Poignant article on Tai Solarin:


http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/Tai_Solarin.html



Tai Solarin: His Life, Ideas, and Accomplishments (1995)
Richard Carrier


The most famous and controversial atheist and secular humanist in African history (if not the only one of any real renown) was the Nigerian nationalist Tai Solarin, who sadly passed away at the age of 72 in 1994. I wrote a paper on Tai a year after his death for a course in African History, and I was recently inspired to add this paper to my collection online for various reasons. Africa tends to get ignored in the West as somehow brutal and backward, even though its condition is even more the fault of Western nations than is the condition of other Third World continents like India and South America. We should not allow ourselves to turn our backs on what could become a very important land, a land to whom we owe a sad debt. Because of this ignorance, however, men like Tai are little known in the West, much less anywhere else outside of Africa, so telling their story on the internet is the greatest tribute I can offer. Finally, Tai's story tells us a great deal about what it means to be a godless yet selfless humanitarian in a troubled country, and yet even what it should mean in a relative paradise like the United States. He embodies the ideals of Secular Humanism in such a way that stands out even more brilliantly against the background of religion-and-war-torn Nigeria. May there be a million like him, there and the world over.

Life
Tai Solarin was famous in Nigeria as both a social critic and an educator [1]. Affectionately known as "Uncle Tai" by his admirers [2], he was usually found wearing sneakers, shorts, and a khaki hunting cap, inspiring some to remark that he looked more like a "village eccentric" than a great intellectual [3]. Although there are several people and organizations in Nigeria and Ghana attempting to educate the public about secular humanism and its ideals, Tai Solarin is by far the most interesting of them all.

Tai Solarin was born in 1922 and had a long and interesting history. A native Nigerian, he was educated in a Nigerian missionary school, served in Britain's Royal Air Force during World War II, and finished a bachelor's degree in history and geography at the University of Manchester, Great Britain, in 1952 [4]. Tai returned to Western Nigeria to become Principal of Molusi College from 1952 to 1955 [5]. Because Molusi's governing board forced him to open each school day with hymns and prayers, and march his students to church every Sunday, he protested and eventually quit [6]. He wasted no time. He started his own school in 1956, calling it the Mayflower School, followed by the Mayflower Junior School in 1959, both located in Ikenne, southwestern Nigeria, where Tai lived for the remainder of his life [7]. He briefly returned to England to pursue graduate studies at the University of London. [8]. Then, in 1976, he turned the original Mayflower school over to the government, though it was still run under Tai's direct guidance and innovative principles until his death [9]. Dr. Solarin also became chairman of the People's Bank of Nigeria in 1989 [10], a position he held until his death.

Tai Solarin married Sheila Mary Tuer in 1951 (who remained with him until his death) [11] and they had two children, a son and a daughter [12]. His mother was a devout Christian, a member of the Church Missionary Society [13], but he always maintained a loving relationship with her and all of his family, loyally fulfilling his brother's wishes by personally overseeing his religious burial in 1965 in spite of Tai's personal atheism [14]. Dr. Solarin died in his home on July 27, 1994 [15]. According to Tim Madigan, executive editor of Free Inquiry magazine, Tai Solarin and Kofi Mensah, now the leading secular humanist in Africa, were good friends and were trying to set up an organization together, but Tai's death and the increasing unrest in Nigeria have halted those plans for now [16].

Accomplishments
Tai Solarin wrote consistently for the Daily Times since 1958 and the Nigerian Tribune since 1967 [17], and he has contributed to numerous other papers in Nigeria like The Guardian [18]. He is the only known Nigerian columnist to have a continuously running column lasting over twenty years, and he routinely wrote well over thirty articles a year [19]. Tai himself could proudly say that there are people in Nigeria who have eagerly read his column for ten straight years or more [20]. Besides his writing, which included several books, Dr. Solarin often joined in public talks and symposia at schools and colleges all throughout Nigeria [21].

As a columnist, Tai was a relentless critic of Nigerian military rule, as well as of corruption in the government and church, and this had a tendency to get him into no end of trouble [22]. Tai was marked for assassination in 1966 by the corrupt civilian government left in place by the British in 1960, but his life was saved by the January 15 military coup [23]. Tai was often jailed for his public remarks, the worst being in Jos in 1984. Lasting seventeen months, Jos was the longest detention he had ever suffered in his life, all for simply suggesting that the military should surrender rule to the public within six months [24]. He was detained regularly again by the government in 1990 for similar upsetting remarks [25].

The government is not the only one that Tai's fierce remarks have upset, and he had many enemies in Nigeria and beyond. Some have publicly heaped scorn on him, including the Nigerian author Chinua Achebe, who once called him "an unfeeling, dry-as-dust logic-chopper with no capacity at all for respecting human anguish." [26] (all for merely suggesting that English replace all the native languages of the country). Nevertheless, despite Tai's renown as an outspoken atheist, even some religious leaders have had kind words to say of him. Professor Sam Aluko, a Christian consultant and participant in the World Council of Churches, remarks that although he disagreed with Tai on religion, he was nevertheless his best of friends, and often agreed with many of Tai's criticisms of both the government and the religious excesses of many groups in Nigeria [27]. Loved or hated, there can be no mistake that Tai was among the best known citizens of Nigeria. He was so well known that a friend, Segun Oyebade, retells a story where an Englishman mailed a letter addressed only as "Tai Solarin, Ikenne, Nigeria," and it quickly found its way to Tai's house [28].

