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Probably the most infamous atheist would have to be Karl Marx. The guy responsibly for creating the communist political ideology that millions of people word wide have died fighting for and against the totalitarian regimes it created.
Most of the communist based regimes based on his writings and philosophies have been destroyed and the holdouts are grasping weakly to it.
The philosophy of the most influential atheist in modern times, Marx is that of a totalitarian regime of failure and history is continually proving it.
There is a Marxist type of influence that has been controlling the media for decades and that is continually trying to control the masses, and many of the people it does, but it will ultimately fail like all communist regimes and factions eventually do.
First of all, atheism is not dependent on communism -- and never has been. So what if communism dies out. Big deal. Atheism has been around since the first god was invented, and it will still be around when the last god is finally tossed onto the ashcan of history -- to quote Reagan.
You're trying WAY too hard to tie atheism to communism, which is just a failure of correlation. Atheism had very little, if any, impact on the mismanaged communist policies enforced by Lenin and Stalin.
Secondly, so what if Karl Marx was an atheist. Was he the most influential atheist, as you say?
NO!
Because Marx isn't known for being an atheist. He is known for inventing Marxism. Period. His atheism is just an affectation, in all seriousness. The implication that, because Marxism is supposedly fading from the world, atheism will go along with it is just, well ... stupid. One might as well say that, if Marx enjoyed playing chess, everyone will stop playing chess, too, when Marxism disappears.
Thirdly, communism, Marxism, and socialism are not disappearing. In fact, they're gaining strength. Only in benighted America, plagued by fundamentalist religion and far too many obsolete Cold Warriors who still see socialsm as "godless" have many wise socialist policies been resisted -- the same policies which has made many other nations thrive and succeed.
For instance, the last time I looked, America's standard of living has dropped all the way down to 11th place. Yep, we're not even in the top 10 anymore. Guess which nations ARE in the top 10? That's right, the secular, strongly socialistic Scandinavian nations and a smattering of European nations like Holland and Belgium. And we keep losing ground -- especially since religion in America aims to keep our children ignorant and stupid. Why? Because if we actually teach our kids how to think, they might reject fundamentalist religion -- or religion altogether. Can't have that, now, can we. So now our kids consistently rank with kids from impoverished, Third World nations in terms of competitive test scores. Thanks, religion!
Of course, in socialist nations with strong social safety nets, there is far less fear of contracting a major illness or enduring a long period of joblessness.
I read about a poll done a year or two back which asked Americans what would scare them the most if they were diagnosed with a life-threatening illness like cancer. You'd think that the greatest fear would be dying ... or perhaps being in perpetual pain. Even taking a big hit to their quality of life would have been understandable. But no ... their biggest fear was all about the money. Could they afford long-term care? Would it financially devastate their families? Would they lose their home? Will it stifle the future of their children?
When you live in fear of getting sick ... or losing your job, your home, your family, it's no wonder then that people in this country cling tightly to these ancient myths in the hopes that a benevolent God is looking out for them. Instead of relying on a very real social safety net to keep them from homelessness, Americans instead have to rely on a fictitious god and an ancient, bloody book filled to the margins will immoral and ammoral behavior.
This is what happens when socialism is kicked to the curb -- the population instead has to turn to faith-based solutions. The worse the fear, the more fervent the belief, which is why America is the stronghold for fundamentalist Christianity. Nowhere else does fundamentalism play a large role in religious belief outside of the Middle East. In many cases, our nation is just the flip side of the coin to Afghanistan or Iran.
Meanwhile, the socialist-secularist nations are booming. Oh, did I mention that America's life expectancy is set to drop by another year? Yep. Meanwhile, these other nations have increasing life expectancies -- as well as higher literacy rates, happiness quotients, lower crime rates, lower infant mortality, a higher freedom index, more pure democracies, and, of course, a higher standard of living. As I said, these countries have America beat in every measurable way. About the only thing America can boast about these days is having the best colleges in the world -- colleges which our own kids can't afford to attend. Which is why classrooms are filling up with foreign students.
So yeah, we can cherry pick lessons from the fiasco that was the former Soviet Union and claim that that nation is the sole representative of socialist, communist, and Marxist ideology -- and then claim that it's all disappearing.
