Secular left
The secular left consists of left-wing secularists who are able to exert their influence in many countries. They support "strict government secularism".[2]
In some regions where the secular left has considerable influence, they are losing an increasing amount of their power. For example, in secular Europe right-wing nationalist political parties are growing. In addition, religious conservatives are immigrating to secular Europe in significant numbers and having more children than their secular population which is expected to increase social conservatism in Europe over time (see: Desecularization).
In China, conservative Protestantism is growing rapidly (see: Growth of Christianity in China).[3]
Contents
- 1 Beliefs of the secular left
- 2 Secular left and opposition to religious conservatives
- 3 History of the secular left
- 4 Secular left and socialism
- 5 Secular left and authoritarianism
- 6 Leading American atheist organizations lean to the left politically
- 7 Political weakness of the secular left in the United States
- 8 Secular left vs. secular right
- 9 Secular leftism is declining in the 21st century
- 10 Secular left and Donald Trump's election
- 11 Ideological dogmatism of the secular left in Western World
- 12 Atheist deification of politics
- 13 Atheism, leftism, social justice/progressive values and hypocrisy
- 14 Atheism and liberal Christianity
- 15 Secular leftists and terrorism
- 16 Secular left, humor and hypocrisy
- 17 Ex-atheist John C. Wright on American secular leftism being a religion
- 18 Recommended books
- 19 See also
- 20 External links
- 21 References
Beliefs of the secular left
See also: Atheism and politics
1. They are actively opposed to any role of religion in politics or in government and so support the separation of church and state. Ironically, they are not in opposition to the religious left and don't challenge their religion yet do attack the right wing over religion..This was seen in Australia, Tony Abbott, a conservative Catholic was berated by the Secular Left present in Australia. Yet the secular left didn't condemn the Uniting Church minister from Queensland who stood as a left-wing minister.[4]
2. They also believe in forming a secular state. This would involve a state being completely neutral to all forms of religion and having no legal stance with regard to religion. France is a secular state due to the policy of laïcité[5] which is the strict separation of state from church. Despite the fact that 51% of the population are Catholic,[6] there is no legal safeguard for the religion as religion is considered an entirely private matter.
3. The third main belief is that there should be Secular education. The idea of God or religion should not be in the classroom and, as such, classroom prayer should be illegal. In Georgia, their opposition could be seen when they wanted four teachers fired and 50 students to be disciplined for holding a “prayer rally” [7]
Secular left and opposition to religious conservatives
The secular left has historically opposed religious conservatives and social conservatism.
The Barna Group found regarding atheism and morality that those who hold to the worldviews of atheism or agnosticism in America were more likely, than theists in America, to look upon the following behaviors as morally acceptable: illegal drug use; excessive drinking; sexual relationships outside of marriage; abortion; cohabitating with someone of opposite sex outside of marriage; obscene language; gambling; pornography and obscene sexual behavior; and engaging in homosexuality/bisexuality.[8]
History of the secular left
See also: Atheism and communism and Atheism and mass murder
According to the University of Cambridge, historically, the "most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power."[9] Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg, a Soviet physicist, wrote that the "Bolshevik communists were not merely atheists but, according to Lenin's terminology, militant atheists."[10] However, prior to this, the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution established an atheist state, with the official ideology being the Cult of Reason; during this time thousands of believers were suppressed and executed by the guillotine.[11][12][13]
Vladimir Lenin wrote: "A Marxist must be a materialist, i. e., an enemy of religion, but a dialectical materialist, i. e., one who treats the struggle against religion not in an abstract way, not on the basis of remote, purely theoretical, never varying preaching, but in a concrete way, on the basis of the class struggle which is going on in practice and is educating the masses more and better than anything else could."[14]
Influence of the secular left in America
In 2017, the American atheist PZ Myers, quoting fellow leftist Alex Nichols, wrote: "...the growing popularity of jibes associating outspoken atheists with fedoras, neckbeards, and virginity, led to an exodus of liberals and leftists from the “atheist” tent. Those who remained for the most part lacked in social skills and self-awareness, and the results were disastrous."[15]
Secular left and mass murder
See also: Atheism and mass murder
Theodore Beale wrote about the secular left and mass murder:
“ | ...it does, however, cast serious doubt on the common atheist assertion that a godless society will be a peaceful one. The significant question has never been if atheism causes political leaders to kill in large quantities, it is why political leaders who happen to be atheist have been inordinately inclined to kill in large quantities.
