re: #34 Cato the Elder

But don’t forget the fate of the library itself, burned at last by Muslim conquerors.

Yes, dogmatic religion has a lot to answer for.

Indeed it does see my reply to Walter.

When religion gets misused to cause evil, it is no more than a demagogue feeding off of the fears, frustrations and anger of gullible masses.

In that way, Stalin, Hitler and Mao are no different then crusaders and Jihadis.

However, if you wish to play a who caused more suffering game, it is unfair. It is unfair, because the issue is more about how people follow and become evil, and less to do with faith. Dogmatic communism has a way of crushing truth too.

However, if you think the correlation has to do with faith, I will point out that Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot et al. were atheists, and that the atheists have killed more than the religious.

However, I want to be fair. It is not the fault of religion, the evil done its name - rather religion is one vehicle that whips up angry mobs. In the absence of religion, unscrupulous leader will find other isms to whip up the mobs.