"For good people to do evil things, that takes religion." Okay, what about Communism?

[Felch]

I think Communism is essentially a religion. People believe its principles are true despite all evidence to the contrary.

Err doesn't that make all political ideologies you disagree with "religious"? And isn't it a little silly to define religion in a way that makes no reference to the supernatural?

Communism has a sort of promised paradise, which is similar to traditional religion. There's this whole idea of first being Socialist and then graduating to true Communism.

I think it's fair to say that religion has less to do with the supernatural, and more with the role it takes in a person's life. Whether you're sacrificing a chicken, going to church, or attending a party rally, you're acting on the same natural impulse to find purpose and direction in your life.

It's also why Communism is so hostile to religion. Most atheist political leaders would co-opt the existing faith and use it to establish their legitimacy among the faithful. But Communism is a religious political faction, as much so as any fundamentalist party. And just as you wouldn't see the Ayatollah or Pat Robertson tolerating a rival faith, Communists tend to suppress any competing religion.

[Lorizael]

There's some modern neuroscience that would seem to indicate we view religion differently than most other causes we might attach ourselves to. There appears to be a built in spiritual component to our brains. If that's the case, I think the argument can be made that religion is qualitatively different from politics.

[Felch]

That's true of most politics. Whether we have a Democrat or Republican isn't a religious question. But Democrats and Republicans promise real world pork, not la-la land Communism. To me it's the promise of a vaguely better life to come that makes Communism religious. It's dogmatic, reliant on prophecy by dead writers, and it promises a better life based on their writings. Communism isn't about getting better schools, or locking up more dark people, it's about a magical explosion of awesomeness sometime in the future, after all the right conditions have been met.

[Lorizael]

I think a sufficiently reductionist point of view can make anything look religious. Modern Republicans worship Ronald Reagan, seek a return to the lost paradise of low taxes and minimal government, worship the Constitution as laid out by our Founding Fathers, etc. I'm not sure how useful such a point of view is.

[MRT144]

I think a sufficiently reductionist point of view can make anything look religious. Modern Republicans worship Ronald Reagan, seek a return to the lost paradise of low taxes and minimal government, worship the Constitution as laid out by our Founding Fathers, etc. I'm not sure how useful such a point of view is.

Bingo.

[giblets]

Didn't Ann Coulter write a book about liberalism being a religion? I guess claiming something is a religion is a fun way to pretend you have arrived at an insight when you're really just a boring, partisan hack.

[MRT144]

Didn't Ann Coulter write a book about liberalism being a religion? I guess claiming something is a religion is a fun way to pretend you have arrived at an insight when you're really just a boring, partisan hack.

Paging Felch.

[giblets]

Being an anti-Communism partisan is acceptable, although kind of boring because mainstream and sensible is boring by default.

[Lorizael]

Comparing a poster to Ann Coulter should be the new Godwin's Law.

[regexcellent]

That kind of moronic talk makes me realise how embarrassed sensible religious people must be by their religion's nutcases.

Yeah if there's such thing as a fundamentalist atheist he's it.

That's pretty dumb. You give religion a free pass but those darn commies are just evil right?

Some Margaret Thatcher supporter you are. Yes, Communism is inherently evil.

[DaShi]

Has anyone mentioned Hitler yet?

[Felch]

I think a sufficiently reductionist point of view can make anything look religious. Modern Republicans worship Ronald Reagan, seek a return to the lost paradise of low taxes and minimal government, worship the Constitution as laid out by our Founding Fathers, etc. I'm not sure how useful such a point of view is.

Some Republicans are cultish retards, but most are just paranoid old white men. Communism is all about the promise of a paradise on earth, and the inevitability of that paradise. It's simply religion without a god, one that relies on class conflict and economics as the supernatural process that leads to the ultimate and inevitable triumph.

[OzzyKP]

That kind of moronic talk makes me realise how embarrassed sensible religious people must be by their religion's nutcases.

And how infuriating it is when atheists lump the two together.

[Dinner]

Ideologies can become defacto religions.

[MikeH]

And how infuriating it is when atheists lump the two together.

I try not to.