As I wrote in TIA, the answer is probably to be found in the fact that atheists who have committed great historical crimes are almost exclusively left-wing atheists with utopian visions of restructuring human society; Ayn Rand atheists aren't exactly known for attempting to violently restructure societal order. This is why atheists like Bertrand Russell, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, and especially Michel Onfray are far more dangerous than those more akin to Daniel Dennett and even Richard Dawkins.[16] |
” |
The degree to which atheist society is authoritarian vs. wedded to a democratic process also has a bearing on whether it will engage in mass murder.
Secular leftism and loss of economic productivity
See also: Atheism and sloth and Eurozone Crisis
Secular leftism does not lead to long term economic stability and productivity (see: Atheism and loss of economic productivity).
Widespread sloth in the former Soviet Union helped cause much poverty.[17][18] A study performed in the former Soviet Union found that over 50% of the work force admitted to drinking alcohol while on the job (See also: Atheism and alcoholism).[19]
On the other hand, Harvard University historian Niall Ferguson declared: "Through a mixture of hard work and thrift the Protestant societies of the North and West Atlantic achieved the most rapid economic growth in history."[20] In China, the growth in religion has accompanied China's fast economic growth over the last twenty years.[21] Christianity is seeing rapid growth in China and the historian Niall Ferguson attributes this recent economic growth to the Protestant work ethic being more incorporated into Chinese society.[22] See also: Protestant work ethic and Growth of Christianity in China
Secular left, Soviet Union and historical revisionism
See also: Atheism and historical revisionism
The secular left has a history of engaging in historical revisionism (see: Atheism and historical revisionism).
In terms of academic and popular history, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) often engaged in historical revisionism via their control of political/ideological public discourse (media, education, etc.) and via the monitoring/silencing/imprisonment/persecution of citizens through the KGB.[23]
During and subsequent to the rule of Nikita Khrushchev (1956–64), there was competition between the pro-Stalinists and anti-Stalinists in terms of how Soviet history was portrayed.[24]
Secular left and socialism
See also: Atheism and socialism
The Acton Institute states concerning atheism and socialism:
“ | ...a growing body of research reveals that as the welfare state grows, the church shrinks. Adam Kay of Duke University discovered that church and state have a “hydraulic relationship”: Events “that lower faith in one of these external systems (e.g., the government) lead to subsequent increases in faith in the other (e.g., God).” Another study found that increased welfare spending “in a specific year predicted lower religiosity one to two years later.” It concluded, “The power and order emanating from God can be outsourced to the government.”...
...faith in the transcendent gets crowded out by faith in socialism’s utopian promise of equality-of-outcome on earth. This path transformed Michael Harrington from a daily communicant volunteering in the Catholic Worker movement to the atheistic founder of the Democratic Socialists of America.[25] |
” |
Secular left and authoritarianism
See: Secular left and authoritarianism
Leading American atheist organizations lean to the left politically
According to Republican Atheists' President Lauren Ell, the leading atheist organizations such as American Atheists, Freedom From Religion Foundation and Secular Student Alliance lean left politically.[26]
Political weakness of the secular left in the United States
See also: Political weakness of the secular left in the United States
John J. DiIulio, Jr., Professor of Politics, Religion, and Civil Society at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in the Claremont Review of Books about the political weakness of the secular left in the United States:
“ | I would bet against traditional Democratic base voters getting steamrolled by Secularists, and I would bet the house on Americans remaining a predominantly religious people for decades to come. First, as Campbell, Layman, and Green note, “nonbelief in God” remains “a political nonstarter” in both parties. Indeed, the most loyal Democratic base constituency is black Americans, 97% of whom “believe in God or a higher power,” according to a March 2021 Pew report. So do 97% of all religiously affiliated adults and 72% of all religiously unaffiliated adults. Even major tragedies steeped in partisan politics do not shake most Americans’ faith. For example, a Pew report released in January 2021 indicated that, by a 7 to 1 margin, Americans who say their own faith has been strengthened as a result of the coronavirus outbreak (28%) outnumber those who say it has made their faith weaker (4%).
