Ceteloguing the Tricks Theists Play

[Rhondazvous]

 I don't think that is happening in Christian-majority countries, but you can find examples of Islamic groups burning Christian children or censoring of free speech for Christians in non-Christian countries or even "socialist" ones

I agree. I'm also not a big fan of the argument some atheists make that "atheists never kill in the name of atheism". This is simply untrue, as far as I know. Even today, in places like China and North Korea, atheists persecute, silence, oppress, and even kill religious people for their belief. Now don't get me wrong, Christians are persecuting a lot in America, but it's also untrue that atheists are always peaceful. We shouldn't focus so much on the things that Christians have done in the past such as the Crusades and the Inquisition, but rather we should show them places in the Bible where followers of the Abrahamic god oppressed and committed acts of genocide.

I was agreeing with you then got confused in your last statements.

I agree that as humans no matter to which group we subscribe, we don't remember what we did to others but only what they did to us. Maybe theists can accuse atheists of everything atheists accuse them of.  Be that as it may and that is as may be. I believe in being honest. I believe in applying critical standards to my own arguments as ruthlessly as I would to the arguments of theists. But if they fight with me, they should not expect me to fight fair. When I fight, all that is honest is also fair.

Where I became confused is where you make a difference between seeing the atrocities of the Church during the middle ages and seeing the atrocities of the Abrahamic religions in the Bible. Both instances are pertinent, so why do we have to do one or the other? 

It's not even historical atrocities to which we are limited. When the earthquake hit Haiti, Pat Robinson claimed it was god's punishment. Same with hurricane Katrina. James Dobson, leader of the Focus on the Family ministry, urged his followers to pray for rain of "biblical proportions" to fall on the Democratic National Convention when Obama was first up for election. The past is the visible future.  The Crusades, the Inquisition, the Salam witch hunts, all the atrocities in the Bible, give us more than a notion of what the world would be like if Christians regained power.   Christians in America can not be excused by pointing to the persecution of Christians in Iran.