Wednesday, March 7, 2007 | 7:13 a.m.
In his March 3 letter, David Fredericks asserts that the world owes atheists a debt of gratitude. He says that the civilized world owes a huge debt to enlightened skeptics such as Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin or George Washington. I agree. But these men were not atheists. Since His existence cannot be proved or disproved, it takes someone of great faith to be an atheist - to deny the existence of God. Deists are not atheists.
It cannot be denied that religious conflicts have killed millions. The Crusades, wars centered on the conflict between Christians and Muslims, began in the 11th century and arguably continue to this day. According to Paul Tobin, who runs an atheist Web site, the casualty estimate for this nearly 1,000-year-old conflict is about 9 million dead.
But let's examine what atheists, when they come to power, have done for the world. Throughout history, there have only been a few governments that have officially declared themselves atheist. All of them communist, I believe. According to R.J. Rummel in his book "Death by Government," 110 million people have been murdered in only the last 100 years at the hands of officially atheist communist governments led by, as Mr. Fredericks puts it, "atheists with reason on their side" - atheists that "always vote for good men of faith."
Thanks, atheists!
Darren Neal, Las Vegas
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