Comments on: Religion: The Methamphetamine of the Masses… https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/ Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:18:30 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.8 By: bgoogle https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550491 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:18:30 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550491 Greg, you are being semantical.

]]> By: bgoogle https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550490 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 21:13:49 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550490 If you want to be able to blame all believers in religion and scare people away from religion based on the small harms that some few do, then buck up and take responsibility for what the militant atheists do too. Stalin’s purges, Lenin’s shooting of the workers that struck his worker’s paradise and Mao’s cultural revolution… all far surpass any damage of the Spanish Inquisition.

]]> By: Spanish Inquisitor https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550489 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:46:42 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550489 We spent 50 years listening to our leaders scare us with communism. Now it’s being used as an excuse to scare us away from atheism.

Oh, wait. Stalin was an atheist too! And he killed all those people! So, therefore, atheism makes no sense.

Excuse me while I go join a church.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550488 Mon, 17 Dec 2007 07:05:47 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550488 bgoogle:

Just to be clear, I said “explicitly Marxist.” I did not say communist. As far as I know “communist” is not an analytical method as is Marxist.

]]> By: bgoogle https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550487 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:28:35 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550487 BTW, from the original unsavory things like killing people link…

Doesn’t it seem likely that overimbibing of alcohol had a lot more to do with it than religion?

]]> By: bgoogle https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550486 Sun, 16 Dec 2007 21:22:46 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550486 >Who gives a flying fuck about communism – marxist, leninist theoretical or practical? It’s a relatively discreditied economic theory.< From the original post: >Avakian takes an explicitly Marxist approach to examine the question of what harm can come from believing in god (any god).< So, SI, Avakian and the reviewer make it relevant. Or didn't you actually read the OP? >The book referenced in the OP is about atheism. Why don’t you criticize the book and it’s subject matter, not the author.< I attacked what the author stands for and what he believes in and what the results of those beliefs are. If I wanted to attack Chairman Bob, then I would note that in the USA he is still a wanted fugitive for attacking a policeman. Again, since the OP started out: >But it could be argued that religion is a harder drug, one that makes people do harder, more unsavory things than just sitting around bleary eyed and happy. Like killing people.< Then the fact that what Avakian supports has resulted in the deaths of millions, based on an ideology which the founders themselves define as militant atheism, is totally relevant. As much as you would like to put your hands over your eyes and scream "LALALALALALALALA!" so you can pretend otherwise, it is relevant. Sorry to burst your bubble with reality.

]]> By: Spanish Inquisitor https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550485 Sat, 15 Dec 2007 22:18:37 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550485 Who gives a flying fuck about communism – marxist, leninist theoretical or practical? It’s a relatively discreditied economic theory.

The book referenced in the OP is about atheism. Why don’t you criticize the book and it’s subject matter, not the author.

]]> By: bgoogle https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550484 Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:08:08 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550484 Uh-huh, Sam.

That’s why those who weren’t Mao, but who were involved in the Cultural Revolution are pretty much dishonored.

Thanks for letting us know what you want to bring to the US.

Chairman Bob has all the same excuses. True Marxist Communism has never been tried. At least not by the really smart people, like him.

]]> By: sam https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550483 Sat, 15 Dec 2007 14:03:57 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550483 Bob Avakian is putting forward a new synthesis that draws from both the advances and mistakes of the past (Communist Movement). For his latest contributions of more sweeping scope, check out the free audio downloads (2 dealing directly with religion) at
http://www.bobavakian.net

It is interesting how those with such critical and analytic minds (in terms of religion) can in one quick swoop take up the garbage they’ve been fed about Mao/Cultural Revolution by U.S. media/society without thinking twice. People should check out some of the misinformation at thisiscommunism.org or read some of William Hinton’s books, who was actually in China when all of Mao’s supposed horrors took place.

Remember, much of the information we get here in the U.S. came directly from those (a minority!) who fled China after exploiting it’s people for centuries.

]]> By: Greg Laden https://gregladen.com/blog/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550482 Sat, 15 Dec 2007 08:36:29 +0000 http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2007/12/14/religion-the-methamphetamine-o/#comment-550482 bgoogle: You are so right about the Straw Man sentence!

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