Roger Hutchinson would have us believe that he has been wholly and wrongfully misinterpreted. Although I can't get into his head, I do find the following song and dance highly suspect. As is so typical of believers when cornered, Roger, either consciously or unconsciously, has done some serious revising!
Till has me labeling the Khmer Rouge as skeptics (which I did), but he then failed to grasp the significance of this. The label put on the Khmer Rouge is immaterial even if it fits.
The point is that the Khmer Rouge are not Christians nor do they espouse Christian ideals. By using the example of the Khmer Rouge, I was able to show that great atrocities have been committed in places and under circumstances that cannot be linked to Christianity (TSR, November/ December 1999, p. 7).
Oh, gee! Is Hutchinson saying there are atrocities in modern history that aren't caused by Christianity? I would never have guessed in a million years! No, Roger, that was not what you were saying. You were trying to take some of the heat off Christianity by suggesting that skepticism was also associated with most of the great atrocities of modern times. On that point you rightfully got your ears cuffed by Till and me. The Khmer Rouge, for instance, were insanely hooked on a simple, agricultural society; humanist intellectuals were as much a target as any religious leader. Anybody with a hint of education was essentially marked for death. In effect, we said, "Don't blame the fanatical ideals of the Khmer Rouge on skepticism, because skepticism was not the driving force." Similar situations hold true for Soviet and Chinese communist atrocities. Their fanatical deeds were not the logical fruit of skepticism! One can no more blame skepticism than one can blame the communist love of children. Hutchinson's act concluded with his revised position.
Consequently, the investigator who finds both Christians and non-Christians associated with atrocities would be wrong to jump to the conclusion that Christianity is the cause of atrocities (Hutchinson,TSR, November/December 1999, p. 7).
Nobody ever said that Christianity is the cause of atrocity. However, a tree is judged by the fruit it produces, and Christianity is intimately associated with much that is rotten, like the Dark Age, the Inquisition, the violent suppression of pagan religions, suppression of medical and scientific progress, violence against Jews, support of slavery, and countless wars over religious differences, including those of modern times in Ireland and Yugoslavia. Detailed study may identify a number of complex causes, but Christianity has its big, fat thumb in every one of those pies.
Finally, rather than teaching us to confront the great dangers of our age, which require long-haul solutions, Christianity encourages a lax attitude; Jesus will swoop down at the last minute and save mankind--or at least the select few.
We are not exaggerating when we speak of Christian atrocities down through the ages!
(Dave E. Matson, editor, The Oak Hill Free Press, P.O. Box
61274, Pasadena, CA 91116; e-mail 103514.3640@compuserve.com)
