Bethberry, you wrote:
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The list is long and horrifyingly brutal of immoral behaviour which has been inspired by, supported by or otherwise condoned by religious belief.
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Some religions are violent by nature and encourage violence by their dogma (Aztec human sacrifices come to mind.) I would call these immoral religions; and I would also add that they are not rooted in truth. And I would argue that that judgement can and should be made.
Other religions are deeply pacifistic. It does matter whether an atrocity which is committed in the name of religion is performed **according to the precepts of that religion.** if it is performed **despite ** the precepts of that religion, then it is not a religious act, regardless of under what name the act is performed.
A Fransiscan monk who commits murder is acting despite his religion, not because of it. To blame an atrocity on the religion to which its perpetrators belong, when the religion expressly forbids such an act, is hardly a fair judge of the religion.
Would you really put St. Francis in the same category as bin Laden? Perhaps you would like to clarify your intent here.
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I have, in my own personal experience, seen Atheists behave with more courtesy, decency respect for human life and with less ambitious greed to dominate other people than those who claim religious belief.
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But in what do they base their actions? By its very nature, Atheism has no higher authority, and hence, no rules. Stalin murdered his share of people and he was an atheist. In fact, Stalinist Russia holds the record for genocide: well beyond twenty million dead. China and Cambodia have similarly dismal records and full graveyards. Communism and socialism, founded in atheism, overall have a dismal human rights record. I fail to see the connection between atheism and morality.
Perhaps you would care to elaborate on your attitude towards religion. How do you feel about Tolkien's catholicism? Do you feel it was no help to him in behaving morally?
Tolkien believed in absolute truth, believed that God is the supreme authority. Do you feel that his belief in God, that his staunch faith in the Gospel, his devotion to his religious practices, and his belief that the Gospels are The One True Myth (sounds pretty absolute to me) gave him license for immoral behavior? Do you feel it made him a tyrant who imposed his immoral views on others?