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Post by gregmita on Feb 24, 2011 19:12:26 GMT
Krkey,firstly Russia did not exist as an independent country during the communist era,it was part of the Soviet Union,and secondly if you really must refer to it as 'atheistic',can you please drop the capital 'A',unless starting a new sentence?Sorry if I sound pedantic... Really pedantic time...  Russia existed as the Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic, one of the republics that made up the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In theory at least, the republics were indeed sort-of independent countries, similar in a way to the original set-up of American states. In fact, even the Russian SFSR within itself had what were called Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics for ethnic minorities - all of our familiar and fun places like Chechnya and Dagestan. In reality, of course, everyone knew it was the Russians wearing the pants, and this was the old Russian Empire in all but name. |
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Post by wraggy on Feb 25, 2011 6:53:53 GMT
Name dropper. ;D Yep, I loved the Chasers. That one little Starlight Foundation skit did 'em in. |
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Post by elephantchang51 on Feb 25, 2011 6:59:54 GMT
Krkey,why do you insist on conflating communist rule with atheistic rule?Can you not see how offensive this is to all the atheists who oppose communism?It's analogous to conflating Catholicism to the rise to power of Fascism in 20th. century Germany,Italy,Spain,Portugal,an oversimplification of what is a more nuanced larger picture.
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Post by eckadimmock on Feb 25, 2011 10:35:10 GMT
Yep, I loved the Chasers. That one little Starlight Foundation skit did 'em in. Remember when they had the APEC leaders in Sydney and the Chasers breezed past the Police in a fake diplomatic car and one got out in front of George Bush's hotel dressed as Osama Bin Laden?  Police have no sense of humour... |
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Post by noons on Feb 25, 2011 13:52:28 GMT
Krkey,why do you insist on conflating communist rule with atheistic rule?Can you not see how offensive this is to all the atheists who oppose communism?It's analogous to conflating Catholicism to the rise to power of Fascism in 20th. century Germany,Italy,Spain,Portugal,an oversimplification of what is a more nuanced larger picture. Well, in one sense, you are entirely right. Not all atheists are communists and vice versa. Certainly, Ayn Rand fans, for example, would not want to be lumped in with Marxists! And of course Bertrand Russell never promoted totalitarian ideas of any sort, at least as far as I know. However, the official party line in the Soviet Union was that Religion is the opiet of the masses. Most religions, except for the largest denominations, were banned outright, and many Orthodox cathedrals were turned into museums of atheism. Large denominations, such as the Orthodox Church, were allowed to continue but were infiltrated and compromised. The late Patriarch Alexei II spent his early years as an informant to the KGB, which would also explain his close relationship with Vladimir Putin... But I think most of us would refer to modern democracies as being neutral on religion. That is a good thing. The idea that people should be free to believe according to the dictates of his or her own conscience is one of the most important ideas in history, and is something worth fighting for. |
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Post by elephantchang51 on Feb 26, 2011 7:27:28 GMT
Thank you Noons,I don't know what's been happening here lately but I think most people would be highly offended,even hurt by lumping them in with murderous psycopaths like Stalin,merely because of philosophical differences.
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