Second, the authors speculate about the “birth of a Secular Left analogous to the Religious Right,” but they have “reason to think that secularism will remain inchoate and thus politically ineffectual.” Amen, but only if the Democratic Party’s faith-friendly majority pushes back. In 2008, I joined clergy and other leaders, including other “pro-life, pro-family, and pro-poor” Democrats, as a speaker at the 2008 Democratic National Convention’s “Faith Caucus.” The ballroom was so full of people and energy that it scared the hell out of the convention’s anti-religious zealots. Unfortunately, those zealots currently hold sway in the party, and they made sure nothing similar happened again in 2012, 2016, or 2020. They also scrubbed all talk of God from the party’s platforms. But look for 2024 to be a year when the party’s more moderate and religious constituents have their say, show up, and pray out loud. Third, America’s religious individuals and institutions are enormously civic-minded in ways that tangibly benefit people of all faiths and none. In a 2001 report titled Better Together, I joined Harvard University’s Robert D. Putnam in documenting how the nation’s churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith-based organizations “build and sustain more social capital…than any other type of institutions in America,” whether “measured by association memberships, philanthropy, or volunteering.” In stark contrast, as Secular Surge notes, Secularists and their organizations “specialize in politics”—in fact, Secularists do so little by way of “nonpolitical engagement” that the authors are obliged to caution against damning them as “civic deadbeats.”[27] |
” |
Secular left vs. secular right
See: Western atheism, schisms and political polarization and Social justice warrior atheists
With the atheist population the secular right has been growing (See: Secular right).
This has contributed to infighting within the atheist movement (see: Western atheism, schisms and political polarization and Atheist factions).
Secular leftism is declining in the 21st century
See also: Decline of the secular left and Decline of leftism
As noted above, historically the largest advances of the secular left has been through utilizing the power of the state (see: State atheism and Atheism and communism). For example, secular leftists use the power of the state to promote evolutionary ideology and to censor creationist/intelligent design models of origins (See: Suppression of alternatives to evolution and Atheist indoctrination).
In 2019, John Feffer wrote at the left leaning The Nation:
“ | In the Americas, the Trump tsunami has swept across both continents and the 'pink tide' of progressivism has all but disappeared from the southern half of the hemisphere...
In this planet-wide rising tide of right-wing populism, the liberal left commands only a few disconnected islands — Iceland, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, Spain, Uruguay... Worse, crafty operators with even more ambitious agendas stand ready to destroy the liberal status quo once and for all."[28] |
” |
Although the secular left has made some significant recent gains in the culture war (for example, the legalization of homosexual marriages in many Western nations), the historian Martin Van Crevel points out that sovereign states are losing power/influence due to technology democratizing access to information, welfare states increasingly failing, fourth-generation warfare being waged against countries and sovereign states increasingly losing their ability to maintain internal order.[29]
Professor Eric Kaufmann says about a graph showing the correlation between the projected growth of the Muslim propulation and the rise of right-wing nationalism in a country:
“ | Figure 1 shows an important relationship between projected Muslim population share in 2030 and support for the populist right across 16 countries in Western Europe. Having worked with IIASA World Population Program researchers who generated cohort-component projections of Europe’s Muslim population for Pew in 2011, I am confident their projections are the most accurate and rigorous available. I put this together with election and polling data for the main West European populist right parties using the highest vote share or polling result I could find. Note the striking 78 percent correlation (R2 of .61) between projected Muslim share in 2030, a measure of both the level and rate of change of the Muslim population, and the best national result each country’s populist right has attained."[30] | ” |
Samuel P. Huntington's thesis on the The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order keeps getting vindicated.
In the United States, the secular left has lost significant ground in the culture war relating to abortion and many states are restricting access to abortion.
