referring to as “communism” was not a true communism, but a dictatorship.
Know what the crusades are? Ever READ “the bible”? You can count the people “god” or his followers have killed and see just how insane your “peaceful” religion is.
need i use more quotations?
Also find a definition for communism, I’m sure you don’t understand it.
Saturday March 27th, 2010 @ 9:08pm
I have to agree, with everyone else. Aaron, that is one of the dumbest and close-minded things I have ever heard. It doesn’t even make sense. I think you need to go look at the real world and its history, maybe even go to a library. Perhaps pick up a history book that wasn’t published and written in Texas.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 8:47pm
Aaron, idiot>=Aaron the Crusades numb nuts, game over.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 8:59pm
Atheism, by definition, is a lack of a belief. A religion is an organized system of spiritual beliefs. Therefore, atheism is not a religion, any more than the denial of the existence of leprechauns is a religion.
And the notion that communist regimes ever killed “in the name of atheism” is too absurd for words. Communism is a political ideology, it has nothing to do with atheism or any other view regarding religion.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 9:09pm
What is it with Christians? It’s as if they are offended by every single statement. You can’t make any generalizations about Christians because they all think differently. Basically I don’t care how loving or vengeful your god is, I simply don’t believe.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 9:22pm
i see the humor, both in the cartoon and the ideological assumption by some of the responses as if their beliefs or non belief in this case is any more defined or provable. To disregard religion is tantamount to believing that humans are all there is to existence and reality. It’s ok not to believe in God, or religion for that matter, as there has been atrocities inflicted in its name, but those same atrocities were inflicted by us lowly and unknowing humans, and recognizing that is the first step to enlightenment. Religion can and has brought peace and prosperity to many people, why would one wish to discourage or diminish that? I hope you find the peace your looking for, but to simply dismiss religion entirely without absolute proof is not using reason or logic, it’s simply another form of racism. Peace.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 10:11pm
totally agreed! no wonder priests r loosing their religion while atheists are becoming quietly religious.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 10:21pm
I would be willing to bet that the 2 million that Pol Pot killed far surpassed the number of people who were killed in the Crusades. You do realize the the world’s population was far less in the time of the crusades as compared to what it was in the 20th century. Then you have Stalin, Lenin, Mao, Fidel, the Kims in Korea, etc. There is no comparison. Atheism has been the world’s greatest bringer of death and oppression thanks to communism.
Tuesday March 30th, 2010 @ 9:08am
Yep, but im working on something better for the next time
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 10:32pm
religion is just another idea on the brim of fading away to become just another subject from a history book. like how the world was flat.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 10:44pm
The true intention of religion is to supplement spirituality, not to control your daily actions with fear of retribution by God for your misdeeds. Indeed, many people do not understand the true meaning of believing that God exists. A true believer does not need to fear God in order to be righteous, because that person loves God. A parallel can be made here with loving a person. You won’t fear someone you love, instead you fear disappointing that person. Your actions are a result of wanting to please that person.
Action without purpose tends to leave one cold and open to self satisfaction. This is similar to knowledge without reason. Many people I come in contact with in the United States have told me they believe God exists, but have no denomination. Most of the time they want the freedom to make up rules to fit their needs, which has an inherent problem.
Even if someone is a good judge of their actions, there are moments in life that require faith. Without a spiritual understanding of the world around your fears will control your actions.
Only the true intellect can see that reason and revelation are only two different forms of intelligence, each needing the other for completeness.
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 10:45pm
For clarity:
“I have come in to contact with people in the United States who have told me they believe God exists..”
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 11:24pm
I feel rather tempted to enter in a statistical debate about how many human beings have died by the hands of atheists against god believers, or even christians, but that would be really stupid… Specially if its all about a strip. Anyway, after two thousand years, can someone even estimate a figure for the number of those slaughtered in the name of the Lord?
Monday September 29th, 2008 @ 11:39pm
KW… No, it makes you a deist!
Tuesday September 30th, 2008 @ 10:39am
“can someone even estimate a figure for the number of those slaughtered in the name of the Lord?”
Almost certainly less than the 70 million that Mao and Stalin killed.
The point of the strip was that Atheist are morally superior than religious people because “Atheist do not kill in the name of God”. That is false and ignores the history of communism. Every communist war was about forcefully spreading the ideology of communism. Intertwined with communism was the requirement that you had to accept atheism or be killed or oppressed. So in essence, yes atheist do kill and oppress people in the name of [eradicating] God.
Tuesday September 30th, 2008 @ 12:59pm
What people usually don’t see is that hardly anybody is killed *in the name of atheism*…
Wednesday October 1st, 2008 @ 1:31am
Undeniable proof that God, if he exists, prefers those who lead their life without believing in him/her.
Wednesday October 1st, 2008 @ 1:38am
I didn’t know this post was about Christians. Do only christians believe in god? Huh, looks like the other half of the world has got some splannin to do.
Wednesday October 1st, 2008 @ 8:15pm
Most religious folk that visit this site are christian.
