[quote=So Boerd]Here is my proof, it's called a dictionary. Do I need to define for you "in the name of"? Mao's justification was Communism. The people believed in Communism, even if Mao did or did not. They died as a result of Mao pursuing, no matter how incorrectly, Communism. Communism came out of his mouth, Communism was what was in his head, Communism made him break an alliance with the Soviets because they were being bad Communists.[/quote]

In that case, over a billion people have died in the name of one religion or another, due to anything from the Salem witch trials to improper medical practices based on faith healing to anyone claiming divine inspiration or divine authority starting a war for [i]any reason[/i]. This includes Hitler, just so you know.

[quote=So Boerd]Now, with regard to Science and Religion. Religion gave people an incentive to be literate. Do you honestly believe that if the Germanic barbarians had remained Pagan, kept their oral tradition that we would have been any better? Ever hear of Cyrillic? The writing system of almost all of Eastern Europe? Made by a priest. A lingua franca for all scientists in Europe? Thank a Catholic Priest for making Latin universal. Printing press? Thank a protestant.
[/quote]

Ever heard of the Babylonians, Chinese, Greeks, and Egyptians? All had writing before Christianity [i]existed[/i]. Hundreds of years, before they existed, and a lot of their writings weren't just religious, they were about codes of law, and philosophy, and fictional tales...

So...

...Yeah. Actually. I could easily see the Germanic people with their own religion eventually writing down their oral stories when the secret of writing was passed along to them by the Greeks or others.

As for inventions like the printing press, for the vast majority of time, the vast majority of the population was in one way or another religious. Spouting that religion created anything is nonsensical: The person created it, and once in a blue moon, was inspired by religion.

Then we put religion aside and created this little, nifty thing, called the scientific theory.

Suddenly, inventions and discoveries have skyrocketed at a pace that blows way anything that the iron fisted dark ages ever did.

Gee. Wonder how that happened. :lol

I'm not saying that things were not created in the name of religion. Look at cathedrals and Gothic architecture. That is... Wow. That is breathtakingly beautiful. There's also musical pieces, the arts and so on are where they excelled. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gC1jJC3aBLQ]This one is one of my personal favourites[/url]. Just that when religion held absolute authority in government, shit went to... Well... Shit, and it aided in creating the dark ages by repressing many ideas, not helping them flourish. It only flourished if the church liked it, and this only ended truly when protestantism became a thing.

But, that's a history lesson. An interesting one if you'd like to hear it sometime.

[quote=So Boerd]
Also, if you think Christmas trees are going to create a theocracy, you should should also know that the government caused 9/11, never landed on the moon, and is spraying us with mind control agents. You would be right at home with Alex Jones and LaRouche.
[/quote]

... What are you on about?