Militant Atheism

6 Comments »

1. 

   Bearbrave December 2, 2011 at 10:33 am - Reply

   exactly.

2. 

   Fish December 7, 2011 at 3:38 pm - Reply

   Well, it was atheists, not theists, who coined the term and ideology of ‘militant atheism’, look into the works of Karl Marx, Leo Strauss, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and Ludwid Feuerbach and note the Soviet Union’s League of Militant Atheists in the first half of the 20th century.

   Even though theists use the term today to portray atheists as dangerous when they criticize religion it is still used by ‘New Atheists’ such as Dawkins as well, so you can’t exactly insist that theists should not use the term.

   Also, for burning, torturing, imprisoning and mutilating theists, look into the history of anti-religious movements in Mexico, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Cambodia, Mongolia and of course the Soviet Union; as well as persecution that occur up to the present in China, Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and Cuba as well as other isolated incidents.

   I’m not suggesting that “being atheists makes you an immoral killer,” but it is incredibly ignorant to perpetuate the myth that somehow humans are only capable of motivating themselves to commit atrocities in the name of a belief in a/an God(s), humans are quite capable of coming up with any excuse they need to justify their actions.

   It does no good to the cause of atheists, who should be encouraging skepticism and reason, when you ignore sound, reasonable arguments and facts and instead aim to inspire passionate but unthinking responses without critical thought in your followers (i.e. Bearbrave); your encouraging an atheism that is just as ignorant and intolerant of sound thought as the theism you oppose.

   • 

     Paul O'Flaherty December 7, 2011 at 3:41 pm - Reply

     I’d take you far more seriously if, instead of just saying “look into”, you cited actual examples with links to support material when making such claims. Just saying

     • 

       Fish December 7, 2011 at 4:27 pm - Reply

       Do you need sources to confirm  what party is in fact responsible for the term ‘militant atheism’? You can Google the League of Militant Atheists if that is important to you.

       Do you mean the or examples of religious persecution by atheists? I can point to more specific events and movements in the aforementioned country’s history.

       Or the philosophical argument that is really the important part to me? That as an atheist who wants to effectively communicate with a theist one ought to champion evidence and reason and avoid becoming what you oppose. Because rather than just being an searchable fact, that’s actually up for debate.

       • 

         Paul O'Flaherty December 7, 2011 at 4:46 pm - Reply

         Actually, doing some quick searching – Wikipedia has 1 article titled “The League of Militant Atheists” and all articles I can find appear to point to the “ Great Soviet Encyclopedia ” as the source for the name. However, even the “free online dictionary” doesn’t quote said encyclopedia without making the warning that “The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.” 

         http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/League+of+Militant+Atheists

         That said, most articles eventually wind their way back to the league being called the “Society of the Godless” so that leaves one questioning the where and when the term “League of Militant Atheists” was introduced.Any further information you may be able to cite and link to on that would be great as the 5 minutes I’ve spent search all lead to that one point.

         And yes, if you’re going to talk about persecution by atheists, it would be best to actually link to examples as, quite frankly, making claims without citing evidence is exactly what we’re against as it is the domain of the religious.

         Not saying that you are wrong, just that linking to and citing examples carries more weight and allows for better discussion and understanding.

3. 

   Jon Leszczynski December 8, 2011 at 2:50 pm - Reply

   I think the point missed by Fish is that he is falsely trying to ascribe the mass murders of the Soviet Union and other anti-religious states as if the reason for their murders was their disbelief in religion.

   I firmly believe, given the vast harm caused to humanity by religion throughout its existence that, at times, it probably does make sense for the forces of reason to directly confront the forces of faith.  Unfortunately there is far too little reason in the world and still far too much faith, though it is comforting to know that the power of science and education is steadily and increasingly eroding the flimsy foundations upon which faith relies.  An ever increasing part of the world is learning to dismiss superstition and soon enough all mythologies will be understood to be just that.

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