Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The Answer to the "but Hitler and Stalin were atheists!" problem

I know why Richard Dawkins didn't have much of an answer for Bill O'Reilly on his so-called "interview." It's because Dawkins has the same problem most atheists have with this statement.

They share the same belief: Statism.

Not that Hitler was an atheist. We've gone over that crap. Hitler was catholic, Hitler hated atheists, etc etc. But Hitler believed in Germany. Hitler believed that the State implied moral obligation. So do many, many atheists, who believe religiously in Democracy.

So how can we expect atheists to be able to answer this assertion about the worst tragedies of recent history? It wasn't atheism that murdered so many. It was belief that Might Makes Right. And as long as most atheists hold onto that belief they share with the Christians who point fingers at them, Christians will have the upper hand in the Game of Suffering. The answer to the immorality of Stalin, Hitler, the Inquisition and the Crusades?

The moral argument.

It's not an answer that favors a Movement, friends, not even atheism. It can't, ever. You want to oppose those atrocities? You have to be anarchist. If you favor monopoly of violence, especially from imaginary entities like God or the State, the Moral Razor slashes it to pieces. Atheism is just a first step to possibly understanding the material reality of morality. It cannot answer the tyranny of man.

3 comments:

L said...

I rather think Dawkins just didn't have time to get in a response since O'Reilly threw it out at the end. But yours would be the obvious quick response when there's no time to try and get across more trenchant points.

breakerslion said...

It all goes back to the Alpha Monkey crap. Stalin wasn't immoral because he was an atheist, any more than he was an atheist because he was immoral. He comanded all those murders because he was an Alpha, and he could.

The same can be said for certian priests. They don't molest little boys because they are priests, their position of power merely gives them the opportunity (and a degree of unconscious motivation) to do so. The perverts get off on the domination factor. If the young male submits, then the old priest-perv is still the top monkey.

Tim said...

You seem to forget that an oath of celibacy works wonders for pedophilia. How long can someone abstain before giving in?

Many more factors than just power.

Tim