The Goat Pen

North Korea! How could I have left out that shining example of human rights run by the atheist Kim's. It is the epitome of progressivism and enlightenment. You don't even have to go back to the Maoists or the Bolsheviks or the Khmer Rouge to see the result of atheist government, because it's still going on. Except the chubby teenager currently in charge won't let his peasants tend his polo ponies because they might get eaten by the starving masses.

In the style of VolTone, I summarize and conclude hedge's much-needed history lesson:
France. Atheism. Robespierre. Guillotines.
Russia. Atheism, Stalin. Gulags.
China. Atheism. Mao. Re-education camps.
Cambodia. Atheism. Pol Pot. Killing fields.
North Korea. Atheism. The Kim's. More re-education camps.

Do you see a pattern here?

Hitler: religious
Mussolini: religious
Mugabe: religious
Idi Amin: religious
Kaiser Wilhelm: religious

Do you see a pattern here?

sardis wrote:Let's not forget the Irish Republican Army of a few decades ago terrorizing the streets of Belfast and London with the backing of the RCC. Thank God for the Orange Order in their defense of Protestantism.

Heh. My grandfather was a Belfast Orangeman. Now that he is Orthodox I'm sure he regrets that.

Here in TN the teaparty-taliban legislature has passed a resolution making the Bible our 'state book.' Over the protests of our moderate (ie: not crazy) republican governor, Lt. governor, Speaker and so on. The GOP attorney general naturally says the bill is unconstitutional. Teapartiers say they side with God over the Constitution.

There will likely be a governor's veto...followed just as likely by pitchforks and death threats.

I wonder where they learned those techniques?

AlabamAlum wrote:Hitler: religious
Mussolini: religious
Mugabe: religious
Idi Amin: religious
Kaiser Wilhelm: religious

Do you see a pattern here?

Hitler's quote was "one cannot be a good Nazi and a good Christian" - he was raised catholic, but was not religious as an adult.
Mussolini was an atheist - he signed accords with the church in order to consolidate power.

No. That's not exactly the case, JD. Hitler participated in religious ceremonies as an adult, he promised that the Nazi Party would never attack Christianity, and referenced the "Almighty Creator" several times in Mein Kamph.

He was NOT ex-communicated by the Church well into WWII and had the support of at least a couple of Catholic higher-ups.

Now, did he become ambivalent toward the church or did he use the church for his ends? Sure, possibly. But his devout upbringing, and writings make the case against him being atheist.

Re: Mussolini. Correct. That should have said "raised a catholic".

Even the NYT can't help but state the obvious:


Hillary Clinton has always tried to be more like the Democratic president she lived with in the White House, to figure out how he spins the magic. “I never realized how good Bill was at this until I tried to do it,” she once told her adviser, Harold Ickes. But she ends up being compared with the Republican president she investigated as a young lawyer for the House Judiciary’s Watergate investigation.

Her paranoia, secrecy, scandals and disappearing act with emails from her time as secretary of state have inspired a cascade of comparisons with Nixon.



Whoever the repub nominee is, he needs to pound the drum linking Hillary to Nixon....she WAS fired from the Watergate investigation for lying.

Seriously dude...pace yourself.

AlabamAlum wrote:Hitler: religious
Mussolini: religious
Mugabe: religious
Idi Amin: religious
Kaiser Wilhelm: religious

Do you see a pattern here?

I would say out of that list, Mugabe was the only one truly "religious". Everyone else did not show nor did they claim religion as a motivation in their lives.

Are you religious, Sardis? I assume so. How do you show that you are truly religious? What is your religious motivation and how is it obvious to those around you here?

Personally, I defined religious as those who professed a belief in god(s) or creators and participated in at least some religious ceremonies.

Seriously? Please retract that religious question to sardis pronto.

The guy standing to Hilary's right in that picture is my image of Toe. The guy to her left, Prof...

I believe that I read the Pope authorized annual celebrations of the fuhrer's birthday. How evangelical...

hedge wrote:The guy standing to Hilary's right in that picture is my image of Toe. The guy to her left, Prof...

I've got long hair and a beard. I've been told I look like Kris Kristofferson.

AlabamAlum wrote:Are you religious, Sardis? I assume so. How do you show that you are truly religious? What is your religious motivation and how is it obvious to those around you here?

Personally, I defined religious as those who professed a belief in god(s) or creators and participated in at least some religious ceremonies.

Yes, I am religious. I participate in my faith regularly by attendance and gift. I raise my children in the faith and married a woman of the same faith.

Now, I am not saying you have to fervent like me to be religious but your criteria would include 90% of the American population. Kind of an exclusive group you want yourself to be in.

Would you claim Michael Corleone religious as he has a ton of people killed during the baptism of his nephew?

Yes. That character was written as religious.

sardis wrote:Would you claim Michael Corleone religious as he has a ton of people killed during the baptism of his nephew?

I would say that's a prerequisite of "being religious". Old school...

Professor Tiger wrote:

hedge wrote:The guy standing to Hilary's right in that picture is my image of Toe. The guy to her left, Prof...

I've got long hair and a beard. I've been told I look like Kris Kristofferson.

Yeah right. Maybe if he was found dead in a highway ditch a few months later.