Marshall, you are confusing atheism with a belief system like theism, religion or a governing system like communism, nazism or fascism. Don't forget by the way, that Adolf Hitler was a Catholic in addition to being a Nazi. In that role he found a good buddy in Pius XII.
Atheism means that one fails to believe that there is sufficient evidence that there is a god. It does not believe that there is no god or gods. If it did that, then it would bear the onus of proof of proving a negative and that logically would be impossible. Since you believe that there is a god, then the onus of proof is on you, not on the atheist and outside of the bible or any other ancient unreliable scripture like it, you have no sufficient evidence. If you do, let's have some proof remotely scientific enough to prove your point. The bible was written by unknown authors (even Matthew and Mark's gospels were not written by Matthew or Mark, but by others). It was so messed up by adding dubious material and omitting scrolls that were not favourable to the ideas of those compiling it that the present form is unreliable at best. About the Old Testament, the less said about its gory contents the better. It is not a sacred book. No one living during the time of Jesus wrote anything about him and so many scholars have written so many things about him decades after, that whether he actually existed or whether he existed in the form Christians believe he did, is seriously in doubt. It is quite untrue that no atheist does anything to progress humanity. In fact since atheists believe there is only this life to live and there is nothing after it, they generally live better lives than religious people do. They, unlike deists or Christians or Muslims for that matter don't believe you can do anything that will be forgiven when you ask for it from some unseen god. Therefore atheists will do whatever they can (and they have without advertising it) to make this world a better place for all humans. Parrikar, Churchill, Monserrat and all others of Goa's rogues gallery are devout religionists who think they can loot, plunder and deprive others and their own land to enrich themselves because they can suppress their own conscience, believing they will get some final forgiveness when they depart this earth to enjoy heavenly bounties in addition to their earthly ones. With atheists, this is not so. This life, this earth and their humanity is final and it is all they have to work with. Roland Francis Toronto > On Jul 27, 2017, at 1:48 AM, Marshall Mendonza <[email protected]> wrote: > > Roland, would appreciate if you could kindly provide answers to the > following two questions: > > 1. What is special in atheism that in the last couple of centuries the most > barbarous lot happened to be atheists like Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Kim Il > Sung, Hitler, etc. who killed and butchered millions and millions of people > and brought misery to the world. Closer home we had Jinnah and Advani. And > now Savarkar whose followers are running amuck in the country. > > 2. Can you name some prominent atheists who have been engaged with > alleviating human suffering by tending to lepers and HIV Aids people, or > mentally and physically challenged people, or the dying and destitutes, or > the homeless and needy, or to discarded babies and women in distress. And I > mean people who have soiled their hands and not thrown money. > > Regards, > > Marshall > > > > > > > > *There will come a day when you get the opportunity to set your critical > thinking in motion and if logic, reason and science triumph over mere faith > and blind custom;Then you will realize that science voids the notion of a > soul and a life after death. You will breathe the air of truth and freedom > and appreciation of what this life really has to offer.You will no longer > have the false comfort of godly forgiveness from a god that has been > created by human beings to satisfy their own fears and to aid in the > exploitation of others. Truly as Hitchens writes: God is not great and > religion poisons everything.* > > > *They will address everything you need and want to know. There are more > Goan Catholics in the closet than you can imagine. If you are one of them, > I urge you to come out and be free of the thinking that binds from the > truth.* > *Roland Francis*
