By Philip Pullella, Reuters
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict, in an encyclical released on Friday, said atheism was responsible for some of the “greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice” in history.
The 75-page “Spe Salvi,” which takes its Latin title from a quote by St Paul (in hope we were saved), is an appeal to a pessimistic world to find strength in Christian hope.
In the second encyclical of his papacy, Benedict urges Christians to put their hope for the future in God and not in technology, wealth or political ideologies.
Atheism could be regarded by some as a “type of moralism,” particularly in the 19th and 20th centuries, to protest against the injustices of the world and world history, he said.
Reciting arguments made by atheists, he said: “A world marked by so much injustice, innocent suffering and cynicism of power cannot be the work of a good God. A God with responsibility for such a world would not be a just God, much less a good God.”
History has proven wrong ideologies such as Marxism which say humans had to establish social justice because God did not exist, the Pope wrote.
“It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice,” the Pope said. Such a concept was grounded in “intrinsic falsity.”
Marxism, the Pope wrote, had left behind “a trail of appalling destruction” because it failed to realize that man could not be “merely the product of economic conditions.”
ATHEISTS REACT
The encyclical is the highest form of papal writing and addresses all members of the Church. This document is written in a highly academic, professorial style in which the Pope quotes saints, philosophers and writers to make his point.
Atheism has been a hot topic recently thanks to best-selling books questioning the value of religion such as “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins and “God is Not Great” by Christopher Hitchens.
The Pope seemed to be addressing the fresh interest in atheism in the developed world with phrases such as: “Let us put it very simply: man needs God, otherwise he remains without hope.”
Italy’s Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists (UAAR) said by taking such stands the Pope would push more people away from the Church.
“The existence of a billion non-believers in the world should be enough to make the Pope understand that man can live very well without God, but with reason,” a statement said.
The Pope urged Christians to put their hope for a better future in God. More…
So I guess the injustices Catholic priests inflicted on young children is ok because they’re Catholic, huh? Sieg Heil, eh Ratzy? -Sue
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“It is no accident that this idea has led to the greatest forms of cruelty and violations of justice,” the Pope said. Such a concept was grounded in “intrinsic falsity.”
Come again?
Shall we go into the death and destruction caused by the Crusades? And lets not forget the Inquisition!
Can someone explain to me what was "just" or "kind" about these events? Or am I not supposed to count those since the Church was behind these events? Could that be it?
And what about the literally millions of women who were executed by various church officials for witchcraft? They made the mistake of petting a cat, using their brains, rejecting a man, or just being an object of envy.
All of this blood and death was not caused by atheists. It was caused by Christians!
Pope Benedict is either ignorant (unlikely), or trying to pull off what the Nazi's used to call "The Big Lie."
Why should we take seriously an old man who wears a funny hat and a dress?
When evaluating a religion one should first examine its claims to see if they are true. If they are not true, one need not go further. Emperical evidence should be the standard.
Par for the course.
Want to talk morality?
11% of the adult population is currently divorced.
25% of adults have had at least one divorce during their lifetime. Divorce rates among conservative Christians were significantly higher than for other faith groups, and much higher than Atheists and Agnostics experience.
From Helium:
Regardless of the presence of religion in the world, there would still be people who act morally and those who act immorally. Contrary to theist belief, no more crimes are committed by atheists than by religious followers. In fact, a study performed by Gregory Paul found that in general, higher rates of participation in religion correlated to higher rates of "homicide, juvenile and early adult mortality, venereal disease, teen pregnancy, and abortion." It is important that when interpreting these results not to confuse correlation with causation. High rates of religious participation correlated with high rates of the aforementioned, but there is no proof that the former caused the latter. The study was conducted by comparing the social performance of largely secular nations, such as Britain, with countries with a religious majority, such as the United States. "Data correlations show that in almost all regards the highly secular democracies consistently enjoy low rates of societal dysfunction, while pro-religious and antievolution America performs poorly." If morality were derived from religion, then higher rates of religion should produce lower rates of immoral acts, but this is not this case.
The morality of opposite world is paper thin, and ragged!
