[Qwinn]

"How many people have died because they believed in evolution?"

One could make the strong argument that Communist states would not have been able to kill 100 million people in the 20th century if they had not believed in evolution, and the attendant atheist state that came with it.

For example, peacenik lefties love to point to Ghandi as the role model of all political activism. The truth is, the only reason Ghandi's tactics worked was because the British, because of their religious beliefs, were not amoral nor atheist enough to kill them all.

Now if Ghandi had tried his trick on atheist Stalin, Stalin would have smiled, given Ghandi the Order of Lenin for making his job so easy, and then bulldozed the entire area where Ghandi had so conveniently gathered all his critics.

Qwinn

[Joe Bonforte]

One could make the strong argument that Communist states would not have been able to kill 100 million people in the 20th century if they had not believed in evolution, and the attendant atheist state that came with it.

One could also argue that they would not have been able to kill 100 million people if they believed in any level of human decency at all.

Let us contrast those guys with the Inquisitors, who killed plenty (and would have killed more, had they the power), even though they were as devout as can be. Or our current Muslims, who are the opposite of atheist, yet have no problems killing all the infidels they can get at. Neither of these groups believed/believes in evolution, yet that didn't/doesn't stop them. The only difference from the Communists is in scale.

No, I'm afraid that trying to pin human evil action on evolution won't fly.

[Ichneumon]

One could make the strong argument that Communist states would not have been able to kill 100 million people in the 20th century if they had not believed in evolution, and the attendant atheist state that came with it.

There are a couple of things wrong with your thesis:

1. It's based on the ludicrous notion that only the theory of evolution makes atheism possible.

2. It ignores the fact that as a state policy, the USSR officially rejected Darwinian evolution and suppressed its teaching, and instead supported Lysenkoism as the "approved" state view.

[Doctor Stochastic]

Are you referring to the Communist's (mostly Stalin) execution of the professors who taugt Darwin's theory? These guys were executed for teaching Darwin's version of evolution. One must assume that the Communists were against them for some reason.

[dangus]

You can't blame evolution for totalitarian, atheist states... Ever hear of Napoleon?

[walden]

You're right-- look at how well that peaceful resistance has worked for the Tibetans against the Communist Chinese.

When asked what he thought of Western civilization, Ghandi is reputed to have said that he thought it would be a good idea. That quote always irritates me, as it's a clear case of biting the hand that feeds you. Ghandi knew his strategy would work because he KNEW the British-- he was educated in Britain. Had he tried that on anyone else he would have been an anonymous corpse, instead of a revered political and social leader, a champion of non-violence.