david f

the history of the Catholic church along with others is no easier to defend than the likes of Hitler, Stalin and Mao or todays abortion industry. They all lacked respect for human life. One can not deny that countries such as England, America and Australia who largely embraced the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ prospered greatly. They are still prospering somewhat today although those with secular agendas have largely destroyed the moral basis for that prosperity. They have left large numbers of young people without a moral compass. These are still the countries people want to immigrate to despite their declining standards. They are still a far better alternative to the godless Communist countries such as North Korea or the Islamic States.

YOu write 'Under Christianity the life of the individual had little worth.'
Tell that to the millions who have been fed by Christians or those who built the first hospitals and schools in Western Nations. Also tell the unborn how much worth they have under secular dogmatism.

The Nazis and Marxists were fierce opponents, and killed each other in great numbers when given the opportunity. But they had much more in common that either would care to admit. Both held totalitarian collectivist ideologies, subordinating the individual to the state in the name of elevating the “common interest above self interest” (Hitler’s phrase). For Hitler the highest expression of collective interest lay with the Aryan race, whereas for Marx it was the Proletariat, but each held as core values the subordination of individuals to the collective. Although the Nazis did not want to abolish private property, they sought to control it, and brought industry under the control of the State.

Kenny
Hitler was elected in a free, open election. Elections may be a necessary part of the protection against tyranny, but other things are needed too – free speech and a free press; separation of government and the judiciary, and a judiciary willing to enforce the law; protection of individual freedoms and rights and respect for property to name a few.

Dear runner,

The Catholic Church and the Protestant Lutheran church were united in supporting the crimes of Hitler. The Nazis could support mass murder by citing the hate sermons of Martin Luther in the Volkischer Beobachter, the Nazi paper. Both Catholic and Protestant churches supported witch burning and other atrocities to those they thought of as heretics. Michael Servetus, the scientist, was burned at the stake in Protestant Geneva. Giordano Bruno, the scientist, was killed by the Inquisition in Catholic Italy. The Protestant Church is as guilty of criminal intolerance as the Catholic church. Fortunately separation of church and religion has curbed the crimes of both branches of Christian superstition. The Catholic and Protestant churches do not have the power for evil that they used to have.

yes David f you have addressed the atrocities done by the 'çhurch' in the opposition to the teachings of Christ but you fail to acknowledge the many more atrocities done even this day in the name of communism, marxism , secularism and every other godless ism. To also blindly ignore that Christians have fed the poor, were the first to build hospitals and schools. Rather selective with your anti church view.

Hmmm, ups and downs with this article- and I might add I am not actually a supporter of marxism at all.

Firstly, the death rates; what kind of deaths are we talking about here? Persecution? Genocide? Amount of dead during civil wars? Death penalty for general crimes? Failure to deliver social services? All the above? I don't doubt most of those countries can chalk these up to persecution, but without clarification I must ask.

On Marxism itself, I should remind everyone that Marxism is a throwback to older times, and is essentially a modified Feudal system with the reform that the wealth is recirculated back to the workers rather than the king. It is simply too primitive and not a relevant ideology in today's world, and most self-proclaimed Communist countries clearly don't practice it, and arguably never actually did (generally, they are socialist only compared to our own countries). Most of these 'communist' movements were recieved as 'pro worker, anti-royalist' movements, and little more.

Otherwise I agree with Kenny- though I should point out that communism doesn't necessarily exclude democracy, but is more a case that the vast majority of democracies don't want to be communist and vote to be freer market countries.

Dear runner,

I didn't fail to address the atrocities of Marxism. I wrote the article we're commenting on which is about the Marxist murders and the Communist Manifesto which justified those murders.I am conscious of the atrocities of Marxism and of Christianity. It might be a better world if both murderous institutions disappeared. The Marxist nonsense is like the Christian nonsense. Original Sin is the advent of capitalism. Satan is in the form of the bourgeoisie. The millennium is the eventual classless society. Marxism and Christianity are two similar forms of superstition. Away with both.