Blacknad wrote:
"It is exactly the same things. Atheists have always been convinced that horrible things need to be done for one reason or another. Hitler would never have got anywhere without people who were convinced they were doing horrible things for the right reasons."
You are absolutely correct. If you reread my post you will find that I repeated juxtapose "religion" and "nationalism" in these discussions. My doing so is not a coincidence.
Blacknad wrote:
"'The Devil made me do it' is an incredibly clumsy over-simplification. I have never heard any Christian make such a claim (except in jest)"
Stay in the UK then. I have heard it ... not in the exact words of comedian Eddie Murphy ... but in essence ... yes it is said.
If you subscribe the belief system that there evil is a noun ... then you are not totally responsible for your actions. If you subscribe to the belief that you were born with original sin then you are not totally responsible for your actions.
You can't have it both ways. You can't tell a young child that they are sinners who need to beg for forgiveness, even though they've truly done nothing wrong, and then expect them to accept responsibility for their own actions. Heck they were already guilty.
