Quote:
Originally Posted by Daldolma
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]
on the contrary, my entire argument is that the atrocities hitchens is so eager to ascribe to religion were not in any way diluted or lessened by a secular shift
i'm not saying secularism caused the atrocities of the 20th century. i'm saying a shift away from state religion and toward secular government did nothing to curb them. whether it was done for zeus, jesus, allah, the proletariat, aryan nation, or freedom didn't really impact the scope or magnitude of crimes against humanity
|
ok so.
In my humble opinion: "people governing themselves without the overriding and overwhelming, pervasive and insidious nature of religion influencing every aspect of their lives" hasn't yet had it's day in court. We're still in the trasition phase. We've had possibly tens of thousands of years under the bondage of superstition, and the modern scientific movement to explain the nature of the universe in real terms is barely 100 years old, at the fullest extent of any rhetoric about what constitutes modern understanding. Religion still in fact holds sway in may places on earth. We haven't had a "shift away from state religion," but rather we are currently shifting. You claim that this shift hasn't diluted tyranny, but my friend, you're trying to dilute the ocean with a lake. It's going to take time.