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If he had been a Christian he wouldn't have done it. Christians don't do that stuff. But in the absence of a belief in God, life is devalued. Hence, we get guys like Stalin.
Again, your ignorance is on display regarding your stance. Christians do indeed do those things, have done those things, and continue to do those kinds of things. I'm sure all the Christians that partake in heinous crimes believe they are Christians to the same extent you believe yourself to be a Christian! Their position is an existential claim - in their minds, they are Christians.
What you're doing is proclaiming to know exactly what a Christian is and then you're using that as a tool to measure all others who call themselves Christians. But, rather than taking measurements of all Christians, and declaring them lesser or greater than yourself, you're excluding large numbers of samples just to manipulate the results. In so doing, you generally ignore all the atrocities Christians have committed throughout history and simply label them as not "real Christians" and not in need of measurement in relation to yourself.
The arrogance of this is uncanny. It's as if to say, "I know what a real Christian is because I am one. All others who do not measure up to my standards are therefore not real Christians and thus I have no responsibility to defend their actions. I'll just label them as impostors."
As for Stalin, I don't know how many times I have to go through this. First and foremost, before the Russian Revolution, the tsar was often thought of as a demi-god. In a lot of ways, the tsar could even be thought of analogously to the way Christians (presuming they live up to your heightened standards and can call themselves that based on what you deem to be a Christian) view Jesus - that he was a "god" in human form.
The mechanism of this belief did not change much after the Russian Revolution - especially amongst the peasantry. Both Lenin and Stalin were deeply viewed as religious figureheads by much of the population. This was not unique to the era or much of Asia either. Japan's view of the emperor was much the same as were a number of other Asian countries.
Thus, it wasn't hard for people like Stalin to take advantage of this societal view and to promote himself as nothing short of a religious figurehead. North Korea, and it's fascist regime is still doing the same thing. Looking at pictures of Communist Russia (especially under Stalin), the mechanisms of religion are absolutely there. Most notably, the forced worship of a "benevolent being" is paramount when one examines these kinds of regimes.
And what better presentation of Christianity, Judaism or Islam is there than that of a Big Brother watching over you at all times, ready to convict you of thought crime, or for not groveling at the feet of the benevolent being? Communist Russia even had a place they sent people who didn't conform to these ideals - if they weren't outright murdered. They were called gulags and were every bit a living hell. North Korea does much the same thing and one could arguably say that the North Korean regime is worse than the Stalin regime.
Stalin didn't murder millions of people because he was sitting around one day and realized he didn't believe in a god. At least, there is no evidence I know of to say that. Rather, it's much more likely that he used the pre-existing condition that religion had laid much groundwork for and manipulated it to his advantage. It was the thought process of the people who found him infallible and god-like that became his great enabler. If he came to power in the eyes of the people as just a mere mortal, his sway would have been far less.
Because churches represented potential threats to his power.
Stalin, remarkably paranoid even by the standards of ruthless totalitarians, systematically eliminated any and all potential threats of all stripes -- Christian and atheist, Russian and non-Russian, communists and otherwise.
Again, your ignorance is on display regarding your stance. Christians do indeed do those things, have done those things, and continue to do those kinds of things. I'm sure all the Christians that partake in heinous crimes believe they are Christians to the same extent you believe yourself to be a Christian! Their position is an existential claim - in their minds, they are Christians.
What you're doing is proclaiming to know exactly what a Christian is and then you're using that as a tool to measure all others who call themselves Christians. But, rather than taking measurements of all Christians, and declaring them lesser or greater than yourself, you're excluding large numbers of samples just to manipulate the results. In so doing, you generally ignore all the atrocities Christians have committed throughout history and simply label them as not "real Christians" and not in need of measurement in relation to yourself.
The arrogance of this is uncanny. It's as if to say, "I know what a real Christian is because I am one. All others who do not measure up to my standards are therefore not real Christians and thus I have no responsibility to defend their actions. I'll just label them as impostors."
As for Stalin, I don't know how many times I have to go through this. First and foremost, before the Russian Revolution, the tsar was often thought of as a demi-god. In a lot of ways, the tsar could even be thought of analogously to the way Christians (presuming they live up to your heightened standards and can call themselves that based on what you deem to be a Christian) view Jesus - that he was a "god" in human form.
