I’ve taken tests like this before. Very interesting to see where people end up.
Here’s the test:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/test
http://www.politicalcompass.org/printablegraph?ec=1.00&soc=-3.18
Haha, how many people with religion actually know their religion or have read their religious books? I use to get a laugh by asking Christians, "Christians were among the first religions to not practice animal sacrifice, why?" Not many knew. I have read the entire bible and Koran. They contain a great deal of wisdom, but their followers seem to ignore that and use it for hate. They are a detriment to society, vestigial remains of a barbarous time.
The important thing is that you are careful not to generalization millions of people based on your experience with a few...
That coming from some one who made the ignorant claim that Hitler was an atheist and made implications atheism was related to millions of deaths. And it's not an opinion based on just a 'few", it's world history. It's current history. It's the basis of laws around the world that allow for the oppression of gays, women, and children. Wars, terrorism, child molestation all justified by religion. It's not a "few", it's the world we live in due to people's zealous adherence to fairy tales.
Where the hell is my KARMA BUTTON
I owe you one Xia
Lord Xiareply 108 That coming from some one who made the ignorant claim that Hitler was an atheist and made implications atheism was related to millions of deaths. And it's not an opinion based on just a 'few", it's world history. It's current history. It's the basis of laws around the world that allow for the oppression of gays, women, and children. Wars, terrorism, child molestation all justified by religion. It's not a "few", it's the world we live in due to people's zealous adherence to fairy tales.
While I agree with the statement I believe it's a bit harsh to lay this one out in the open. Not all people of faith are swept away with ignorance it's only the Gnostic types that "Know without doubt" that are ignorant.
This is a pretty bad article. The Catholic Church's ties to the Nazi Party are well known, in no way shape or form does this make Hitler a Catholic. That Pol Pot section is even worse. He once attended Buddhist school so clearly it's all religion's fault.
As an Agnostic I don't try and blame religion for everything. People like easy answers, to feel special, and to belong to groups. This can lead to dangerous amounts of group think and nasty seemingly irrational behavior. Religion is a natural outlet for this because it requires faith, but not always and it is hardly the only outlet. Take away religion and people would still do the same stuff but under different disguises, like political parties, gangs, or any other group of people. I have talked to plenty of so called atheists who have unnervingly irrational beliefs that they base their lives around and refuse to question. These people are the dangerous ones whether they are officially religious or not, and even today they make up most the population.
Lord Xia, while I agree that some... and I mean some, so-called people of religion have been responsible for heinous crimes against humanity, NOT ALL people of religious faith are perpetrators of evil doing. I have met some truly wonderful people from different faiths and know them to be honest, gentle and caring people who do what they can for not just their neighbour but total strangers as well. I've also known people who used religion and religious scriptures to push agendas of their own, and I wouldn't have trusted any of them as far as I could have thrown them, but those, thank goodness, are/were in the minority.
What's more, I'm not religious myself... well not in the traditional sense. I believe in a god but I have no denomination and I do not attend church, nor do I follow any particular line of religious doctrine. Many churches teach things I cannot agree with, others are hypocritical, while some deviate too far from what I believe is righteous, and once I see this I cannot and will not abide with them.
If a person chooses to be religious AND righteous I can abide by that... for anything outside that I have no tolerance. Period!
You think it's ignorant to claim Hitler was an atheist when there is a considerable amount of evidence than he was? I don't think him being an atheist led to deaths. Besides which, Stalin and Mao were indisputably atheists. Humans like to believe in *something*. Fascism and Communism and other ideologies strike me as being no less religious than Christianity or Islam. Whether a person puts their faith in the state or a magical super being, it's still religion as far as I'm concerned.
If you think pounding on organized traditional religion makes you sound like some sort of intellectual then have at it.
I feel a lot less threatened by Christians than I do from those who believe that the state should be the answer to all of life's ills. One has a legal monopoly on the use of force, the other doesn't.
For myself, I'll happily continuing believing in Eru and the Valar. The one true god.
I absolutely agree. The hard wiring is "belief" which can be in literally anything.
You are probably thinking of western nations and the former "Communist" states.
A question there: How about states which have a sanctioned state religion?
Unfortunately the evidence supports the fact that Hitler was very much Christian. He may not be Christian in your mind but Mormons for a long time where not seen as Christians by other Christian groups.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazism_and_Religion#Nazi_attitudes_towards_Christianity
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_religious_views#Statements_against_atheism
I wouldn't use Wikipedia as a source of "evidence".
I don't understand what the argument is about. He wasn't a Christian by Christianity's own values. He might have been at some point, but that was probably during early childhood, before he violated practically every tenet of Christianity (as I'm given to understand it), and became an insane monster, devoid of any humanity.
Now, can we please discuss something pleasant like leprosy?
Unless you find a better way to cite sources over the internet, you have millions of waiting ears.
I've provided evidence indicating that he was indeed Christian (at least in his mind, and the minds of millions of other Germans at the time, not to mention historians). You can argue whether or not he followed it to the bible in the end it doesn't matter. He identified himself as a Christian and did reference god on numerous occasions.
And if we are going to get subjective we can start questioning all Christians and whether or not they follow the bible to the nth degree. I'd be bold enough to say there may only be a handful of "true" Christians that ever existed if we are going to get serious.
Funny we were just talking about this in my Russian/Soviet literature class. True communism had so many parallels with traditional Christianity that there is no way it was coincidental.
Nichtganz, the section right below that which you linked to (3rd link) contains this quote:
"According to Speer, Hitler stated in private, 'The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?'"
This and other examples in the links you provided show that Hitler was publicly Christian, but in reality only used Christianity because it furthered his goals and was the current religion of Germany and most of Europe....
I don't think any public statement by Hitler is really going to show any insight into his actual religious views....leaders, good or bad, use public statements to further their agendas, not to communicate their personal beliefs...