Reality is Awesome!
susan, first off the crusades were wars, and they weren't started by christians wanting to "take over and destroy" sure things happened that were bad, but they were taking back what was taken from them, and they were fighting soldiers. What the Pope is referring to is Cruelty. Hitler isn't someone you want running your country and He was an atheist, believing that God was dead and couldn't stop him. Hitler didn't fight just soldiers he Killed ( murdered) children women and the elderly oh and yeah He liked killing Homosexuals. Lenin Killed and murdered more Jews and people than Hitler. that immorality exists with christians and non christians is not a point the Pope was trying to make.. but Morality is not natural. Survival of the Fittest is natural and it is Cruel, there are morally good people that claim they don't believe in God, but that doesn't mean that deep down they don't, for what reason should a man be good if not to please a good God ? if there is no good God than what makes something wrong? murder is wrong why? oh and Susan Look Up the historical inquisition, and find a honest estimate of how many where killed and then check out how many people where in the general population and then take a percentage and compare to the french revolution , Lenins reign , Hitler's, and then only to be fair and honest, look at the historic context… severe punishment was up held to deter people , if people where more severely punished for crimes like kidnapping and rape would there be as much ? men are fallen creatures, they have weaknesses, they have faults, But to Blame God and the Church for men's mistakes seems foolish, the church isn't for saints, its for sinners so there will be sinners in the church , the Popes message was pointing out that with out GOD and with out a love of God, sinful man becomes more and more cruel and evil… it is not a love of God that persaudes men and women to sin but the belief in no God Does not Encourage Goodness
For the life of me, I can't understand why people like to rewrite history. Adolf Hitler was an Atheist??? I'm sorry, but Hitler was raised a devote Roman Catholic and Hitler, masterfully, used religion as a tool to control the masses.
"My feelings as a Christian points me to my Lord and Savior as a fighter. It points me to the man who once in loneliness, surrounded only by a few followers, recognized these Jews for what they were and summoned men to fight against them and who, God's truth! was greatest not as a sufferer but as a fighter. In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison. To-day, after two thousand years, with deepest emotion I recognize more profoundly than ever before in the fact that it was for this that He had to shed His blood upon the Cross. As a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice…. And if there is anything which could demonstrate that we are acting rightly it is the distress that daily grows. For as a Christian I have also a duty to my own people…. When I go out in the morning and see these men standing in their queues and look into their pinched faces, then I believe I would be no Christian, but a very devil if I felt no pity for them, if I did not, as did our Lord two thousand years ago, turn against those by whom to-day this poor people is plundered and exploited." -Adolf Hitler, in his speech in Munich on 12 April 1922
As a boy, Hitler attended to the Catholic church and experienced the anti-Semitic attitude of his culture. In his book, Mein Kampf, Hitler reveals himself as a fanatical believer in God and country.
The German words, "Gott Mit Uns" translate to "God With Us" and, during WWII, these words appeared on the belt buckle of the Nazi soldier's uniform.
If you still have doubts about Hitler's faith, may I suggest viewing the photos on this website http://nobeliefs.com/nazis.htm . I especially like Hitler's coziness with the Catholic Bishop. FYI, It was the Catholic Bishops that wrote a special prayer for Germany to be victorious in the war…
Dec. 7, 1941 (page 33)
WAR PRAYER
FOR REICH ———————————————————
Catholic Bishops at Fulda
Ask Blessing and Victory
—————————————————— by telephone to the New York Times.
Fulda, Germany, Dec. 6 — The (annual) conference of German Catholic Bishops assembled in Fulda has recommended the introduction of a special "war prayer" which is to be read at the beginning and end of all divine services.
The prayer implores Providence to bless German arms with victory and grant protection to the lives and health of all soldiers. The Bishops further instructed Catholic clergy to keep and remember in a special Sunday sermon at least once a month German soldiers "on land, on sea and in the air."
The German Catholic clergy, while strongly objecting to certain aspects of NAZI racial policy, has always taken care to emphasize the duty of every Catholic to his country as loyal Germans in the present war.
That “war prayer” -it was in the NY times, Dec 7, 1941 (first edition only). NYT archives does not have it available…
Link where else posted?