This is great stuff, guys. I'm enjoying this "comments" forum more than the articles themselves.

Quick note, Francis: what characterised Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, Hitler etc. was an absolute and unrelenting belief that their view of the world was correct, and that dissenters deserved death at the minimum.

Linking tyranny to a system of belief (or lack thereof) is specious. Once someone decides not to allow other points of view to interfere with their ideology, they won't hesitate to punish disbelievers. It goes for atheistic dictators as much as it goes for devout inquisitors, Nazi-sympathising popes, anti-West mullahs and Anglican paedophiles.

And Rumsfeld, of course.

Sancho,

Who are the Nazi-sympathising popes?.....your understanding of history seems really immature......read Rabbi David Dalin's latest book on the so-called Nazi-sympathising pope......the Rabbi might just shock you.

Welcome to the world that any serious Christian has faced for over 20 years.

http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v25/i4/editorial.asp?vPrint=1

Tyrant dictators like Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot, etc may have been atheists in some respects but were not about democracy nor a secular democracy. Their teddy came from an extreme ideology where in fact they themselves assumed the position of an omnipotent teddy ....... not unlike any such theocratic playpen. None were promoting atheism as such because their prime motivation, and include Hitler here, was political, nationalist and totalitarian. To associate atheism and freethought with such activity is as absurd as it is untrue.

In the case of both Hitler and Stalin there is strong evidence to say they were heavily influenced by religion and were all products of their societies. These influences would have shaped their attitudes and behaviour which in turn would have influenced their reaction to these powerful 'father' figures. People drilled in accepting, believing, in faith, and unthinking obedience to an all powerful 'teddy' figure is all part of the same picture.

With regard Hitler, one only has to read from his own writings to appreciate that Hitler's God equals the same God of the Christian Bible. Much of his philosophy came from the Bible, and more influentially, from the Christian Social movement. i.e. The German Christian Social movement, remarkably, resembles the Christian Right movement in the US of A today.

e.g.
"Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith . . . we need believing people."

Adolph Hitler, April 26, 1933

Of course the Christian books, television documentaries, and sermons will preach of Hitler's "evil" and seek to eliminate Hitler's teddy for their Christian audiences. When one examines the record of the Catholic church and its attitude to, and action in relation to the Third Reich what do you see? Not a pretty picture?

ps
Martin, increasing adolescent abortion rates show positive correlation with increasing belief and worship of a creator, and negative correlation with increasing non-theism and acceptance of evolution.

lyrebird, that isn't very convincing:

>>in response to your question, the department do not allow mention of God in performances that are offered to public schools<<

It would be more persuasive if you answered the question more fully - is this a written rule? Or is it just an interpretation of a perceived rule?

This is quite an important point.

If this is official, written policy that we can examine and comment upon, you have done a considerable service in bringing an example of petty political correctness to the attention of the public.

If on the other hand you simply received some poor treatment from a departmental flunkey, and chose to take this experience and blow it up into a full-on accusation that the department is "turning its back on our own Judeo-Christian culture", that would at the very least be exaggeration.

Please let us know.

All this carry on because some Jew girl couldn't get her own way, I suggest you'all gwt a hobby!