The Birkbeck College, University of London professor Eric Kaufman wrote in his 2010 book Shall the Righteous Inherit the Earth? concerning America:
“ | High evangelical fertility rates more than compensated for losses to liberal Protestant sects during the twentieth century. In recent decades, white secularism has surged, but Latino and Asian religious immigration has taken up the slack, keeping secularism at bay. Across denominations, the fertility advantage of religious fundamentalists of all colours is significant and growing. After 2020, their demographic weight will begin to tip the balance in the culture wars towards the conservative side, ramping up pressure on hot-button issues such as abortion. By the end of the century, three quarters of America may be pro-life. Their activism will leap over the borders of the 'Redeemer Nation' to evangelize the world. Already, the rise of the World Congress of Families has launched a global religious right, its arms stretching across the bloody lines of the War on Terror to embrace the entire Abrahamic family.[31] | ” |
Decline of the secular left and demography and religious immigration
See also: Global atheism
On December 23, 2012, Professor Eric Kaufmann who teaches at Birbeck College, University of London wrote:
“ | I argue that 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious.
On the other hand, the secular West and East Asia has very low fertility and a rapidly aging population. The demographic disparity between the religious, growing global South and the aging, secular global North will peak around 2050. In the coming decades, the developed world's demand for workers to pay its pensions and work in its service sector will soar alongside the booming supply of young people in the third world. Ergo, we can expect significant immigration to the secular West which will import religious revival on the back of ethnic change. In addition, those with religious beliefs tend to have higher birth rates than the secular population, with fundamentalists having far larger families. The epicentre of these trends will be in immigration gateway cities like New York (a third white), Amsterdam (half Dutch), Los Angeles (28% white), and London, 45% white British. [33] |
” |
Kaufmann told a secular audience in Australia: "The trends that are happening worldwide inevitably in an age of globalization are going to affect us."[34]
Decline of the secular left in Europe in the 21st century
See also: Desecularization and politics
Between the years of 2021 and 2050, a tipping point is expected to occur in Europe as a whole and then secularization will plateau followed by a long term trend of desecularization.
In June 2014, Forbes reported that it is undeniable that politically right wing parties are ascendant in Europe.[35]
In 2010, Kaufmann reported that the rate of secularisation flattened to zero in most of Protestant Europe and France.[36]
Secular left and Donald Trump's election
See also: Donald Trump and American atheists
The Religion News Service reported:
“ | For the last decade, atheists, humanists and others secularists have worked hard to organize a “secular vote” that would counter the political clout of the religious right.
President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory dealt that movement a body blow when he garnered 81 percent of the white evangelical vote and 60 percent of the white Catholic vote. Mormons, too, voted overwhelmingly for Trump. Despite Trump’s not being a particularly religious person, his platform was seen as anti-secular in many atheist and humanist circles. He said he would appoint religiously conservative Supreme Court justices, ban Muslim immigrants, favor Christianity and repeal the Johnson Amendment, which prohibits certain tax-exempt organizations from endorsing political candidates — issues antithetical to organized atheism and humanism.[37] |
” |
Ideological dogmatism of the secular left in Western World
In the Western World, the secular left has failed the learn the lessons of the collapse of the Soviet Union and the economic failures of Venezuela.[38] A primary cause of the Soviet Union's collapse was its economic problems.[39]
Ironically, the leading communist country in the world, communist China, has moved farther away from communism and now has a mixed economy of capitalism and state owned enterprises.[40]
Atheist deification of politics
See: Atheist deification of politics
Atheism, leftism, social justice/progressive values and hypocrisy
See also: Atheist hypocrisy
Progressive values according to leading progressive websites
According to leading progressive/leftists websites, progressive values include: freedom; opportunity; responsibility; cooperation/community; caring and responsibility, carried out with strength; protection/fairness; honesty and open communication.[41][42]
Atheism and lack of cooperation/community
The atheist population lacks cooperation/community, is known for engaging in bitter quarrels and is deeply divided (see: Atheist factions and Atheist movement). It also has significant racial/gender issues (see: Western atheism and race and Atheism and women).
Atheism and lack of empathy
As far as the progressive values of caring/protection, the American atheist population gives less to charity per capita than Christians even when church giving is not counted (see: Atheism and uncharitableness).
In addition, the historical record shows that atheists have often been uncaring and atheists have engaged in barbarous/uncivilized behavior (see: Atheism and mass murder and Mass rape of German women by the Soviet army and Atheism and cannibalism and Atheism and bestiality).