Yeah, you can do that. But you'd be wrong. It isn't disappearing. It's changing. It's actually being implemented by sane, democratic, peaceful leaders -- which only shows that, when done right, leftist ideas do actually work. Unlike the abject failure that this nation is becoming.
I think you are far less intelligent and aware of reality and historical fact than your ego presumes you to be. You do not even acknowledge or seem to be aware of the connection between science and atheism.
You see, a TRULY intelligent person would know these things you are apparently ignorant of or at a minimum at least acknowledge their is a connection and not just a definition.
No, no, no. It is YOU who are looking far less intelligent -- because you apparently haven't the slightest clue what atheism actually is.
Oh, I'm sure you like to THINK you know.
But you don't.
So WHAT if the vast majority of atheists see science as the best explanation for the natural world? That doesn't mean AT ALL that science and atheism are inextricably linked. That's YOUR interpretation. Just another know-it-all who thinks they can tell atheists what it is they actually believe -- a position that I find extremely wearisome.
As every atheist will tell you -- atheism is nothing more than a lack of belief in gods. PERIOD.
If you add even one more letter to that defintion, you've outted yourself as a know-nothing in regards to atheism. And you wouldn't want me to start making fun of you ... would you? Because if you keep insisting that there's more to atheism than god-disbelief, I'll have a field day with your ass.
Self righteous atheists are proud of their religion and apparently think it it best for everyone.
So the question begs, What exactly have Atheists accomplished for the United States with their thinking?
A rise in abortions for one. Globalist nonsense and Political Correctness-ism. A fall in real science (see my thoughts here) and a rise in either blatantly cruel and unethical experiments (Harry Harlow's experiments in isolating monkeys for interminable amounts of time and/or torturing them is a good example, this from a guy who changed his name because "it sounded to Jewish") or completely flaky useless studies (trying to prop up feminism or some other -ism, studying something people already know, or yet more tiresome "proofs that there is no God").
Meanwhile, there is a far more troubling aspect of this mentality.
What happens when you believe people don't have an afterlife? And no moral authority to answer to? It means that if you don't like someone you can end them by killing them off. For most religions, this is not considered a viable option: Hinduism, not only will they come back but you'll be worse off than them for killing them; Judaism and Christianity, generally an afterlife, and killing others is seen as wrong; Shintoism, all life is part of the divine; and so on. Do these NEVER get involved in war? No, they definitely do. But far more likely are wars for land or wealth or the rulership of a country.
Let's talk about what actually WAS a Christian idea. "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." Puritan governor in Massachusetts. Or how about this? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." The Constitution honors the Christian Sabbath. “If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law.” When the United States became a nation, it was done in the “name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.” For that matter, our checks and balances are based on three branches of government.
What have atheists done? Tried to undermine that for at least 80 years. Push the nation toward secularism and globalism. Dude, we can see how that's working for the EU. We don't want that.
Our government was something unheard of at the time. A government that respects the rights of its citizens? What is this? All countries are monarchies or colonies of them. People served the state, didn't have rights of free speech, to say anything of LGBT or women's voting rights. You have the right to be an atheist precisely because of the freedoms given to you by a Christian state which in turn inspired other states for they were in fact a city upon a hill.
I haven't even talked about the advances of science and medicine, since I already did so elsewhere.
Let's instead talk about religious contributions to morality. Temple Grandin, an autistic girl with an affinity to animals, developed a series of reforms to butchery designed to reduce pain and struggling with regard to animals, quite literally revolutionizing how animals were treated before being used for meat. She also observed proper cutting techniques for Jewish ritual slaughter to likewise minimize pain.
Interestingly, a new study of civilization-building by avowed atheist Peter Turchin, called Ultrasociety: How 10,000 Years of War Made Humans the Greatest Cooperators on Earth, identifies religion as the main explanation for the rise of complex large-scale civilizations.
Just heard some football player thank Jesus Christ for leading Philly to victory in the Superbowl. Is that an example of what Christ has done for this world? If so, gee, I guess atheists can't compare.
atheists have brain washed millions into thinking anti-religion socialism is best. They have killed millions of more people that didn't agree with their anti-religious socialism ideas.
anti-religion socialism openly indoctrinate people using state run institutions.
Learn the difference between Socialism and Communism before you continue and make an even bigger fool of yourself.?
