(October 14, 2016 at 6:10 pm)TheMonster Wrote: Without God, there is a crisis of meaningAnd how does God gives meaning? What is the meaning of Rocky Mountains or cancer? How does god brings meaning to polio?
(October 14, 2016 at 6:10 pm)TheMonster Wrote: ...as in the regimes of Stalin, Mao and Pol PotSame Stalin that reopened the churches in Russia during WWII? His genocide actions were causes of his politics, not his anti-theism. Russian Orthodox Church stayed staunchly in Stalin’s corner until the very end and supported his regime.
Stalin also exploited a very ingrained Russian belief that the czar is the mortal intermediate between heaven and earth, and conflicting spiritualities undermine that power if enough people believe in it. He yielded results in his government that were heralded—despite their scientific origins and medically devastating effects—as miracles, such as advancements in agricultural science.
And what about Christian leaders? We can say that american presidents have always been Christians and yet that Catholic JFK dropped Agent Orange on little kids - yikes!
(October 14, 2016 at 6:10 pm)TheMonster Wrote: Who is to say that lying, or cheating or adultery or child molestation are wrong –really wrong? Where do those standards come from?They do come from secular philosophy and inborn morality and not from Quran or Bible.
teachings of the Bible are so muddled and self-contradictory that it was possible for Christians to happily burn heretics alive for five long centuries. It was even possible for the most venerated patriarchs of the Church, like St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, to conclude that heretics should be tortured (Augustine) or killed outright (Aquinas). Martin Luther and John Calvin advocated the wholesale murder of heretics, apostates, Jews, and witches. - Sam Harris, "Letter To A Christian Nation"