[FoRK] " Atheists behind the greatest cruelty, says Pope"

[Sat N]

Great article here:
http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/apologetics/ap0201.html

About body counts:

What, then, about the claim that religion is the root of all evil? The
twentieth century saw more people killed in warfare than any other
century. Two world wars, the Falklands conflict, Vietnam and Korea,
the massacre of dissidents in Russia … the list is long and tragic,
but religion does not figure as a significant factor. Ironically,
science does, since it is scientists who have designed weapons of mass
destruction that can destroy the world, and built the arsenals that
have made modern warfare possible.

Has science, then, produced more evil than religion? Lazy thinking
would undoubtedly say yes. But what we really need to do is
distinguish, and point out that it is the use of science by those with
a blind will for power that is evil, while science can be used for
good in medicine and agriculture. So it is with religion. Religion can
be used by those with a blind will for power (though the "religious"
need scientists to make their bombs). But religion is also the source
of immense good — hospitals, hospices, relief organisations,
universities and schools, great cathedrals, music, art and literature
and philosophy. Would the world be better without such things?

On Dec 4, 2007 10:52 AM, Jeffrey Winter <JeffreyWinter at crd.com> wrote:
>
> If it's just about a body count, according to Norman Cantor anyway
> (See his excellent: Civilization of the Middle Ages
> http://amazon.com/o/asin/0060925531) the total deaths that can be
> attributed to the Catholic Inquisitions both Papal (12th-13th
> centuries) and Spanish (15th-16th centuries) probably did
> not total more than ten thousand.
>
> Not that this much matters if you're the one on the pyre.
>
> Still, Stannard's argument in "American Holocaust" is that European
> Christianity as manifested by the Spanish Inquisition imbued
> the colonizers with a culture of death that resulted in the
> subjugation and slaughter of the Native Americans.  I found this
> argument to be weak, but his documentation of the brutality
> and its effects was very well done.  But even he doesn't claim
> these deaths were part of the Inquisition and that most deaths
> were the result of non-native disease infestations.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: fork-bounces at xent.com [mailto:fork-bounces at xent.com] On Behalf Of
> Luis Villa
> Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 12:34 PM
> To: Friends of Rohit Khare
> Cc: Robert.Harley at gmail.com
> Subject: Re: [FoRK] " Atheists behind the greatest cruelty, says Pope"
>
> On Dec 4, 2007 12:20 PM, Tom Higgins <tomhiggins at gmail.com> wrote:
> > On Dec 4, 2007 8:03 AM, Robert Harley <robert.harley at gmail.com> wrote:
> > > >* 'One source estimates that as many as 60 million Native Americans
> were
> > > *>* killed during the Spanish Inquisition.'
> > >
> > > Another source estimates that none were at all.  Zero.  Nada.
> >
> > Which sources?
>
> Sources which blame it on politics or wealth-seeking; of course, the
> politicians and wealth-seekers all told themselves and their publics
> that it was in the name of God. Convenient circularity there that lets
> you blame it on whoever you like.
>
> Luis
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