First of all, atheism is not dependent on communism -- and never has been. So what if communism dies out. Big deal. Atheism has been around since the first god was invented, and it will still be around when the last god is finally tossed onto the ashcan of history -- to quote Reagan.
You're trying WAY too hard to tie atheism to communism, which is just a failure of correlation. Atheism had very little, if any, impact on the mismanaged communist policies enforced by Lenin and Stalin.
To completely disassociate atheism from communists is to pretty much say that their atheist beliefs in no way shaped their actions or beliefs about the world. I'm not buying that at all. If you believe that life is completely random, we are no special unique creations then such a leader will start looking at changing society as a whole regardless is it victimizes the individual. The end result is all that matters.
Thirdly, communism, Marxism, and socialism are not disappearing. In fact, they're gaining strength. Only in benighted America, plagued by fundamentalist religion and far too many obsolete Cold Warriors who still see socialsm as "godless" have many wise socialist policies been resisted -- the same policies which has made many other nations thrive and succeed.
Other nations are not America. In our short history, we have been the driving force behind innovation and invention, both things that would be stiled in a socialist country. You certainly wouldn't see a show like Shark Tank in such a country. That show and sites like kickstarter make me proud of the American spirit to build your own business, your own dream, bringing an idea to reality. Government is not a friend to small business. If socialism is so great, why did people want to tear down the Berlin Wall, why did countries like Cambodia, Cuba, and Ethiopia fail to be uptopias?
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Originally Posted by Shirina
For instance, the last time I looked, America's standard of living has dropped all the way down to 11th place. Yep, we're not even in the top 10 anymore. Guess which nations ARE in the top 10? That's right, the secular, strongly socialistic Scandinavian nations and a smattering of European nations like Holland and Belgium. And we keep losing ground -- especially since religion in America aims to keep our children ignorant and stupid. Why? Because if we actually teach our kids how to think, they might reject fundamentalist religion -- or religion altogether. Can't have that, now, can we. So now our kids consistently rank with kids from impoverished, Third World nations in terms of competitive test scores. Thanks, religion!
Funny how you rip on the poster for establishing a link between Communism and atheism, yet you have no problem creating loosely based associations here as long as it is ripping on religion. A polling report rarely tells the whole picture. Also, there is another report called the Gallop Global Emotions Report. Guess which country topped the list when gauging people's emotions on happiest? Paraguay. That's right. A small democratic nation in violent South America.
You want to blame religion for our downtrend of standard of living which doesn't even hold up historically.
America was highly prosperous and inventive when we were very religious. We accomplished great things in those decades like building the US interstate system and going to the moon. People didn't go to work on Sundays. Most people went to church and had more free time for family and friends. Now, we have a culture where both parents have to work, some even two jobs just to make it. The greed of companies to constantly keep pushing for more profit and productive which means people have to work harder for less reward.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shirina
Of course, in socialist nations with strong social safety nets, there is far less fear of contracting a major illness or enduring a long period of joblessness.
I read about a poll done a year or two back which asked Americans what would scare them the most if they were diagnosed with a life-threatening illness like cancer. You'd think that the greatest fear would be dying ... or perhaps being in perpetual pain. Even taking a big hit to their quality of life would have been understandable. But no ... their biggest fear was all about the money. Could they afford long-term care? Would it financially devastate their families? Would they lose their home? Will it stifle the future of their children?
When you live in fear of getting sick ... or losing your job, your home, your family, it's no wonder then that people in this country cling tightly to these ancient myths in the hopes that a benevolent God is looking out for them. Instead of relying on a very real social safety net to keep them from homelessness, Americans instead have to rely on a fictitious god and an ancient, bloody book filled to the margins will immoral and ammoral behavior.
Sounds good in theory, but do you think most Americans would gladly give up 60% of their paycheck to the government? In some cases, the tax rate was as high as 85%. The system probably works in a small country that has a strong cultural identity and neighbors helping out each other. I bet if you surveyed the Amish here, they would report an equal high degree of happiness. Because of these exact same factors.
An Amish knows that their good neighbors are there to help them raise that barn. But in the US, we have become more isolated from our neighbors. The destruction of the church only contributes to that. Atheism will only make the problem worse. Plus those Scandinavia countries have high suicide rates.
