The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #150086   Message #3502845
Posted By: Stringsinger
13-Apr-13 - 03:17 PM
Thread Name: BS: Are Atheists really Atheists or......
Subject: RE: BS: Are Atheists really Atheists or......
"But, to get the most out of a two-way discussion,if that is what one is seeking, respecting the other person and their differing viewpoints and perspectives on the same topic helps. "

I have studiously avoided ad hominem in my remarks. But I respectfully disagree that
not respecting differing viewpoints always helps. I think even though it may seem as though it brings up more heat than light, a respectful approach is not concerning whether or not you step on someone's ideology or position but rather bringing up criticism to it is just as important as respecting the ideas with which you disagree. Invective and insults do little to further an intelligent conversation but if they occur, sometimes this is a catalyst for being able to present useful information.

I am grateful for the brickbats that have been thrown at me because they enable me to articulate my position on issues such as these.

So in effect I more or less agree with you on the style of discussion rather than on its substance.

Jim, once again, I agree with you. "I would guess that there are far more non-Marxist atheists that there are Marxists". I think that would be easy to establish.

Following up on that idea, Marx was an economist. Lenin a politician who used Marx for his ideas. You could make the case that Soviet Communism under Stalin was just like a religion, in fact Stalin had an ecclesiastical upbringing using some of religious propaganda techniques to further his cause. Stalin appointed himself a god just like Kim Jung Il does today. Lenin's statement about religion was possibly so he could replace it with his own.
it can be called a "religion" because it forced his followers to believe as he did and resembled a religious cult, which many religions do today.