> Mario wrote: > After all Stalin, Mao, Ho, Pol, Fidel and Kim were > and are still considered upstanding atheists. > > Aristo enquired: > > Mario, > > Can you please inform us who and when did anyone on > Goanet stated that any of the above were > upstanding? I would like to give them a piece of > my mind, just as I did to Vivek! > Mario in turn asks: > In spite of my mentioning these tyrants several times, can you cite for me a single atheist on Goanet that has categorically repudiated or condemned their atrocities?
Aristo responds: So in the world according to Mario, falsehoods become facts merely based on whether anyone fails to repudiate it or endorse the opposite! I must say, "Devastating" Logic! Which means, in the world according to Mario, everyone on Goanet (including silent members) who has not chided Nasci for his denigration of innocuous Hindu practices and the religion as a whole, can be safely assumed to agree with Nasci. So the above is clear evidence of Mario's false statements, that too, ironically on a thread titled "Fake Quotes"! ----------------------- Mario enquires: As a recent convert to atheism, please let us know how we would know that an atheist had lost his standing as an atheist by committing even gross atrocities. Aristo responds: Mario, an Atheist is still an Atheist after committing gross atrocities. My question was who considered them upstanding, but sadly, you have tried to distort my question. The meaning of "upstanding" is morally admirable. And FYI, I have been an atheist for the last 5 years, agnostic for 3 years before that. ------------------- Aristo asked: > > Also, as for Fidel, I must admit that I am ignorant > about his brutalities, besides imprisonment of his > political opponents and dictatorship of course. As > my 2nd request, can you please offer us > some impartial (read non-american) and credible > sources of information of his brutalities? > Mario wrote: > Where did you get the quaint idea that the "non-American" media is "impartial"?? Some are, others like Al Jazeera, Reuters and the BBC, are not. In this day and age, one has to follow a broad spectrum of news to get a sense of the truth, often by reading between the lines and picking up on what is not reported. Aristo responds: Surely my request for non-American sources is understandable in this particular case, given America's long standing prejudice against Cuba. Mario has the choice of the media of 242 countries besides America to make his case for Fidel Castro being a mass murderer. ---------------------- Mario wrote: I find it amusing to say the least that ALL you find wrong with Fidel's brutalities are the "...imprisonment of his political opponents and dictatorship...". Isn't that enough for someone like you who apparently wants freedom and democracy only for yourself? > Perhaps the media you follow has omitted to mention the thousands of Cubans who risk their lives each and every year in rickety boats and rafts to escape from Cuba. Ask yourself why people would risk their lives to get away from a country, year in and year out, for decades now, even though some Canadian Goanetters marvel at Cuba's free education and health care and allegedly cutting-edge medical technology. > Aristo responds: The other tyrants on Mario's list were genocidal mass murderer's. I am still ignorant about Fidel. Wikipedia states that "thousands of Political Opponents were killed in 1959", but cites a source of an American Librarian named Matthew White. So the truth is still "out there". And Mario's arguments above are mere rhetoric without any facts (or in the colourful language of my peers; all gas and no ....! ;-)). And just for the sake of argument, the largest number of sea-faring illegal immigrants to the US are from the democratic Dominican Republic, per the American media itself. -------------------- Mario wrote: > As I have said before, I strongly suspect you either don't read what I say or are so busy interpreting what I say that you miss what I have clearly said altogether. Aristo responds: Mario, as I have said before, I strongly suspect you either don't read what you say or you don't practise what you preach. And for the record, I categorically condemn the mass murders by Stalin, Mao, Ho, Pol and Kim. As for Fidel, I am still ignorant about his alleged mass murders, which may very well be true. But I am aware of his unjust imprisonment of political opponents and Dictatorship, and I certainly do not endorse it and for the same reason, I do not consider Fidel as upstanding. And I fully support Nasci's stance against Casteism but nothing more. To all Goanetters, I will try to keep this as my last engagement with Mario for a while, unless he suckers me into responding again, which you can't hold against me. I apologise for having dragged on the Great Religion debate, but hope to avoid it like I successfully have with the Great Iraq debate. Cheers, Aristo. _______________________________________________ Goanet mailing list Goanet@lists.goanet.org http://lists.goanet.org/listinfo.cgi/goanet-goanet.org