Other nations are not America. In our short history, we have been the driving force behind innovation and invention, both things that would be stiled in a socialist country. You certainly wouldn't see a show like Shark Tank in such a country. That show and sites like kickstarter make me proud of the American spirit to build your own business, your own dream, bringing an idea to reality. Government is not a friend to small business. If socialism is so great, why did people want to tear down the Berlin Wall, why did countries like Cambodia, Cuba, and Ethiopia fail to be uptopias?
Funny how you rip on the poster for establishing a link between Communism and atheism, yet you have no problem creating loosely based associations here as long as it is ripping on religion. A polling report rarely tells the whole picture. Also, there is another report called the Gallop Global Emotions Report. Guess which country topped the list when gauging people's emotions on happiest? Paraguay. That's right. A small democratic nation in violent South America.
You want to blame religion for our downtrend of standard of living which doesn't even hold up historically.
America was highly prosperous and inventive when we were very religious. We accomplished great things in those decades like building the US interstate system and going to the moon. People didn't go to work on Sundays. Most people went to church and had more free time for family and friends. Now, we have a culture where both parents have to work, some even two jobs just to make it. The greed of companies to constantly keep pushing for more profit and productive which means people have to work harder for less reward.
Sounds good in theory, but do you think most Americans would gladly give up 60% of their paycheck to the government? In some cases, the tax rate was as high as 85%. The system probably works in a small country that has a strong cultural identity and neighbors helping out each other. I bet if you surveyed the Amish here, they would report an equal high degree of happiness. Because of these exact same factors.
An Amish knows that their good neighbors are there to help them raise that barn. But in the US, we have become more isolated from our neighbors. The destruction of the church only contributes to that. Atheism will only make the problem worse. Plus those Scandinavia countries have high suicide rates.
If America was the utopia you indicate, your post might have some value. If it is a utopia, it is only for the wealthy. And in terms of history, your "utopic" vision of America gets an F-.
A rise in abortions for one. Globalist nonsense and Political Correctness-ism. A fall in real science (see my thoughts here) and a rise in either blatantly cruel and unethical experiments (Harry Harlow's experiments in isolating monkeys for interminable amounts of time and/or torturing them is a good example, this from a guy who changed his name because "it sounded to Jewish") or completely flaky useless studies (trying to prop up feminism or some other -ism, studying something people already know, or yet more tiresome "proofs that there is no God").
Nothing to do with atheism.
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Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
What happens when you believe people don't have an afterlife?
We get on with life.
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Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
And no moral authority to answer to? It means that if you don't like someone you can end them by killing them off.
Society is our moral authority.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
But far more likely are wars for land or wealth or the rulership of a country.
But religious beliefs also play a role.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
Let's talk about what actually WAS a Christian idea. "We shall be as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us." Puritan governor in Massachusetts.
The puritans left religious persecution in England, remember.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
Or how about this? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed..." The Constitution honors the Christian Sabbath. “If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law.” When the United States became a nation, it was done in the “name of the most holy and undivided Trinity.” For that matter, our checks and balances are based on three branches of government.
Take out the religious aspects and you have a secular constitution.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
What have atheists done? Tried to undermine that for at least 80 years.
Oh those straw man atheists.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
Push the nation toward secularism and globalism. Dude, we can see how that's working for the EU. We don't want that.
Secularism? I thought you was FOR the US constitution?
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
Our government was something unheard of at the time. A government that respects the rights of its citizens? What is this? All countries are monarchies or colonies of them. People served the state, didn't have rights of free speech, to say anything of LGBT or women's voting rights. You have the right to be an atheist precisely because of the freedoms given to you by a Christian state which in turn inspired other states for they were in fact a city upon a hill.
Rights that had to be given by a secular state to prevent religious persecution and discrimination.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
I haven't even talked about the advances of science and medicine, since I already did so elsewhere.
Done by all people regardless of their religious beliefs. So irrelevant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bulmabriefs144
Let's instead talk about religious contributions to morality.
Fortunately they have declined in the western world.
Learn the difference between Socialism and Communism before you continue and make an even bigger fool of yourself.?
lmao. that's what you got? the difference between socialism and communism? lmao.
Thats like saying getting pooped on is better than puked on.
yeah, maybe your right?
to funny.
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