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Originally Posted by Pokerlogist
Its shocking that someone would think they could use China with 1.3 billion oppressed people as the first an example of an atheistic country that supposedly treats people well. Individual rights are routinely violated there. Executions are the highest in the world, labor camps, slave labor factories, restricted internet, the one-child policy, the political and legal status of Tibet, and neglect of freedom of the press in mainland China, lack of legal recognition of human rights and the lack of an independent judiciary, rule of law, and due process. The founder of this political system, Mao Zedong , killed an estimated 35 million innocent people. Is this okay? This is what happens when you think of people as cattle.
China definitely has very serious problems and human rights abuses and especially before Deng Xiaoping was one of the worst governments in the world. However, its rise out of poverty over the last 40 years has been one of the great moral triumphs of our time. Also, you shouldn't ignore the other countries I listed.
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For some reason the above list fails to include the anti-religious paradise of North Korea. I don't need to go into horrendous way people are treated there do I?
Compare these two countries to the religious countries of Taiwan and South Korea who have similar ethnic groups but where people are treated with God-given individual rights. It is night and day.
Korea (which I assume refers to South Korea?) is actually the 12 highest country on this survey, with 55% being either atheistic or not religious, so that is not a very example for your case. I won't disagree with you about North Korea (which I assume can't be surveyed), but think that speaks more to the evilness of communism and the Kim regime rather than a religious difference. For instance, Japan, neither Christian nor particularly religious is a fairly close comp for South Korea.
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Do people really think that atheism is benign?
I think of atheism as a negative claim, as rejecting various religious/philosophical ideas. Some of the ideologies that are then accepted by atheists are quite evil, and some of them are not. I don't see any particular advantage here vs theism.
I don't view the correct comparison here as between atheism and religion or atheism and Christianity, but as atheism vs theism. Some theistic political ideologies, such as Islamism, are quite bad. Some, such as liberalism, social democracy, republicanism, etc. are not. Some atheistic political ideologies, such as communism, are also quite bad. Some, such as liberalism, social democracy, republicanism, etc. are not.