Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murderers of history

[Conservative_X]

In recent months, a spate of atheist books have argued that religion
represents, as "End of Faith" author Sam Harris puts it, "the most
potent source of human conflict, past and present."

Columnist Robert Kuttner gives the familiar litany. "The Crusades
slaughtered millions in the name of Jesus. Too bad I already pointed
out why the crusades were not about religion "see topic below". The
Inquisition brought the torture and murder of millions more. After
Martin Luther, Christians did bloody battle with other Christians for
another three centuries."

In his bestseller "The God Delusion," Richard Dawkins contends that
most of the world's recent conflicts - in the Middle East, in the
Balkans, in Northern Ireland, in Kashmir, and in Sri Lanka - show the
vitality of religion's murderous impulse.

The problem with this critique is that it exaggerates the crimes
attributed to religion, while ignoring the greater crimes of secular
fanaticism. The best example of religious persecution in America is the
Salem witch trials. How many people were killed in those trials?
Thousands? Hundreds? Actually, fewer than 25. Yet the event still
haunts the liberal imagination.

It is strange to witness the passion with which some secular figures
rail against the misdeeds of the Crusaders and Inquisitors more than
500 years ago. The number sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition
appears to be about 10,000. Some historians contend that an additional
100,000 died in jail due to malnutrition or illness.

These figures are tragic, and of course population levels were much
lower at the time. But even so, they are minuscule compared with the
death tolls produced by the atheist despotisms of the 20th century. In
the name of creating their version of a religion-free utopia, Adolf
Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Zedong produced the kind of mass
slaughter that no Inquisitor could possibly match. Collectively these
atheist tyrants murdered more than 100 million people.

[atma...@yahoo.com]

Is that why your god mass murdered the planet except for Noah and
company in the bible myth. Because he is a atheist.
LOL
Nice try charlie! LOL