Pope speech compares atheist 'extremism' with Nazism

bbc ^ | 9/16/10 | staff

[Nachum]

The Pope has compared ''atheist extremism'' to the Nazi tyranny of WWII in a speech given in Edinburgh as he begins a four-day visit to the UK. The pontiff praised Britain's fight against the Nazis - who ''wished to eradicate God'' - before relating it to modern day ''atheist extremism''. (snip) ''As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the 20th century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society,'' he added.

[Julia H.]

Honestly, I’ve never understood why so many Christians consider atheism to be their ultimate antagonist. From a Christian standpoint, there are much, much worse things you can do than simply not believe in God. I know the First Commandment and all, but I personally have a hard time judging a person’s moral character based simply on whether he or she believes XYZ exists. Belief isn’t something you can just voluntarily switch on and off. It’s not a decision you can make as easily as choosing whether to kill, steal, etc. Yes, an atheistic worldview is going to have a harder time accounting for absolute morality ON PAPER, but I don’t see the average atheist running around looting, killing and living in amoral chaos, either.

Just as atheists shouldn’t judge all of religion based on what the loudest morons say, I think theists should be careful about mistaking atheism for the militant, dogmatic anti-theism paraded by its proponents as “atheism.” Normal atheists don’t need the entire world to agree with them in order to feel good about themselves, so naturally they’re not going to have a very overstated presence.