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Originally Posted by Ustwo
But was the rally cry around atheism? No it was socialism. You can't incite a people to murder around atheism. Atheism by nature doesn't create the same sort of out groups that religion does.
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Then, following your logic, war in the past was caused not by religion, but by despots and monarchies. I'm sure you'd agree with that statement.
...Yeah. I didn't think so.
Sorry, but the idea of a society in the absence of religion existed long before socialism. To claim that religion creates the sort of groups that atheism cannot would not only be inane but it would involve ignoring years of history which would prove otherwise. Look at the countries/regions which have actively pursued state atheism. Many times they often engaged in those things which most atheists seem to love criticizing theists-- Erm... Christians-- Of doing; Supressing 'non-compatible' ideas and indoctrinating the populace to think a certain way. Why, exactly, do you think ther phrase "In God We Trust" is printed on all US currency?
Oh, and for the record, Albania
WAS an atheist state; It called itself as such (FYI).
...But I digress.
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As for a current war using religion as a rally point...you aren't seriously asking this question right?
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Yes, I'm seriously asking this question (If you're going to mention the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, don't bother as there is about sixty'ish years of history to show that any and all repercussions the United States is facing is due to horrible foreign policy towards the Middle East since the end of WWII). Whereas such a statement might have been true towards the end of the 18th century, it isn't anymore. The overwhelming majority of wars fought today are caused either due to a lack of resources and/or conflicts between two or more political systems.
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Originally Posted by tecoyah
Then most religious scripture should also be tossed aside for making the same claim.....Shouldn't it?
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You believe God doesn't exist because He can't exist, therefore you couldn't claim be God without contradicting your own beliefs. That's
YOUR argument at work, not
MINE 
~ Edit ~
Tecoyah said: There (in my opinion) is quite a large difference between removing Theism, and forwarding Atheism. A proactive state sponsored policy of systematically removing religion from the population does not automatically entail a teaching of Atheist Practice, more it attempts to stop the spread of religious Dogma.
I say: There's a slight-- Just a small one-- Difference in forwarding an atheist state and the removal of Church and state. Where as one attempts to ensure that the government can't institute a state religion or dictate what religion someone can and can't follow (Within reasons), the other attempts to ban religion all together, destroy religious places of worship and persecutes those who choose to follow a certain religion. Care to guess which is which?
Anyway, I kinda' chuckled to myself after re-reading your response. If you have no problem with a state trying to proactively remove religious dogma from the populace, then you should have no problem with a state trying to proactively convert it's populace to a certain religion. It'd seem slightly hypocritical to advocate one and not the other, ya' know?
Tecoyah said: Iraqi Civil War
I say: It wouldn't be occurring if the United States hadn't invaded Iraq to protect it's overseas interests, therefore destabilizing the region. But that doesn't matter. It's easier to diagnose a sympton rather than the cause.