“Militant Atheists” are very vocal about their beliefs.
“Militant Christians” blow up Oklahoma government buildings and kill abortion doctors.
20
Jun
07
6 Responses to “Juxtaposition”
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“Militant Atheists” are very vocal about their beliefs.
“Militant Christians” blow up Oklahoma government buildings and kill abortion doctors.
A lot of religious people have been killed by non-religious people. I’d call the Communist Party of the Soviet Union “Militant Athiests”.
That sword cuts both ways.
Ryan
Sure, but those Communists didn’t kill them because they’re Atheists, but for other reasons.
The post was more about the use of the word “militant” used to describe vocal atheists, but if used for some other group weapons and violence would be involved.
After Marx dubbed religion “the opiate of the masses”, a major goal of the Communist Party (worldwide, not just the USSR) was to break the various organized churches. To accomplish that goal, priests and lay clergy were persecuted and killed. Church facilities were firebombed. Lands were seized. Icons, holy writings, and artifacts were taken and destroyed.
Today in China there are people in the worst imaginable conditions in jail for possession of a bible. The Communist Party of the People’s Republic continues to assert an obligation to use the power of the state to break religious faith, including the imprisonment and execution of many Falun Gong members.
These actions are taken EXPLICITLY by organizations dedicated to the theory and practice of atheism because propaganda and persuasion was insufficient to change people’s behavior. So they ended up using guns & explosives.
I think “militancy” is a dangerous term, which is often overused and stretched beyond the breaking point. If anything most “militant Christians” who are just really passionate about their causes and who would never, ever do harm to another person. But calling a motivated & passionate activist a “militant” reduces them to the role of terrorist.
Unfortunate.
Ryan
Those are, at most tangentially atheist. It could totally be argued that Communism in those cases is just another belief structure based on little evidence. The religious persecution came out of the Communism, not simply atheism.
Being an atheist is certainly no guarantee of being a good person, but the same is true of the supposed “source of charity and goodness” belief in a greater power.
Dawkins goes into a lot more detail in The God Delusion.
But again, my post came about because I’ve been called a “militant Atheist” by people. At first I was fine with it, but then realized: I don’t own a gun. I’m not physically attacking anyone. I don’t mean anybody any harm. “Militant” is a misnomer, and one that I see spreading quite a bit. I’m “vocal”.
Nobody calls vocal Christians “militant” unless they also blow up buildings or kill abortion doctors.
Edited to correct early-morning spelling mistakes and curiously omitted words
I JUST WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THE MAN THAT BLEW UP THE OKLAHOMA GOVERMENT BUILDINGS (TIMOTHY MCVIE) WAS AN ATHEIST HIS WHOLE LIFE. HE HATED RELIGION AND GOVERMENT. HE SAID IT MANY TIMES IN HIS WRITINGS AND TO HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS. THE ONLY TIME IN HIS WHOLE LIFE HE SPOKE TO A PRIEST WAS ON HIS DEATH BED RIGHT BEFORE HE WAS PUT TO DEATH. BUT I GUESS IT IS EASIER TO PASS HIM OFF AS A MILITANT CHRISTIAN THAN TO EDUCATE YOURSELF WITH THE TRUTH. LOOK IT UP EVERY THING I JUST WROTE IS 100% TRUE. CNN TRIED TO RUN WITH THAT IDEA RIGHT AFTER THE BOMBING BECAUSE IT WAS GOOD FOR RATINGS. THE NEXT DAY THEY CORRECTED THEIR STORY IN A 10 SECOND CLIP. BUT IT WAS TO LATE THE DAMAGE WAS DONE.
Firstly, all-caps is shouting.
Secondly, you’re wrong. In this interview from TIME McVeigh professes a belief in God. They ask him flat out if he believes in God and he says “Yes, I believe in a God”.
He also says “I was raised Catholic. I was confirmed Catholic (received the sacrament of confirmation). Through my military years, I sort of lost touch with the religion. I never really picked it up, however I do maintain core beliefs.”