"One need only look at the Soviet Union and its Gulags, and at China and its repressions, to see what happens to a society which steers by the moral compass of atheism instead of religion."
What a bogus remark. Counterfeit all the way.
Atheism is not communism. It is not an ideology. It has no "moral compass"--nor any body of dogma. Atheism has no theory of politics--no theory of ethics. It is a single solitary idea concerning the matter of God's existence. This flippancy of association is old...and very very tiresome.
I am the first to assert that Communism is an ideology which shares the shame and ignominy of many religions as regards cruelty and mistreatment of humans. As an ideology at a time of Revolution it was doubly horrible.
The nature of Totalitarian ideologies is that there is a certain fanaticism based on a pretention to having Absolute Truth. Thus (as did Christianity, Islam, and others before them), the Communists set out to purge the population of Totalitarian ideologies anathema to their own Political Absolutism. The religious nature of Communism made it inevitable that there would be much cleansing and purging of those who threatened their power base with Absolutist ideologies; and the huge population base made it certain that the murders would reach monstrous proportions.
It is a tragedy of history that one of the tenets of the Communist dogma was that Totalitarian Religious Absolutism threatened their own fanatical aspirations (as it did). But this was a tenet of Communism not of atheism. Atheism is a single solitary belief. It has no body of dogma, no politics, no agenda.
Humanists are atheists, too; and the world will wait a very long time before a Humanist communique informs the press that the California Humanist Association is proud to take responsibility for the recent bombing in which 23 children had their limbs blown to shreds on the way to school. Humanism has tenets, a body of dogma, and guiding principles, also. But it does not steer by the "moral compass" of atheism--because there is no such thing.
Humanists are atheists, Communists are atheists, many teachers and doctors and lovers are atheists. But atheists are simply people who do not believe in God's existence. I am sure there are an infinitude of "moral compasses" amongst atheists. But there is no "atheist" moral compass, as you know.
If you wish to place Communism alongside the cruelty and inhumanity of the Churches, I am with you on that. But an atheist is not a Communist. Rather, a Communist is an atheist (as he is a person, likely also a being with eyes and ears, and someone who believes the world is round). You either get the distinction or you don't; but I suspect that most humanists would be a bit pissed at your backhanded accusations of their having a "moral compass" steered toward murder and torture.
If you want to criticise Communism alongside of criticism of Catholicism (for instance)--go ahead. But remember: A Communist might believe in atheism. But atheism is not a belief in Communism. Atheism is for and against absolutely nothing except the existence of God. It is a naked and a neutral belief. So you can either be fair, decent, and above board...or you can launch some misdirection and obfuscation. I have said sufficient that nobody can pretend ignorance of the matter... |
