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The Forum > Article Comments > Atheistic and Christian faiths - a contest of delusions? > Comments

Atheistic and Christian faiths - a contest of delusions? : Comments

By Rowan Forster, published 15/3/2010

It's legitimate to ask what and where are the atheistic equivalents of Christian welfare agencies.

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Laughing my head off! Classic Christian article. Funny how you never read articles by atheists that use that line of reasoning. I imagine it would sound something like this:

Matthew Smith is by far the nicest guy I know. Every week he gives to charity. He smiles at everyone he passes in the street. And guess what? He's an atheist.

This other guy I know, Jack Brown, is also a really top bloke. He is the CEO of a company that donates 5% of their profit to starving children in Africa. Every second Friday he makes cupcakes and brings them to work to share with his colleagues. And guess what? He too is an atheist.

Hmm. Both really nice people and both atheists... Coincidence? I doubt it.

But guess what? This other guy I know, Chris Davis, is a really horrible man. He swears and gambles and sleeps with prostitutes every weekend. And, unsurprisingly, what do you know - he's a Christian.

So that proves it. Atheists are good people and Christians are evil
Posted by Michael Gate, Thursday, 25 March 2010 9:15:48 PM
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@rpg: i am also constantly amazed by this current generation ... find them the least disciplined of any generation so far

That is a bit rich. Last I checked, the current generation were the major supporters of that big fat tax, the CPRS. They are seemingly prepared to take a financial hit now so things will be better in the future. Yet you, you want it all now, the future be dammed. And here you are calling them ill disciplined.
Posted by rstuart, Thursday, 25 March 2010 9:47:02 PM
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Grim,
>>I would agree that BB was being rude and personal<<
Well, this kind of thing was also on my mind when I wrote that Graham “deserves some appreciation” for being our “host” (not "boss"). Of course, “having a little trouble” with others' views, including Graham’s, is normal in these debates, and certainly not disrespectful.

Severin,
>>I ask, do you place the Christian religion as the one truth faith above all others?<<
I do not know what you mean by “one truth faith”, but yes, I place world-views compatible with what is known as Christian tenets and ethics above those which are incompatible with them. Please remember you asked for my PERSONAL opinion. It is supported by “evidence”, that is convincing to me - and much of it to many other educated Christians - but certainly not universally convincing. (Few opinions pertaining to world-views and/or personal experience are.)

I was not offering a “legitimate argument” nor “wishing to divert the debate”. I just wanted to explain my answer to the question you asked, and I obviously failed.
Posted by George, Friday, 26 March 2010 12:29:41 AM
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Shadow Minister,
>>the same treatment was dealt out to students … and anyone that did not tow the party line<<
I never claimed that the only people, discriminated, prosecuted or jailed by the Communists were those with religious convictions/affiliations.

However, the great number of people that were discriminated - for instance sacked and transferred to menial jobs - solely because of their faith were not asked to "tow the party line", whatever that means, but were punished just because they were seen attending church, baptise their child, etc, or because they refused to publicly "renounce their faith". For instance, for a student it meant to proclaim in front of a committe (that decided about his/her admission to further studies), that he/she "has settled the question of his/her religion" (my verbatim traslation). Of course, this was not a problem for an atheist student, whatever his/her political convictions, and, of course, he/she could have had othern problems.

>>Lenin and Stalin would have been merciless in rooting out religion<<
It does not follow that since they were not successful, they did not have the intention (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Orthodox_Church#The_Stalin_era). Anyhow, I do not understand what you would consider a successful “rooting out of religion”, what historical precedent you had in mind.

>>(I) am old enough to have read reasonably extensively<<
And I would add “and lucky enough not to have had to live there”. I also read “reasonably extensively” about the Nazi era, but I know that whatever insight I gained about its cruelty, it is inferior to that gained by those who lived or even suffered through it.

However, I agree that my defense of the memory of the victims - who cannot speak for themselves any more, if they ever could - was just a reaction, indeed a side issue as you say. You will remember, I entered this thread only to point out to Graham the difference between the THEORY of Marxism, subscribed to also by many decent people, atheist or not, and the PRACTICE of Marx-Leninism, where I could offer personal insights.

AJ Philips,
ditto
Posted by George, Friday, 26 March 2010 2:03:11 AM
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Graham,
The only way to emphasize a word on this OLO is to capitalise it, which is often interpreted as shouting. I do not understand much of programming, but could it be too difficult to enable the use of italics or bold-face?
Posted by George, Friday, 26 March 2010 2:04:33 AM
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GrahamY proposed what I thought was an interesting and legitimate study:

"...It would also be interesting to do a study to see whether atheists were any less represented in charitable work than Christians,Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus."

I think in our own small way, the posters on this thread could contribute to a very similar experiment by going to this thread:

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?article=10213&page=4

offering their opinion and proclaiming their belief -or non-belief.
So far, I'm sure of at least 3 posters being atheists (including moi) arguing for compassion, and 2 Christians arguing against.
Register your vote now!
Posted by Grim, Friday, 26 March 2010 6:00:37 AM
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