For my part I am areligious, though I was a reasonably devout Catholic for many years. I call myself an agnostic, but I still have respect for religion and the clergy. I think both are necessary as social anchors, to give solace and guidance. The ideologues who try to undermine religion are more arrogant than any Inquisitors they both condemn and paradoxically imitate. But they should learn from history that Christianity has never in its 2,000 year history been repressed successfully by the most ruthless, intolerant and tyrannical governments. But these anti-clerical ‘progressives’, who strangely tolerate, and even indulge, a faux-religion like Islam might soon find themselves on the wrong end of strapados.
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 53:1 King James Version (KJV)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
This is what God’s Word says about those who are atheists (as distinguished, probably, from those who say they don’t know whether or not there is a God).
From this, we can see what God thinks of hatetheists. 🙂
infowarrior1 says:
”But they should learn from history that Christianity has never in its 2,000 year history been repressed successfully by the most ruthless, intolerant and tyrannical governments.”
Islam did successfully wipe out Christianity in the middle east and north Africa. What they did was make the Christians say the shahada or be killed in other Words convert or die. Or they they go on a mass genocide.
@ infowarrior1: True, which is interesting, because Islam officially teaches that Christians are supposed to be left alone, provided they pay the gizya, or head tax. But they have instead preferred to do forced conversions.
I note, BTW, that it was the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox parts of Christendom that were especially crushed by Islam, and while in Europe many kept the faith, in the Middle East and North Africa, they dwindled to almost nothing.
Not sure what to make of that, but while I greatly admire many E.O.s today, if they think they’re better than Western Christians, all we need do is point to that historical fact, and ask, “Oh yeah? What about that?”
gregdeane says:
Yes, a century ago the Christian population of Istanbul was much larger. Since then the jizya tax and other persecution has dwindled into to negligible numbers. But the Egyptian Copts and Lebanese Marionites have held up well. By now I suppose ISIL has massacred all the Syrian Orthodox.
Indeed, the Ottomans did enforce the gizya, and allowed Christians to keep their faith, which is why eastern Europe remains largely Orthodox Christian, despite some Muslims amongst the Bosnian and Albanian populations.
But the Arabs were more ruthless, and didn’t bother with the gizya as much, it seems – yet indeed, there remain pockets of Christians throughout most of the Middle East. Alas, who knows what’s going on in ISIL land; it may well be that they’ve been committing mass murder of Christians; certainly, they’re killing many. Ditto Boko Haram in Nigeria…
infowarrior1 says:
@Will S.
The Nestorian Christians were for example wiped out by the mongols simply by the mass killing that occurred during the conquests.
The Mongols? Interesting; I thought Islam had done them in.
gregdeane says:
But surely the Christians are more likely to be well-disposed to the US than Muslim jihadists. Insane as progs obviously are, one would expect them to be slightly pragmatic.
One would expect that, but when people hate, pragmatism goes out the window…
infowarrior1 says:
Here is the history:
Two massive catastrophes hastened the extinction of this second wave of missionaries to China. Firstly, the Black Death during the latter half of the fourteenth century in Europe so depleted Franciscan houses that they were unable to sustain the mission to China. Secondly, the Mongol-created Yuan Dynasty in China began to decline. The native Chinese rose up and drove out the Mongols, thereby launching the Ming Dynasty in 1368. By 1369, all Christians, whether Roman Catholic or Syro-Oriental, were expelled. With the end of Mongol rule in the 14th century, Christianity almost disappeared in mainland Asia, with three of the four principal Mongol khanates embracing Islam.[
Correction its when the mongols embraced islam that Christianity was wiped out. Not when they 1st conquered. One Islamic mongol according to a book I read: “Triumph of Christianity” By Rodney Stark ordered the complete genocide of all Christians.
Will & Infowarrior:
The poll tax was the policy followed by Col. Qaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Mubarak, and the Assads in Syria; until the progs intervened and radical Islam took root. In Iraq, being a Christian didn’t even prohibit men from holding governmental positions; I know that Saddam’s Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, was baptized and cathecized in the Orthodox Church as a child—though whether he stayed in the church, I don’t know.
It’s also not widely known; but during the US occupation of Iraq; churches begged for protection from Jihadi extremists and the US refused. That’s one reason why so many Iraqi Christians were killed and churches burned.
I’m of the opinion that the progs are using the Jihadists by allowing them to commit ethnic cleansing in these areas; and then proclaim them enemies when they’re of no further use.
I remember how well Christians had indeed been treated in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and how they subsequently were scapegoated, persecuted once America went to war with Iraq and removed him.
Will S.' Culture War Blog 
Time to start burning atheists and heretics at the stake again to teach them tolerance. They need to be chastised for their witch hunts.
More and more, I’m coming around to the perspective that one truly is either the hammer or the anvil…
For my part I am areligious, though I was a reasonably devout Catholic for many years. I call myself an agnostic, but I still have respect for religion and the clergy. I think both are necessary as social anchors, to give solace and guidance. The ideologues who try to undermine religion are more arrogant than any Inquisitors they both condemn and paradoxically imitate. But they should learn from history that Christianity has never in its 2,000 year history been repressed successfully by the most ruthless, intolerant and tyrannical governments. But these anti-clerical ‘progressives’, who strangely tolerate, and even indulge, a faux-religion like Islam might soon find themselves on the wrong end of strapados.
