No mate - "no religion" is not a religious statement......(you know a person who doesn't collect stamps is not known as a Non Stamp Collector)
Are you sure about that? According to the dictionary, that is exactly how a non-religious person is defined. Try looking up 'a-theist.'
It is a religious statement in the sense that it claims to know something fundamental about reality regarding that subject, and it can't be fully proven - that no God/s exist. In order for that to be proven one would have to know absolutely everything there is to know about the universe. Strident atheist Richard Dawkins funded a public campaign with signs saying, "There's probably no God" - even he is smart enough to know that his position contains insufficient evidence to be categorically proven.
Everyone owes it to themselves to examine any evidence to the contrary, but this is clearly not the forum for discussing it. At the end of the day, what a person chooses to do with that evidence and what they choose to believe is a deeply personal matter. The ability to be able to live and believe according to their conscience without undue interference is a human right upheld by article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A freedom we perhaps don't value enough at times. Not surprisingly, countries where this freedom is curtailed or doesn't exist are generally less desirable places to live...
The point about the communism reference is that associated governments have been in a position to enforce precisely the ideal espoused here: "Get rid of all the religious nutters, the world will be better off for it." Communist Russia banned the Bible (along with other religious books), advocated the destruction of religion and went to enormous lengths to try and achieve that. Churches, synagogues and mosques were destroyed. Millions of people died in less than desirable ways in an attempt to get rid of all those religious nutters. The question remains: was the world better off for it? Reportedly, some Russian intellectuals reflecting on this time observed, "We thought we could get rid of God and retain a value for human beings. We were wrong. We destroyed both God and man."
Stories like taily's are a good example of hypocrisy. It's like the proverbial poo in the pool: it is disgusting, a little bit spreads a long way and it turns everybody off. Unfortunately, with us faulty human beings, one never has to look very far to find it. How many of us live up to our own standard of expectation, let alone that of others? I'm sure the Bible has something to say about that, but don't worry - I'll let you find that for yourself!
