We now conclude considering the article Atheism Groups Grow on College Campuses, from which we are gleaning certain issue of interest. Find this whole series here.
Apparently, Dave had a discussion wherein he and a theist had agreed that “Hitler wasn’t an atheist at all.” Who would know more about Adolf Hitler: Dave, the theist or Adolf Hitler’s biographer? “Adolf Hitler’s biographer,” would probably be a good guess.
Adolf Hitler’s worldview / philosophy was certainly a chaotic a concoction, one that was explored in the essay Was Adolf Hitler a Christian or an Atheist? However, one thing to note is that his biographer did state that Adolf Hitler was “a man who believed neither in God nor in conscience” (Richard Cavendish, The Powers of Evil in Western Religion, Magic and Folk Belief, p. 77-78).
The issue is that if Hitler was a Christian then he was not really a Christian but was merely referred to as such. This is because considering that which he believed and did, he violated that which would rightly have lent him the label Christian. Whoever, if he was an atheist then he violated nothing at all (except, perhaps, that which Dave saith).
Again, atheism does not have to, or does not necessarily lead to a Adolf Hitler, Stalin, etc. but the door is wide open for their likes. Moreover, atheism makes evil and suffering even worse. Consider Adolf Hitler: he enjoyed his power, had thousands of adoring adherents, did as he pleased, murdered circa 12 million people, and in the end, when he decided that it was over, he took his own life and…and nothing, the end. According to atheism, Adolf Hitler died and went on to enjoy a sort of perfect peace of annihilation. No judgment, no condemnation, no damnation, just nothing. As per atheism, he enjoyed evil, he enjoyed suffering and…he simply got away with it. Since atheism can provide no justice, it is unjust itself.
The fact of evil and suffering is one of the very best reasons for rejecting atheism.
Lastly, let us consider that Dave noted:
I’m not convinced Jesus existed at all — there are enough people I respect on both sides of the debate. Supposing he existed, I don’t really know — I would guess he was buried, but maybe he was burned at Gehenna, maybe he was left in the desert to die, who knows?
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With this, Dave ensconces himself to the left of the likes of Bart Ehrman. Imagine being to the left of Bart Ehrman and you can imagine what it must be like to be Dave. For another example of being to the left of Ehrman consider that Reginald Finley aka The Infidel Guy, also falls to his left and discussed the issue with him—see this link for the audio.
Also, consider an essay which chronicles Two Centuries Worth of Citations to Jesus
As for “who knows?” well, perhaps the very people who knew Jesus, who walked with Him, who talked with Him, who knew of His burial place, who saw it empty, who saw Him resurrected and who saw Him ascend. You know, the ones whose words are recorded in the circa 24,000 New Testament manuscripts—see The Destroyed Bible – On How to Reconstruct the Bible, part 2.
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