Let us sweep under the rug the centuries of violence against the innocent children and unwed mothers fostered by the Catholic church as an anomaly not related to the practice of the faith of the supposedly non-violating enablers within the church which closed it's eye in a wink with a nod. I'm certain that is sufficient comfort for their victims.

Any person is entitled to the choice of their faith or lack thereof, for if not it is not faith they practice but rather servitude. Even the loosest of harnesses wear heavy on the flesh and spirit of the subjugated. Objectionable in your contention is that the destructive greed of man as exemplified by Hitler and Stalin is certain in one of no reli...

Let us sweep under the rug the centuries of violence against the innocent children and unwed mothers fostered by the Catholic church as an anomaly not related to the practice of the faith of the supposedly non-violating enablers within the church which closed it's eye in a wink with a nod. I'm certain that is sufficient comfort for their victims.

Any person is entitled to the choice of their faith or lack thereof, for if not it is not faith they practice but rather servitude. Even the loosest of harnesses wear heavy on the flesh and spirit of the subjugated. Objectionable in your contention is that the destructive greed of man as exemplified by Hitler and Stalin is certain in one of no religious practice or of no particularly defined faith; as well as the notion that practice of a religious faith expunges that greed. Pure balderdash, as any individual capable of unvarnished critical thought will ultimately conclude.

It is the conversion of the individual to seek out righteousness, to practice charity for the cause of love for neighbor and not for selfish gratification that leads to humility and away from greed not the fact that one practices a religious faith. I am also well aware of the fact that an individual does not need religion to do any good. However, neither have I tried to establish the thought that destructive greed is what led to the atrocities caused by Hitler or Stalin, but rather the destructive ideologies that these men harbored.

As a servant and slave of the Lord Jesus Christ whose yoke is light and sweet, I can attest to the fact that the belief in the Christian God nor the doctrines ...

It is the conversion of the individual to seek out righteousness, to practice charity for the cause of love for neighbor and not for selfish gratification that leads to humility and away from greed not the fact that one practices a religious faith. I am also well aware of the fact that an individual does not need religion to do any good. However, neither have I tried to establish the thought that destructive greed is what led to the atrocities caused by Hitler or Stalin, but rather the destructive ideologies that these men harbored.

As a servant and slave of the Lord Jesus Christ whose yoke is light and sweet, I can attest to the fact that the belief in the Christian God nor the doctrines of the Catholic Church have led to violence of the innocent. I do not deny that there has been repulsive behavior of a few who act in the name of God or of their own conscience within the Church, but they are only in the Church in body but not in Spirit. They are not of this fold and act in their own self centered accord as opposed to the Christ centered mysticism each member of the Church is to abide by in love.

I basically agree with alvarado's own comment - except that the language should have been more neutral ('as a servant and slave of jesus' inevitably sounds as if the specific religious view could improving the quality of the assessment on whether religios attitudes could possibly add to violent attitudes; however, in such a case, an attempt to look at it from a more neutral viewpoint is obviously more relevant).

The issue of Hitler keeps turning back. Hitler used totally secular/atheistic methods and ideology, but he also wrapped things up in a religious language for a while - and particularly used christian anti-judaism into his secular antisemitic plans. No one will ever be able to put th...

I basically agree with alvarado's own comment - except that the language should have been more neutral ('as a servant and slave of jesus' inevitably sounds as if the specific religious view could improving the quality of the assessment on whether religios attitudes could possibly add to violent attitudes; however, in such a case, an attempt to look at it from a more neutral viewpoint is obviously more relevant).

The issue of Hitler keeps turning back. Hitler used totally secular/atheistic methods and ideology, but he also wrapped things up in a religious language for a while - and particularly used christian anti-judaism into his secular antisemitic plans. No one will ever be able to put that completely straight. The most important test is: 1) do fundamentalist christians at the very least understand that they are not free from terrible error? And: 2) do secularists and atheists understand that atheism indeed can quickly turn into an extremely violent ideology as well? (Obviously, the new atheists migrate all error to the side of religion - thereby proving that they are not ready for any self-knowledge on that matter).