For the record, I believe in free-market capitalism and individual liberty, personal endeavor and private charity - and of course the Constitution in its original form (from which we have strayed so far) - unlike james, who is simply a deluded hatemonger and a societal parasite, despising success and wealth and rejecting reason and responsibility. If you want to compare me to another poster, my political beliefs are much more in alignment with those of Tom Brosz than james. My criticisms of deity worship (which you have not countered or debunked) in all its forms and its link to fanatical terrorists who believe the more "infidels" they kill, the greater their reward in heaven, stands.

Mary Anne, communism is often linked to atheism as you have done, but with its basic tenet of self-sacrifice and being of service only to others, communism has much more in common with >>Christian<< values than atheist ones. In fact, there is really no such thing as >>atheist<< "values", since atheism simply means lack of a belief in gods or deities and therefore does not entail a core of set beliefs, a "non-religious religion", in its own right. There are no atheist doctrines or bibles or ceremonies or churches.

FYI, Mary Anne, "non-rational" and "irrational" really mean the >>same<< thing. "Non-" means a "reverse of" or "absence of". The reverse of or absence of rationality is irrationality. Maybe you discern an imaginary distinction to rationalize your apparent agnosticism? The meaning has been manipulated and molded over the years to bolster or legitimize certain people's irrational beliefs.

These grotesque atrocities are beyond condemnation and comprehension and I am NOT condoning them in any way. Please, no-one call me james ever again.