Post by Cinemachinery on Apr 10, 2017 17:27:40 GMT
"Can theists and atheists live together in any sort of mutual respect? That is far more than an academic debating point. Throughout history, theocrats have punished dissidents who reject the state religion. In the 20th century, atheist regimes subjected religion to bloody repression, and a few, like North Korea, still do. And in recent years, especially in the Islamic world, thee has been a resurgence in the persecution of those who reject the prevailing form of religion, or all religion.
The rise in religious oppression is one of the factors that galvanized "new atheists" like the late Christopher Hitchens, who thought "religion poisons everything" .... but there is another form of cerebral atheism. John Gray ... is a strong advocate of the view that theism and atheism can coexist in freedom and a sort of amity."