Also, atheists rarely focuses on the issue of social Darwinism in their communities past and often takes offense when biblical creationists bring this matter up.[43][44]
Atheists falling short of the progressive value of freedom
As far as the values of freedom, militant atheists continue to deny basic freedoms to people (See: Militant atheism and Atheism and forced labor).
Atheists and the issue of honesty
As far as honesty, atheists have a poor record in this area as well (see: Atheism and deception).
Atheism and liberal Christianity
See also: Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances
Although liberal Christianity adherents disagree with secular leftists on various matters, they do with work with secular leftists on matters of agreement (see: Atheism and liberal Christianity alliances).
Secular leftists and terrorism
See: Secular leftist and terrorism
Secular left, humor and hypocrisy
See also: Atheism and humor
Although the secular left is known for ridiculing religion since at least the time of French Revolution (see: Atheism and mockery), the secular left is known for its humorlessness when it comes to others mocking of its ideology (See also: Atheism and humor and Atheism and intolerance).
Ex-atheist John C. Wright on American secular leftism being a religion
See also: Atheism is a religion and American atheism
The ex-atheist, science fiction author John C. Wright wrote about American secular leftists:
“ | ...all the Progressives do is take their religion, Social Justice Marxism, or whatever name it is going by these days, and PRETEND it is not a religion at all, and they press their worldview as if it were the default worldview promoted by the Constitution and by the consensus of academia, and declare the burden of proof to be on the conservative to proof otherwise. And when the conservative does prove otherwise, the Progressive decrees from the bench that the proof is inadmissible, on the grounds that no religious arguments can be brought into the public sphere to argue against the Progressive religion. Because it is said to be not a religion, you see...
They were triumphant because they were and are a religion, not a political movement. In a religion, dogma is accepted on faith, by bowing to the authority of the prophets or the Church who speak God’s word. To question the faith is an act of immorality, of disloyalty, of subversion. Hence the Progressive has no need and no ability to defend his dogma: he merely condemns the questioner as a heretic, a man with bad motives... The Progressive is fighting a holy war. A holy war concerns not one policy or one thing, but everything. It is a war to impose a worldview on the world. It cannot compromise. Politics is merely one branch springing from the trunk of one’s worldview, and one’s worldview grows out of the roots of one’s religious background. Even atheists with a Christian background have their worldview so informed. Facing holy warrior with prudential political arguments about policies and politics is bringing a knife to a gunfight. Conservatism is insufficient, since it only addresses the political side of life. The Christian roots of conservativism alone have the strength to resist the attempt to undermine and uproot civilization. Only a crusader can face a jihadist. The truce of the Enlightenment, for better or worse, is over.[45] |
” |
Wright wrote about secular leftist rioting and Islamic terrorism:
“ | The rioters and the terrorist have combined against us. Both use the same language of victimology, the same tactics of crybaby-bullies, who bludgeon girls from behind while weeping like brats that they are the wounded party. Both are utterly evil, and utterly blinded by their own self-righteousness. One is an open religion, the heresy of Mohammedanism. The other is a an agnostic and materialistic variant on the old, old heresy called Gnosticism, the belief that each man is his own god, and that God is a devil who must be reviled and overthrown.[46] | ” |
Recommended books
- The Decline of the Secular University by C. John Sommerville, June 29, 2006
- The Closing of the American Mind by Allan Bloom, 1987
- Dimitry Pospielovsky, (December, 1987), A History of Marxist-Leninist Atheism and Soviet Antireligious Policies, Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312381328
- Dimitry Pospielovsky, (November, 1987), Soviet Antireligious Campaigns and Persecutions (History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 2), Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 0312009054
- Dimitry Pospielovsky, (August, 1988), Soviet Studies on the Church and the Believer's Response to Atheism: A History of Soviet Atheism in Theory and Practice and the Believers, Vol 3, Palgrave Macmillan, hardcover: ISBN 0312012918, paperback edition: ISBN 0312012926
See also
External links
- The Decline of the Left by Emma-Kate Symons
- The Decline of the Left in Europe - Harvard University History Department
- Why the Secular Left Despise the Christian Right by Jason Carlson and Ron Carlson
- This is How Religious Liberty Dies — The New Rules of the Secular Left by Dr. Albert Mohler, Jr.