Thursday October 2nd, 2008 @ 1:34pm
Atheism is as much a religion as not collecting stamps is a hobby.
Friday October 3rd, 2008 @ 9:10am
This has been a fun forum lately. Seems to be some anger running under the surface too. I like the idea of adding up the numbers of dead people. Statistics tell it all, don’t they? I’m sure your God is counting too.
Saturday October 4th, 2008 @ 9:57pm
But isn’t atheists attacking religion almost as bad as religions attacking each other. I mean I know your not planning to go to war but neither are any of the other religious sects in modern America. Except maybe the scientologists. So shouldn’t we all just live and let live and not harass people for having different beliefs or opinions.
Monday October 6th, 2008 @ 7:21pm
Aaron before you start spouting that communism is intertwined with athesim maybe you should look up the definition of communism =]
or also the fact that there are CHRISTIAN Communists.
You’re limited on your facts and don’t take the time to research everything
I do see your point though
Stalin and Mao killed millions of people and forced them to believe what they believed
but in 2000 years that people have committed atrocities in the name of the lord far out weigh those in the past 80 years by people who were atheists.
Im not saying atheists are morally supieror cause thats not true
theres good and bad people everywhere you look
but saying that Communism and atheism are the same =]
Monday October 6th, 2008 @ 7:37pm
haha sorry left out a part
but saying that Communism and atheism are the same is just wrong** =]
Tuesday October 7th, 2008 @ 7:25am
Kevin, we’re here to debate and talk about it; not to fight or kill.
Wednesday October 8th, 2008 @ 10:17am
First off, I am not a religious person. I find it rude to attack another persons religious beliefs, espicially when that attack is based upon a lie. Any atheist who reads the original comic strip should be appalled by the cartoonist use of a lie to attack other people’s religious beliefs.
For the record, I have read the communist manifesto. Communism is intertwined with atheism. Anyone who denies that is lying because it is an inconvenient truth to the message they want to spread. Here is Karl Mark on religion “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Here is Vladimer Lenin on atheism: “Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.”
The history of Soviet Union is that the whole Russia Orthodox church was wiped out with Bishops, Priest, and parishoners killed and oppressed for no reason other than they would not embrace atheism.
If anyone wants to do the statistics, they are more than welcome to. Atheism loses in a landslide. The world’s most prolific mass murders have almost all been atheist (Mao, Stalin, Lenin, the Kims, Pol Pot, Fidel, Ho Chi Mihn).
If you want to be an atheist, by all means be one. But don’t go around implying that atheist are morally superior because they have rejected God and hence do not kill in the name of God. Atheist do kill in the name of [eradicating] God, which has been proven by history. In fact, thanks to communism, atheism has become the world’s greatest spreader of death and oppression. If anyone wants to do a statistical analysis to prove me wrong, by all means go ahead, but you are almost certainly going to prove me right not wrong.
Wednesday October 15th, 2008 @ 1:12am
C’mon! I’m sure that god can be eradicated without killing people.
Besides, atheists still have a lot to go to match eliminating 90% of the population in a continent, thus eliminating several ethnic groups COMPLETELY.
Wednesday October 22nd, 2008 @ 9:13pm
@Aaron: Do you really, seriously expect us to believe that the atheism espoused by rational people in post-industrial nations, the atheism of the likes of Douglas Adams and Richard Dawkins, bears *any* resemblance at all to the atheism of the horrible communist dictators of history? That’d be like trying to say that Christianity is bad because it’s a religion and therefore in the same category as some, I dunno, satanic death cult. Atheism was a part of communist regimes because it took away religion in order to better control people. Contemporary atheism just isn’t about that, and there isn’t a brush broad enough to make trick rational people into thinking otherwise.
Thursday October 23rd, 2008 @ 5:36pm
Funny, the last comment by Raven. Aren’t those that use the crusades as a reason religion (Christianity) is bad comparing post-industrial Christianity to those of the dark ages? The biggest issue I have is that those people that scream about religion being pushed down their throat are the same ones that try to push their belief systems on others. Name calling always seems to be the outcome. On either side. Organized religion is naturally a way to control people. Christianity never started as a bunch of rules, it was to tell the good news of the Christ and to love all other people. Jesus teachings at times were hard to take “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me.” But at the same time, he loved all and commanded his disciples to do the same. He said that there was a wide path and gate that leads to hell and a narrow path and gate that leads to salvation, but he also spent time with thieves and prostitutes. If more Christians would live like Christ and a lot less “religious” there might be more Christians. You can believe or not believe, and you can tell me that, but remember, I have the right to tell you about Jesus love for you. You don’t have to listen, just like I don’t have to listen to you. But you are as free to share your belief system as I am. And vise versa.
Thursday October 23rd, 2008 @ 5:38pm
Christianity is not about “religion.” Religion is man’s attempt to reach God. Christianity (Jesus Christ) is God’s attempt to reach man.