We Christians can be ‘meek and mild’, but we can also be dangerous.
One of my favourite hymns is ‘Christian dost thou see them’, an anti-Islam hymn, which contains the lyrics, ‘Christian, up and smite them!’
One day, we will smite again.
Oh yes.
Then the hatetheists will know fear.
Nothing like a bit of righteous smiting. I hate hatheists. I think God does too, or at least despises them.
Psalm 14:1 King James Version (KJV)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
Psalm 53:1 King James Version (KJV)
The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
This is what God’s Word says about those who are atheists (as distinguished, probably, from those who say they don’t know whether or not there is a God).
From this, we can see what God thinks of hatetheists. 🙂
”But they should learn from history that Christianity has never in its 2,000 year history been repressed successfully by the most ruthless, intolerant and tyrannical governments.”
Islam did successfully wipe out Christianity in the middle east and north Africa. What they did was make the Christians say the shahada or be killed in other Words convert or die. Or they they go on a mass genocide.
@ infowarrior1: True, which is interesting, because Islam officially teaches that Christians are supposed to be left alone, provided they pay the gizya, or head tax. But they have instead preferred to do forced conversions.
I note, BTW, that it was the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox parts of Christendom that were especially crushed by Islam, and while in Europe many kept the faith, in the Middle East and North Africa, they dwindled to almost nothing.
Not sure what to make of that, but while I greatly admire many E.O.s today, if they think they’re better than Western Christians, all we need do is point to that historical fact, and ask, “Oh yeah? What about that?”
Yes, a century ago the Christian population of Istanbul was much larger. Since then the jizya tax and other persecution has dwindled into to negligible numbers. But the Egyptian Copts and Lebanese Marionites have held up well. By now I suppose ISIL has massacred all the Syrian Orthodox.
Indeed, the Ottomans did enforce the gizya, and allowed Christians to keep their faith, which is why eastern Europe remains largely Orthodox Christian, despite some Muslims amongst the Bosnian and Albanian populations.
But the Arabs were more ruthless, and didn’t bother with the gizya as much, it seems – yet indeed, there remain pockets of Christians throughout most of the Middle East. Alas, who knows what’s going on in ISIL land; it may well be that they’ve been committing mass murder of Christians; certainly, they’re killing many. Ditto Boko Haram in Nigeria…
@Will S.
The Nestorian Christians were for example wiped out by the mongols simply by the mass killing that occurred during the conquests.
The Mongols? Interesting; I thought Islam had done them in.
But surely the Christians are more likely to be well-disposed to the US than Muslim jihadists. Insane as progs obviously are, one would expect them to be slightly pragmatic.
One would expect that, but when people hate, pragmatism goes out the window…
Here is the history:
Two massive catastrophes hastened the extinction of this second wave of missionaries to China. Firstly, the Black Death during the latter half of the fourteenth century in Europe so depleted Franciscan houses that they were unable to sustain the mission to China. Secondly, the Mongol-created Yuan Dynasty in China began to decline. The native Chinese rose up and drove out the Mongols, thereby launching the Ming Dynasty in 1368. By 1369, all Christians, whether Roman Catholic or Syro-Oriental, were expelled. With the end of Mongol rule in the 14th century, Christianity almost disappeared in mainland Asia, with three of the four principal Mongol khanates embracing Islam.[
Correction its when the mongols embraced islam that Christianity was wiped out. Not when they 1st conquered. One Islamic mongol according to a book I read: “Triumph of Christianity” By Rodney Stark ordered the complete genocide of all Christians.
Ah. Thanks infowarrior1!
In Ohio, we still have “With God All Things Are Possible” as our official state motto.
http://www.sos.state.oh.us/SOS/ProfileOhio/SymbolsofOhio/motto.aspx
Buck up, Georgia!
Hear, hear!
They’ll come after Ohio, one day, no doubt…
Will & Infowarrior:
The poll tax was the policy followed by Col. Qaddafi, Saddam Hussein, Mubarak, and the Assads in Syria; until the progs intervened and radical Islam took root. In Iraq, being a Christian didn’t even prohibit men from holding governmental positions; I know that Saddam’s Foreign Minister, Tariq Aziz, was baptized and cathecized in the Orthodox Church as a child—though whether he stayed in the church, I don’t know.
It’s also not widely known; but during the US occupation of Iraq; churches begged for protection from Jihadi extremists and the US refused. That’s one reason why so many Iraqi Christians were killed and churches burned.
I’m of the opinion that the progs are using the Jihadists by allowing them to commit ethnic cleansing in these areas; and then proclaim them enemies when they’re of no further use.
I remember how well Christians had indeed been treated in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, and how they subsequently were scapegoated, persecuted once America went to war with Iraq and removed him.
No doubt the Muslims are doing progs’ dirty work…
Consider the 100s of millions killed in communist countries and you see the heart of the prog ideology.
Yep.