(June 26, 2013 at 11:45 am)DeistPaladin Wrote:(June 26, 2013 at 11:18 am)ShadowWolf1986 Wrote: Mao was a man, not a god. Worshiping him as a god does not negate the fact that the Communist government of China was/is Atheistic.
The point is that Communism, especially as it was practiced by China and the former Soviet Union, had all the trappings of religion. Prophecy, scripture, black-and-white ideology, fanaticism, and the promise of a "worker's paradise" that seems every bit as unlikely as your Heaven.
Not all religions have a god. Buddhists don't. Taoists don't.
And I think you'll find most people here apply the same skepticism to political and ideological claims as we do to religious claims.
And I repeat, no culture ever committed atrocities because they were just too skeptical and too inclined to critical thinking.
There are some Atheist fanatics on this very forum, and the answer some have given to my question is to see a world without religion. Sounds like the trappings of religion to me.
Denying Atheism is a world-view, or religious in nature, seems like a way to deflect attention from yourselves to what you think is a contradiction, flaw, or downright "evil" intention of a religion or religious person.