Thursday October 23rd, 2008 @ 8:19pm
Wait, so someone is seriously considering comparing the atrocities committed by Communists (according to him a.k.a. atheists) to the religious? First, should I include the Muslims or not? OK, let’s leave them out and leave some room for the religious to win this debate… then let’s count the numbers starting with the W’s war in Iraq because, you know…”God told him to…”, Balkan “ethnic cleansings”, Hitler (hmmm… let’s see 8 million right there?), murders by various White Supremacists (including the KKK, neoNazis), Isreali and Zionist caused deaths (oh, yes… they get included because Jews and Christians claim to believe in the same God.. but Jesus worshiped Yahweh, who’s actually the God incarnate of Jesus or is that Jesus is the Yahweh made flesh?…or…) in their reclamation of the Holy Land… I haven’t even left the 20th century… (and I haven’t even added up the vunderverks God does in the Bible) so why don’t you tally up your numbers and see if they stack up to the murders, slayings, killings and other death caused by, ordered by or done in the name of the Judeo-Christian God… and to the person who said Christianity is God trying to find me… why, so he can kill me or send me to hell? because based on God’s track record in the Bible, hell, the guy even let’s his own kid get tortured and murdered and sent to hell to fight his archenemy, those seem to be the only options he gives anyone
Thursday November 6th, 2008 @ 2:17pm
To the arrogant user of the user name veritas:
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours —
Stephen Roberts
Sunday April 5th, 2009 @ 8:51am
I’m glad someone will finally try to get the holy rollers off of there asses
Saturday April 18th, 2009 @ 1:19pm
Aaron you state, “Here is Karl Mark on religion “religion is the opiate of the massesâ€.”, yet you and most others who use this argument fail to realize Karl’s very next line is “the heart to a heartless world.”
“Religion is the opiate of the masses,the heart to a heartless worldâ€.
-Karl Marx
You also fail to realize that it these killings were not in the name of disbelief but in the name of control, it is a way of controlling a society by taking away their culture and making them mindless machines in the name of producing for the state. Very different from say hitler who wanted to kill jews because they were “christ-killers”
Saturday April 18th, 2009 @ 1:21pm
“Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man—state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.”
This is his exact words.
Monday May 18th, 2009 @ 3:00am
Hi everyone,
The Modern Atheist Dictator death vs. religious-caused deaths debate:
-The answer to this debate is that religions (mostly he western variety), next to disease, are the complete winners (or, erm, losers…) in the number of deaths. Both Aaron and the opposition in this forum have a point, but Aaron is contending that the communist leaders who died with the blood of millions on their hands in some way “outweigh” the atrocities religion has done. All the commies Aaron has noted were all from the 20th century- ONE century in the history of humankind. Religion has been here well over 3000 years-and some could even argue since the dawn of man- across all cultures around the globe. Religion is not necessarily evil itself, but it presents itself as a powerful language for people to do evil, and humans have had a lot more time to kill in the name of god than in the name of erasing god. So when it comes to Religion vs. Atheism, its not even a contest- religion has more blood on its hands. I have to agree with You_Fail on this one- evil communists (and Hitler) saw religion as a powerful agent of social control. The communists attempted to destroy it as a measure of increasing their capacity to control to populace.
Now to my next point: I think everyone on this forum is missing the point.
Atrocity itself is the evil beast here- not religion or atheism. The problem with atheism is that it enfranchises the idea of a god by posturing against it. Atheism without a moral code is analogous to god without religion- hence, the common argument against atheism “where do you derive your moral code?” Marx was right- religion is the heart of the masses, because sometimes we lose our own. This is why life stance philosophies, such as humanism, are so important; they behave as the social conscious of atheists. Humanism (the musing poet of atheism), being a relatively post-industrial idea, lends credit to the comment that modern atheism bears no resemblance to the atheism of the mid-1900’s, much like the modern catholic church bears no resemblance to itself a thousand years ago. Ideas evolve, people.
Monday May 18th, 2009 @ 3:01am
*consciousness (16th line)
I have to correct myself, lest some ass on the forum questions my literacy.
pc
7jackals
Monday March 15th, 2010 @ 9:12pm
lolwut?
Sunday January 23rd, 2011 @ 10:52pm
So Athiests are loved by something that doesn’t exist to them
Wait what
Friday September 9th, 2011 @ 5:38pm
Okay. So I have a HUGGE problem with this comic strip and I am an atheist. The one thing I cannot stand is other atheists somehow getting this idea in their head that the fact that they are not part of a religion automatically makes them a better person.
Being an atheist does not make you smart. Any dumbass can stop believing in god…it is not some profound idea that takes a genius to realize.
Being an atheist does not make you hardworking. In fact most of the proud atheists are run into are fat, lazy slobs that rant on the internet all day.
Being an atheist does not make you a good person. History can tell us very clearly that an Atheist is just as able to become a mass murderer as a religious leader.
Part of being an Atheist, for me, is being an individual. Stop trying to lump us all together, and stop taking credit for the triumphs of great people who also happened to not believe in god.