Comments on: The Great Leap Forward

By: Ray Ingles

Ray Ingles — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 14:45:48 +0000

Bret –

But I think that it’s fair to say, that the atheistic communist experiment has caused more death, than one can imagine.

A lot of that is simply that better technology allows more people to exist, along with more efficient ways to kill large numbers of people.

A sincere ‘thank you!’ for acknowledging that atheism doesn’t necessarily lead to immorality, and that it was ‘atheistic communism’ rather than atheism per se that led to the horrible slaughter.

The lesson I take from that is that no worldview is immune to excessive dogmatism. A refusal to allow freedom of conscience – in short, an inability to allow others to be ‘wrong’ – has terrible consequences.

By: Barry Arrington

Barry Arrington — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 04:10:49 +0000

Yes, the Chinese leaders have done an astounding job of hiding Mao’s crimes from the people of China. In 2005 I went on a short term mission trip in China. Our group was split into smaller groups, and a lovely 22 year-old, college-educated woman was assigned as our guide. While walking through Tiananmen Square I pointed to the huge picture of Mao and out of sheer curiosity I asked her what she thought of that man. This dedicated Christian woman said, “Oh, he was a great man!” I asked, “What about the mass murders?” She looked at me, genuinely puzzled, and asked me what I was talking about. To this day I am persuaded that she really had no idea.

By: Mary

Mary — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 19:25:55 +0000

Ok! I already knew that he and Stalin both creamed Hitler, but I thought Stalin had claimed #1.

Live and learn.

By: KarenT

KarenT — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 15:25:06 +0000

Dennis Prager credits the fawning of intellectuals over communists during his college years with convincing him that his Hebrew School teacher was right: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.”

It’s amazing to me that Radical Chic still thrives in spirit among our intellectual betters.

By: Steve

Steve — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 12:39:11 +0000

And that’s only the estimate for a four-year period. Correct me if I’m wrong, but reference works like “The Black Book of Communism” have Mao’s total murderous legacy as somewhere north of 60 million people, making him by far the worst mass murderer in human history.

By: Ars Artium

Ars Artium — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 11:31:27 +0000

When the principle that human lives can be commandeered for ends other than their own best good is accepted, a dark and bitter process begins.

By: Bret Lythgoe

Bret Lythgoe — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:26:47 +0000

We often hear, from the “New Atheists”, Richard Dawkins, Christiopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and the rest, that religion, aside from being childish superstition, also has resulted in death and destruction. But I think that it’s fair to say, that the atheistic communist experiment has caused more death, than one can imagine.

Is this because atheism inexorably leads to immoral behavior? No. I think that atheism is incorrect, but there are a lot of atheists who put so called “christians” to shame, in the ethics department.

But one has to wonder, if a tyranny, that dnies religious freedom, does have a more than coincidental link to the lack of respect for life. I’m not saying that there’s a causal link here, but it’s worth investigating.

By: Ray Ingles

Ray Ingles — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 02:47:16 +0000

A big chunk of the “famine” and “starvation”, BTW, was because the Communists rejected neo-Darwinian evolution, and enforced Lysenkoism. Reality didn’t match up with “worker’s science” and the “Three Bitter Years” were the result.