I believe the Holocaust did not happen and that Hitler was a Saint.
Why would most people think the above sentence were the ramblings of a raging idiot? But similar Christian lunacy does not deserve the same scrutiny. Your beliefs are no different than believing in the various Greek God that people used to believe in. They changed their beliefs because people like you forced them to think like you or find the end of a spear.
I know this was a waste of time but this is good practice for me. Arguing with a person that believes in the make-believe is like talking to a person in a straight-jacket that is convinced two plus two is seven.
To the rest of the sane world, we must separate ourselves from these crazy people. They have killed us in the past and they continue to kill us now. Soon you will have a choice.
Well, obviously he is entitled to his opinions about the veracity of Christianity, but let's consider how this guy illustrates how ignorant of early Christian history most secularists (especially "free thinkers") are. The Greeks were apparently converted at the point of a sword in this guy's mind, which goes completely against the history of the period where Christianity was an underground religion until Constantine allowed it to legally be practiced out in the open.
So, guru, want to explain how an underground religion, illegal under the most powerful government in the classical world, could en mass convert by the sword? Any pagan looking for protection would only need to go to the nearest Roman official to have it taken care of by the Roman Army.
The fact that the Roman government executed people for not converting to Christianity has no bearing on the religion itself. In fact, the vast majority of "church crimes" were throughout history carried out by secular government forces operating on behalf or under the guise of religion. It is ironic that people so quick to say "religion is the opiate of the masses" cannot grasp the corollary which is "religion is the ruse of the state."
I believe the Holocaust did not happen and that Hitler was a Saint.
Why would most people think the above sentence were the ramblings of a raging idiot?
Uh, because it's demonstrably false to anyone w/ the rudest grasp of history, perhaps? At least, it is unless you've invented a new definition of "saint" out of whole cloth, replacing the old.
They changed their beliefs because people like you forced them to think like you or find the end of a spear.
I think you've got Christianity confused w/ the Religion of Peace, AKA Islam.
To the rest of the sane world, we must separate ourselves from these crazy people. They have killed us in the past and they continue to kill us now. Soon you will have a choice.
And somehow, these froth-mouthed, eye-rolling maniacs managed founding the freest nation in recorded history--the United States of America. That legacy is being undermined as we type away at our keyboards, & it ain't Christian sappers bringing it all down.
I find it bizarre beyond comprehension that one would embrace secular humanism & reject Christianity on the basis of violence. The most monstrous atrocities of world history were perpetrated by people who not only were non-Christian, but anti-Christian.
BTW, notice the typical left-wing/atheist modus operandi, here:
"Christians have such asinine beliefs, I can scoff & hurl insults until doomsday--oops, I mean until Darwinian evolution crescendoes in a metamorphosis of humans into beings of pure light energy--& I don't even feel obligated to provide any examples of their moronics in making my ingenious point."
IOW: "You're idiots, & though I feel pointing this out is necessary, I can't bother w/ explaining why."
Well I'm sure that he has some great excuse up his sleeve for why the secular crimes are no big deal. It's probably something to the effect that all Christians are the same, but all secularists are not the same. You know, the argument that everyone who thinks that religion is stupid and outmoded is a free thinker and thus unique.
I learned a long time ago that if someone is this completely ignorant about religious history, chances are they are so maleducated that they cannot have a coherent argument either. That and they assume that they are one of the era's leading theologians and have their finger on the pulse of all religious thought.
"religion is the ruse of the state."
As it turns out, it's "government" which is the opiate of the people. People place their faith in the State and denounce anyone who would question it, despite what history has shown us about unchecked government powers. But us Christians are the crazy ones...
Pablo: "People place their faith in the State and denounce anyone who would question it..."
"And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
Questions are good.
Answers even better.
Faith, the belief in your queries being answered.
Ta da!
I'm so darn learned some days ;)