The mechanism of this belief did not change much after the Russian Revolution - especially amongst the peasantry. Both Lenin and Stalin were deeply viewed as religious figureheads by much of the population. This was not unique to the era or much of Asia either. Japan's view of the emperor was much the same as were a number of other Asian countries.
Thus, it wasn't hard for people like Stalin to take advantage of this societal view and to promote himself as nothing short of a religious figurehead. North Korea, and it's fascist regime is still doing the same thing. Looking at pictures of Communist Russia (especially under Stalin), the mechanisms of religion are absolutely there. Most notably, the forced worship of a "benevolent being" is paramount when one examines these kinds of regimes.
And what better presentation of Christianity, Judaism or Islam is there than that of a Big Brother watching over you at all times, ready to convict you of thought crime, or for not groveling at the feet of the benevolent being? Communist Russia even had a place they sent people who didn't conform to these ideals - if they weren't outright murdered. They were called gulags and were every bit a living hell. North Korea does much the same thing and one could arguably say that the North Korean regime is worse than the Stalin regime.
Stalin didn't murder millions of people because he was sitting around one day and realized he didn't believe in a god. At least, there is no evidence I know of to say that. Rather, it's much more likely that he used the pre-existing condition that religion had laid much groundwork for and manipulated it to his advantage. It was the thought process of the people who found him infallible and god-like that became his great enabler. If he came to power in the eyes of the people as just a mere mortal, his sway would have been far less.
You need to understand the difference between Christians and posers. If he were truly a Christian, he wouldn't have done that. Christians don't do those things.
If he had been a Christian he wouldn't have done it. Christians don't do that stuff. But in the absence of a belief in God, life is devalued. Hence, we get guys like Stalin.
Riiight. Tell that to the Jews and Native Americans
And how is life given value by belief in a God who will forgive all sins and atrocities? Or belief in a God who happily committed or commanded mass genocide and other horrors?
How come all dictators and communist countries are atheists? Sorry, but Buddhism is basically same as Atheism because Buddhists and their founder (Buddha) did not believe in God.
Which/whose God?
You don't believe in God either, depending on who's version of God we're referring to.
You need to understand the difference between Christians and posers. If he were truly a Christian, he wouldn't have done that. Christians don't do those things.
*YAWN* @ your "no true Scotsman" fallacy. Naturally "posers" are any Christians who do not believe or do what your version of the 30,000+ flavors of Christianity believe or act upon. Sorry but they're all Christians.
*YAWN* @ your "no true Scotsman" fallacy. Naturally "posers" are any Christians who do not believe or do what your version of the 30,000+ flavors of Christianity believe or act upon. Sorry but they're all Christians.
It's not a fallacy. It's fact. Anyone can claim to be an adherent to a religion, a club, whatever....but if they don't actually live by what it teaches they're not really adhering to it, are they? Likewise...if a person ACTUALLY lives by the precepts of Christianity and do what the religion teaches....they don't do that stuff. It's the people that don't actually believe it and continue to live as if it's just a made up story (atheists) that do the evil things.
As for your 30K + "flavors of Christianity"? Got an actual link that documents that silly claim? The catholics have a similar tale but it's been dealt with years ago.
It's not a fallacy. It's fact. Anyone can claim to be an adherent to a religion, a club, whatever....but if they don't actually live by what it teaches they're not really adhering to it, are they? Likewise...if a person ACTUALLY lives by the precepts of Christianity and do what the religion teaches....they don't do that stuff. It's the people that don't actually believe it and continue to live as if it's just a made up story (atheists) that do the evil things.
As for your 30K + "flavors of Christianity"? Got an actual link that documents that silly claim? The catholics have a similar tale but it's been dealt with years ago.
Again, you're conveniently excusing yourself from any of the wrongdoings of your fellow Christians by simply saying that they don't live up to YOUR standards of what it means to be a Christian!
You need to understand the difference between Christians and posers. If he were truly a Christian, he wouldn't have done that. Christians don't do those things.
No. You need to understand that you don't get to decide who is Christian and who isn't. That is a personal choice that each person makes. It is a self-declaration of belief. Your pompous and arrogant desire to label people based on YOUR standards of Christianity is truly mind-boggling.
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