- The decline and fall of Occupy Wall Street: the American Left has run out of steam and liberalism is in crisis by Niles Gardiner
Videos:
References
- ↑ Michael Hesemann, Whitley Strieber (2000). The Fatima Secret. Random House Digital, Inc.. Retrieved on 9 October 2011. “Lenin's death in 1924 was followed by the rise of Joseph Stalin, "the man of steel," who founded the "Union of Militant Atheists," whose chief aim was to spread atheism and eradicate religion. In the following years it devastated hundreds of churches, destroyed old icons and relics, and persecuted the clergy with unimaginable brutality.”
- ↑ http://www.secularleft.us/about
- ↑ EU Failures Fuel Rise of Right-Wing Populist Parties in Europe. Sputnik News, 2016
- ↑ http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/22/more-mischief-from-the-religious-left/
- ↑ http://www.frenchentree.com/societe-francaise/displayarticle.asp?id=20486
- ↑ http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2007/90175.htm
- ↑ http://davidgmcafee.wordpress.com/2013/05/10/dozens-turn-to-christ-in-public-school-prayer-rally/
- ↑ http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/58-practical-outcomes-replace-biblical-principles-as-the-moral-standard
- ↑ Marxism. University of Cambridge (2008). Retrieved on 2011–03–15. “The most notable spread of atheism was achieved through the success of the 1917 Russian Revolution, which brought the Marxist-Leninists to power. For the first time in history, atheism thus became the official ideology of a state.”
- ↑ Vitalij Lazarʹevič Ginzburg (2009). On Superconductivity and Superfluidity: A Scientific Autobiography. Springer Science+Business Media. Retrieved on 2011–03–15. “The Bolshevik communists were not merely atheists but, according to Lenin's terminology, militant atheists.”
- ↑ James Adair (2007). Christianity. JBE Online Books. Retrieved on 2011–03–15. “Although the Civil Constitution called for religious liberty, which was extended to Jews as well as Christians, many revolutionaries pushed for the establishment of a new state religion, either the Cult of Reason (atheists) or the Cult of the Supreme Being (Deists). Changes toAlthough the Civil Constitution called for religious liberty, which was extended to Jews as well as Christians, many revolutionaries pushed for the establishment of a new state religion, either the Cult of Reason (atheists) or the Cult of the Supreme Being (Deists). Changes to the calendar eliminated references to Christian holidays, and even the ancient seven-day week, and a ist of officially recognized saints included such famous thinkers such as Socrates, Jesus, Marcus Aurelius, and Jean-Jacques Rosseau. A period of political persecution, often with religious overtones, broke out, known as the Reign of Teror. Thousands of people were executed by the guillotine, including many of the original leaders of the French Revolution.”
- ↑ William Belsham (1801). Memoirs of the reign of George III. to the session of parliament ending A.D. 1793, Volume 5. G.G. & J. Robinson. Retrieved on 2011–03–15. “Reign of this portentous period, it has been eloquently tenor, and energetically observed, " that the reign of atheism in France was avowed the reign of terror. In the full madness of their career, in the highest climax of their horrors, they shut up the temples of God, abolished His worship, and proclaimed death to be an eternal sleep:-in the very centre of Christendom, Revelation underwent a total eclipse, while atheism, performing on a darkened theatre its strange and fearful tragedy, confounded the first elements of society, blended every age, rank, and sex ,indiscriminate proscription and massacre, and convulsed all Europe to its centre, that the imperishable memorial of these events might teach the last generations of mankind to consider religion as the pillar of society, the parent of social order, and the safe-guard of nations." It is wonderful that, amid the horrors of this dismal period, while "the death dance of democratic revolution" was still in rapid movement, among the tears of affliction, and the cries of despair, "the masque, the song, the theatric scene, the buffoon laughter, went on as regularly as in the gay hour of festive peace."”
