Hugh_Hoy Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 I think you mean people where atheism is a secondary part of their philosophy. Mao, PolPot and Stalin may have been atheists but it wasn't a keystone of their behaviour. They did evil because they were evil bastards, not because they were atheists or communists or any other ists. It may quite well be that their "atheism" allowed them to be evil bastards, not having a civil code of conduct to guide them in their behavior toward their fellow man. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Could be right, the Spanish Inquisition had a civil code of conduct that allowed them plenty of scope for evil though. At least two of the gentlemen I referred to were almost certainly certifiable sociopaths anyway so any rules wouldn't have mattered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaus Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 It may quite well be that their "atheism" allowed them to be evil bastards, not having a civil code of conduct to guide them in their behavior toward their fellow man. HH Stalin trained to be a priest! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Stalin trained to be a priest! Therefore he became a tyrant? Hmmmmmm... HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaus Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Therefore he became a tyrant? Hmmmmmm... HH Your words, not mine. Stalin was a psychopath who murdered millions despite the "code of conduct?" of his Christian upbringing. Historically religion has been a powerful tool [and still is] to brainwash people into commiting incredible atrocities in the name of God, Allah, Jehovah or the chance of an afterlife. Did he just say Jehovah? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYkbqzWVHZI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Your words, not mine. Stalin was a psychopath who murdered millions despite the "code of conduct?" of his Christian upbringing. He obviously did not accept the code of conduct and practice it. Good thing he wasn't "brainwashed", eh? HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robaus Posted September 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 He obviously did not accept the code of conduct and practice it. Good thing he wasn't "brainwashed", eh? HH (wiki) "At ten, he began attending church school where the Georgian children were forced to speak Russian." ... perhaps it was the authoritarianism and brutality he learnt at the "church" school and seminary that warped his mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 (wiki) "At ten, he began attending church school where the Georgian children were forced to speak Russian." ... perhaps it was the authoritarianism and brutality he learnt at the "church" school and seminary that warped his mind. Perhaps, but being forced to speak Russian doesn't sound like something that would turn a person into a sociopath. And, "perhaps" is speculation and not something to be used as the basis for condeming an entire group of people. (How many of those attending the same school do you think ended up being the same as Stalin, for instance?) HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 The church didn't force him to speak Russian, the Russian government did. It was the same in Polish, Ukranian, Lithuanian, Estonian and other areas in Imperial Russia. My grandmother had to speak Hungarian in school though her first language was German. All schools in Hungary were in Hungarian, no matter what the local language was. It goes with empires. p.s. The nuns did turn my grandmother against the Catholic Church. Still, as far as I know she didn't murder millions of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh_Hoy Posted September 19, 2011 Report Share Posted September 19, 2011 Still, as far as I know she didn't murder millions of people. Must've cut too many classes and missed the important units. HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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