The genocidal germ in religious fundamentalism

New Testament scholar John Dominic Crossan discusses the difference between literalism and fundamentalism and the dangers inherent in fundamentalism.

"Those who believe absurdities will commit atrocities." - Voltaire

I am uploading this after a fundamentalist YouTuber calling himself Ramohog made and then repeatedly defended a number of pro-genocide comments after my video on Saint Augustine, saying that I too would endorse genocide if I were "a spirit-filled born again Christian" and that my disgust at his remarks was simply a symptom of lacking the correct Christian spirit.

This is a mirror of livingthequestions' video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6f0ZHaoSnf0

Category:

Education

Tags:

• fundamentalism
• vs
• literalism
• genocide
• mass
• murder
• old
• testament
• Jesus
• religion
• Christianity
• anti-christianity
• evil
• Ramohog
• Hitler

[jimfromcanada1]

Atheists also can be fundamentalists and commit genocide, for example: the Khmer Rouge, and Stalin's Communist Party of the Soviet Union in his campaign against the kulaks of the Ukraine.

[TravisMorien]

@jimfromcanada1 Communism is an ideology calling for the overthrow of capitalist economics and private ownership, violently if necessary, to place the means of production in the hands of the collective state. Atheism is lack of belief in a god, usually because you don't see evidence for one. You can be a communist without being an atheist, like many South American communists are today, and you can be an atheist without being a communist, like 99.9999% of all atheists who ever lived have been.

[leedsl001]

Some could argue Pol Pot deified himself by setting up the Khmer Rouge as an ideology parallel to most any religion with enforced compliance by indoctrinating the children to believe the State was their true way. These children were then taught, like religion, to obey orders without question. Or he was just a godless son-of-a-bitch who thought it best to return his country back a few hundred.

Either way, a 2 to 4 million religious people died without much help from whomever they prayed.

[TravisMorien]

@leedsl001 What is notable is that the atrocious dictators which are usually dragged out to make some kind of point about atheism leading to atrocities tend to actively exploit religion or at least adopt its essential character.

What makes religion harmful and gives dictators their strength is the de-emphasis of critical thinking and the promotion of "faith". Free thinking and skepticism are not part of the totalitarian agenda, but they are part of the atheist agenda, such that one exists.

[leedsl001]

@TravisMorien 

[leedsl001]

@TravisMorien Scary, uh. C.H. made a passing comment in something he wrote that raised my eyebrows, though I suspected it all along. It went something like: "Biologically, humans are only partially rational." A casual review of the old "fight or flight' behavior, never mind the newer discoveries surrounding brain activity, provides substance to his comment, and goes a long way toward explaining the uphill battle against the fear-mongering anointed.

[TravisMorien]

@durbinjeff "Voltaire also died insane"

Probably worth asking you to back that one up as well. Voltaire continued to write plays and essays until his death at age 83 and I have seen no reputable historical accounts that claim he was in any way mentally diminished.

Are you making this stuff up or is there a disreputable source you're quoting?

By the way, Voltaire was a deist, which is not the same as an atheist. He didn't believe in the Christian god, just some unnamed universal "creator".

[TravisMorien]

@durbinjeff "as do most atheists"... do you have a reasonable basis for making such a claim or is this just a faith thing for you?

Actually the majority of atheists are perfectly happy and there actually is quite a lot of statistical evidence out there showing that atheists tend to be on the whole better balanced individuals who don't go to jail as often as believers, treat their kids better, tend to be better educated and better paid etc.

Hard to establish a cause from correlation though!

[durbinjeff]

@TurdTemple

Voltaire also died insane as do most atheists, they have no hope. Today Voltaires house is a church. How ironic.

[TheOuroborosWyrm]

Crossan is very interesting. Particularly his analysis of the Jesus of the Gospel in the context of Hellenistic culture and the politics of the time. I've never seen him this forceful in an interview, it's great. Thanks for putting this up.