Posted on 11/30/2007 10:50:29 AM PST by Pyro7480
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in an encyclical released on Friday, said atheism was responsible for some of the "greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice" in history.
The 75-page "Spe Salvi," which takes its Latin title from a quote by St Paul (in hope we were saved), is an appeal to a pessimistic world to find strength in Christian hope.
In the second encyclical of his papacy, Benedict urges Christians to put their hope for the future in God and not in technology, wealth or political ideologies.
Atheism could be regarded by some as a "type of moralism," particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, to protest against the injustices of the world and world history, he said.
Reciting arguments made by atheists, he said: "A world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering and cynicism of power cannot be the work of a good God. A God with responsibility for such a world would not be a just God, much less a good God."
History has proven wrong ideologies such as Marxism which say humans had to establish social justice because God did not exist, the Pope wrote.
"It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice," the Pope said. Such a concept was grounded in "intrinsic falsity."
Marxism, the Pope wrote, had left behind "a trail of appalling destruction" because it failed to realize that man could not be "merely the product of economic conditions."
ATHEISTS REACT
The encyclical is the highest form of papal writing and addresses all members of the Church. This document is written in a highly academic, professorial style in which the Pope quotes saints, philosophers and writers to make his point.
Atheism has been a hot topic recently thanks to best-selling books questioning the value of religion such as "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins and "God is Not Great" by Christopher Hitchens.
The Pope seemed to be addressing the fresh interest in atheism in the developed world with phrases such as: "Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope."
Italy's Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists (UAAR) said by taking such stands the Pope would push more people away from the Church.
"The existence of a billion non-believers in the world should be enough to make the Pope understand that man can live very well without God, but with reason," a statement said.
The Pope urged Christians to put their hope for a better future in God.
"We have all witnessed the way in which progress, in the wrong hands, can become and has indeed become a terrifying progress in evil. If technical progress is not matched by corresponding progress in man's ethical formation, in man's inner growth, then it is not progress at all, but a threat for man and for the world," he said.
Christian hope also meant protecting the planet, even if people felt powerless to make changes in their lifetimes, he said.
"We can free our life and the world from the poisons and contaminations that could destroy the present and the future. We can uncover the sources of creation and keep them unsullied, and in this way we can make a right use of creation, which comes to us as a gift..." he said.
(Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Catholic ping!
In other words, the people of Cuba and North Korea are "living very well."
I guess that's what passes for "reason" in the world of the faithless.
Yeah, right, atheism == Stalinism....
I guess that’s what passes for “reason” in the world of the faithful.
There are only a few countries in the world that are officially atheist. I named two of them.
If you feel that Cuba and North Korea are misrepresenting atheism, take it up with them.
And sneering bigotry passes for reason amongst the atheists, it seems.
As practiced by communist/socialist/stalinist regimes, I think the number killed is over 100 million. Being an atheist does not make one a murderer, nor does being a Christian, but we hear all the time about the killings in the crusades/inquisition/witch trials/etc-its time we take account of what the other side has done as well.
Outside of Communism/Marxism (which is completely incompatible with human nature) what atrocities have atheists been responsible for?
Abortion?
So of all the hundreds of millions of atheists in the world, you choose to (mis)characterize them by equating all of them with, at most, a few thousand criminals who are responsible for imposing and maintaining a pair of heinous regimes on their respective countries.
I guess that’s why Stalinism is so popular among conservative atheists in the US and Western Europe (/sarc)
The Tzars of Russia were Christians and enforced Christianity on the Russian subjects on pain of imprisonment or death. Am I to take it, then, that they represent all that is good about the Christian faith?
Hmm, how many of those unbelievers are “living well” enough without God?
The North Koreans perhaps? Maybe the holdover Russian and Chinese communists?
Look at history’s most prolific atheist leaders. Lenin, Stalin et al, Mao. They had a great opportunity to demonstrate how well Godless people can live and what it takes to lead them.
Is there a majority atheist nation or people governed by an officiallly atheist government that is “living well”?
Well, given how few in number atheists are in this country, they sure have been busy bunnies all keeping all the abortion mills cranking 24/7.
But it’s funny how the least religious states that have the fewest abortions. Hmm. Maybe they charter flights specially to other parts of the country to carry them out...
The Pope writes an encyclical attacking atheists, the atheists respond, and yet it is somehow the atheists to blame ?
That’s a twisted viewpoint.
Let the Pope say what he likes about atheists, even to smearing them with the Communist and Socialist atrocities in history. As though Communists and Socialists somehow represent all atheists.
But don’t complain if they respond with the atrocities of Catholicism — 1,000 year of killing from the Crusades to Hitler.
What would an atheistic organisation know about reason, anywise?
“conservative atheists” in the US and Europe enjoy their freedoms to disdain religion because of an majority culture that believes in a Higher Power, and practices (as part of their religious teachings) tolerance and respect, even for those who abuse their tolerance and spit on their religious symbols.
It’s a bit ironic that you defend communism and socialism as not representing atheism (when modern history has dealt with the consequences of these two greatest atheist governing experiments) - and then go on to equate “the Crusades” and Hitler with Catholicism
Point well taken. Even though I'm an atheist, I'm quite anti-abortion. Liberal acquaintances have trouble dealing with someone who is against the feminist sacrament without coming from a religious viewpoint. I just try to explain it from a human rights perspective.
Sometimes, I even make them think a little.
Imposing your beliefs on a population through fear and force is despicable whether it is atheism, Islam, or Christianity.
There have been thousands of Christian rulers who, throughout history, have sought to impose their brand of religion on the population against their will. The history of my country, England is replete with examples, including Queen Mary (Catholic) and Queen Elizabeth I (Protestant). When you look at the archives from Elizabethan England, in many ways it was little more that a police state where neighbors were encouraged to inform on each other if they suspected that subversive Catholic activities were going on.
Atheism, by itself does not lead to tyranny any more that Christianity does. Many countries in Europe are majority non-believers, or close to it, and since the Wall came down, none has shown any desire or propensity to impose a dictatorial atheistic regime. If anything, Christianity starting to is flourish again in Eastern European countries even where the atheistic leaders are still in the majority.
Blaming the evils of Communism on non-belief is an easy scare tactic to employ to frighten poor believers away from questioning their beliefs, but the truth is that history has shown that despicable men will use whatever tools they need, religion included, as a means to impose despotic rule over their fellow countrymen.
“So of all the hundreds of millions of atheists in the world”
When I googled it I saw fewer numbers than that, which numbers are you using.
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