On Tue, 09 Oct 2001 15:20:46 +0000, Ray Andrews wrote: >> No one can be more dedicated than a religious zealot convinced of the >> rightness of his cause. This group was ready and willing to sacrifice >> their lives for their cause.
>> Sam Ewalt > Be careful here, Sam. Atheist zealots can be just as dangerous, or more so, > than the religious kind. Indeed, the worst butchers of our age (Hitler, > Stalin, PolPot, etc.) have almost all been atheists. Hitler was not an atheist. He believed in astrology, a "science" which pre-supposes the existence of supernatural powers and influences. Hitler frequently consulted with an astrologist to determine whether the celestial bodies were under favorable signs for pursuing certain plans and strategies. The British intelligence services were aware of Hitler's beliefs along these lines and they employed astrologists to help them to figure out what Hitler might do next. I do not know of any astrologists who proclaim themselves to be atheists. If any of them should do so they would be making a a most obvious self-contradiction. > The reason for this is > that, whereas religious zealots at least recognize the existence of a divine > law superior to themselves, the atheist fanatic thinks there is nothing > superior to his own will. Consequently, the former group generally obey > some kind of limits to there activities (even Osama!) whereas the latter know > no limits of any kind. Hitler imposed a few limits on himself. Although he had available for his use huge stockpiles of chemical weapons, he restrained himself from deploying them against the allied forces. One of the most difficult things for me to undertand about Hitler is this: While Hitler would gleefully torture and kill millions of innocent human beings, he had a reputation for being very kind to animals and he would very strongly reproach anyone who would mistreat an animal. Sam Heywood -- This mail was written by user of The Arachne Browser - http://arachne.cz/