- ↑ William Kilpatrick (2012). Christianity, Islam, and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West. Ignatius Press. Retrieved on 2011–03–15. “Actually, it's helpful to think in terms of two Enlightenments: the Enlightenment that cut itself off from God. The former led to the American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence, the abolition of slavery, and the civil rights movement. The latter led to the French Revolution, the Reign of Terror, the suppression of church by state, and the godless philosophies of Marx and Nietzsche and their offspring-National Socialism and communism. More recently the abandonment of God has led to the regime of cultural relativism that regards rights as arbitrary constructions. It's this second Enlightenment tradition that Cardinal Ratzinger referred to when he wrote, "The radical detachment of the Enlightenment philosophy from its roots ultimately leads it to dispense with man." Actually this transition happened no "ultimately" but almost immediately. The first instance occurred when Enlightenment worship of abstract "reason" and "liberty" degenearated quickly into the mass murders committed during the antireligious Reign of Terror in France. "Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name", said Madam Rolande as she faced the statue of Liberty in the Place de la Revolution movements before her death at the guillotine. She was one of the early victims of a succession of secular systems based on rootless notions of "liberty", "equality", and "reason". As many historians have pointed out, the atheist regimes of modern times are guilty of far more crimes than any committed in the name of religion. Communist governments alone were guilty of more than one hundred million murders, most of them committed against their own people.”
- ↑ Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich, Proletary, No. 45, May 13 (26), 1909, translated by Andrew Rothstein and Bernard Issacs, quote from [1].
- ↑ Poisoning of a movement by PZ Myers
- ↑ Atheist Demotivator #4 by Theodore Beal
- ↑ Poverty, prostitutes and the long, slow death of the Soviet Union: Haunting pictures show desperate struggle to survive in last days of USSR, The Daily Mail
- ↑ Soviet Openness Brings Poverty Out of the Shadows, New York Times
- ↑ Communism and computer ethics
- ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
- ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
- ↑ The Protestant Work Ethic: Alive & Well…In China By Hugh Whelchel on September 24, 2012
- ↑ Klaus Mehnert, Stalin Versus Marx: the Stalinist historical doctrine (Translation of Weltrevolution durch Weltgeschichte) Port Washington NY: Kennikat Press 1972 (1952), on the illegitimate use of history in the 1934–1952 period
- ↑ Roger D. Markwick, Rewriting history in Soviet Russia : the politics of revisionist historiography, 1956–1974 New York ; Basingstoke : Palgrave, 2001, on legitimate Soviet Historiography particularly in the post 1956 period.
- ↑ How Socialism Causes Atheism – OpEd
- ↑ Atheist and humanist organizations are prioritizing left-leaning political views above all else
- ↑ From Nuns to Nones: Americans will remain a religious people for decades to come. by John J. DiIulio, Claremont Review of Books, Fall of 2021
- ↑ Combating the New Right by John Feffer, The Nation, May 13, 2019
- ↑ The Fate of the State by MARTIN VAN CREVELD
- ↑ Why the fear of Islamization is driving populist right support – and what to do about it, Eric Kaufmann
- ↑ Why are 2012 and 2020 key years for Christian creationists and pro-lifers?
- ↑
- Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth?: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century by Eric Kaufmann, Belfer Center, Harvard University/Birkbeck College, University of London
- Eric Kaufmann: Shall The Religious Inherit The Earth?
- Eric Kaufmann's Atheist Demographic series
- ↑ 97% of the world's population growth is taking place in the developing world, where 95% of people are religious, Tuesday, April 30, 2013
- ↑ Shall the religious inherit the earth - Festival of Dangerous Ideas - Eric Kaufmann
- ↑ Europe's Deep Right-Wing Logic By Robert D. Kaplan
- ↑ Shall the religious inherit the earth
- ↑ Dealt a body blow, atheists and humanists regroup by Kimberly Winston, Religion News Service, November 9, 2016
- ↑ [Death By Socialism] by John Stossel, 2016
- ↑ *Why the USSR Collapsed Economically, Investopedia
- ↑ [China's The Most Viciously Free Market Economy On The Planet Right Now], Forbes, 2015
- ↑ What It Means To Be A Progressive: A Manifesto, Thinkprogress.org
- ↑ What are Progressive Values, Dailykos.com
- ↑ Herbert Spencer and social Darwinism
- ↑ Darwinism and World War I
- ↑ The Last Crusade: Rip van Con by John C. Wright
- ↑ The Last Crusade: Rip van Con by John C. Wright