Flame — HabitableZone

Flame » in reply to "unquestioning obedience and brutal domination"

re: "unquestioning obedience and brutal domination"
ER — (archived)

Yes and no. I suppose you are referring to the Soviet and Maoist regimes, and although it cannot be denied they were murderous to the extreme (at least 10s of millions) and professed to atheism, they actually exhibited all the characteristics of theocracy. They had a sacred book (Das Kapital), sacred prophets (Marx and Lenin), high priests (Mao and Stalin)...I think you get the picture. What really identifies them as fanatics is not their belief in a supernatural being, it is the conviction that only they know the truth and they are justified in brutally stamping out even the slightest deviation from it. I personally don't need any lectures about communism, many people in my family were refugees from communist tyranny (Cuba) and I understand exactly how the system works. They tolerate no deviation from the party line, and are constantly on the lookout for it. The penalties are severe.

I'd seen the system at home before, too. I spent my teen-age years in rural Florida back when prayer in the public schools was not only permitted, it was mandatory. And if you complained, the good Christian boys were waiting for you after school. "You always seemed outnumbered, you could never make a stand". It was a difference only in degree, not in kind.

Anywayze, atheists do not fly airliners into office buildings.

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