For nearly forty years, Dr. Solarin has persistently fought for free and compulsory education (from first grade through high school) for all Nigerian children [29]. He established the Mayflower School on January 27, 1956, and seventy students attended that year. By 1992, the attendance at Mayflower had expanded to 1,900, including over 800 girls [30]. The Mayflower Junior School had 1,300 resident students as well as 300 day students by 1992, and both schools are so much in demand that parents petition the Nigerian minister of education to get their children in [31]. Tai chose "Mayflower" as the name for his school after the name of the ship sailed by the Pilgrims in 1620, because it evoked images of escaping persecution for a new life of freedom. "It was to be a school for all children," Tai said, "discriminating against none." [32]

The original Mayflower is a full high school (junior and senior grades) [33]. In Ogun state, there are over five hundred comparable schools, and Mayflower has ranked first among them all for the past fifteen years. Some have suggested that it may be among the top ten high schools in all of Nigeria. The parents of attending students love the school so much that they raised their own funds to build new classrooms and purchase desks and chairs to fill them [34]. American humanist Norm Allen, Jr., in 1995 the Executive Director of African-Americans for Humanism and Public Relations Director for Free Inquiry magazine, visited Tai's school in 1991, and was very impressed with what he saw there. He later wrote of the experience: "I was immediately impressed by the seriousness and dedication of the students. Secular messages stressing the importance of education and self-reliance were posted all over the walls of the school. Everyone seemed inquisitive and eager to learn." [35]

Dr. Solarin was from the very beginning opposed to "white collar" education, believing that children should learn to get their hands dirty by mastering practical crafts, alongside their regular education [36]. "We go all out to tackle the problems of life," Tai explains, "instead of spending several hours of the week explaining the significance of the deity." [37] Only recently has the Nigerian government accepted the fact that primary and secondary education must include technical skills in order for their nation to be truly industrialized. Tai had been telling this to the public for nearly thirty years. True to his own words, he made agricultural science a compulsory aspect of Mayflower education [38]. Boys and girls once built their own dormitories, and continue to make cocoa from home-grown beans, and breed their own pigs [39]. As a lesson in technique and industry, students harvest three seasons of their own corn every year, instead of the usual two seasons harvested by most local farmers [40].

So successful has the Mayflower School been that employers actively recruit from its graduates, because they have earned a wide reputation for hard work and honesty that is not matched by any religious school in the region. In fact, Mayflower produced Nigeria's first female engineer, and continues to encourage students to pursue badly needed technical expertise that will benefit Nigeria. Mayflower students who are accepted into foreign universities are urged to take Summer jobs in technical roles such as plumbers, electricians, or tractor drivers, so they can bring that expertise back with them along with their university degrees [41].

Above all, Dr. Solarin teaches self-reliance as well as a commitment to Nigeria as a nation [42]. Tai has made every Mayflower student memorize a poem by William Ernest Henley that ends "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul." He makes that the center of his school's curricula, and he points out that such a phrase amounts to blasphemy in Islamic states like Kano, Sokoto, or Borno [43]. Furthermore, as far as Tai knows, Mayflower is the only school that does not teach a particular religion or lead the students in hymns and prayers [44]. He has actively opposed church ownership of the schools since 1952, yet they still remain almost entirely sectarian [45]. Tai remarks that if national devotion to religion is what makes a country great, then Spain and Portugal should have become the greatest nations on earth [46]. Nevertheless, he allowed his Christian students to build their own chapel on the school grounds, as long as no school money went into its construction or maintenance, and no time was lost from their studies [47]. Tai also blames the many sectarian schools for dividing his nation. Because of their innate competitiveness, they undermine any chance of teaching a common Nigerian nationalism [48]. The result is that, rather than rallying behind Nigeria in a national crisis, people rally behind the banner of their particular creed, and that leads to ethnic violence (and has almost led to the brink of civil war) [49]. Because of this conviction, Tai's Mayflower students are not taught to give their first allegiance to any god or church, but to Nigeria "first and foremost." [50]

Ideals
As an atheist and vehement critic of irrationality and hypocrisy, Tai Solarin has few kind words for religion in his country. "Nigeria is dying today of religion," Tai proclaims, "outrageous religious beliefs." [51] Africans, says Tai, are taught by religion and superstition to fear too many things. "Witches, angels, the Devil or Satan, thunder, lightning, nocturnal birds are all objects that generate fear." [52] He tells the tale of a magistrate in Lagos who refused to decide a case because he believed "juju" men were casting spells on him [53], and his successor, Kofi Mensah, recounts tales of taboos and superstitions that have thwarted attempts at halting the spread of disease, the feeding of starving regions, or the controlling of population growth, as well as prevented progress in industry, education, and human rights (especially for women) [54]. "The worst bane of African nondevelopment," Tai insists, "is chronic dependence on the deity to solve all earthly problems." [55]

[b]Dr. Solarin says that "blacks hold onto their God just as the drunken man holds on to the street lamp post--for physical support only." H[/b]e paints an interesting analogy from a childhood memory. He made a long journey with his mother once, who gave him a "bicycle" to help him finish the journey--which was really just a wheel he had to hit with a stick to keep it going. He says that without the "bicycle" he would never have made the forty mile walk, but upon reflection he realized that he had really carried himself and the bicycle all along. Religion is like that bicycle, Tai says. We only need it when we lack the confidence and determination to face the world alone [56]. "To get the young Africans weaned from their almost congenital reliance on fate," Tai says, "they must be educated to stand on their feet." And the best way to accomplish that is for the government to copy the Mayflower School throughout Nigeria [57].

When Tai writes about his own moral and philosophical ideals, his true humanism is well revealed. "I believe in man," Tai declares, "by 'man' I mean man, woman and child. I believe that my duty to man is total service, outside man I owe none else any duties." [58] He asserts that "anything that man wants to do must be done by man himself. Anywhere he wants to go, he must, himself, aggressively propel himself in that direction." [59] These are true humanist ideals, echoed by secular humanists the world over. Tai teaches that prayer is useless, and that it is better to teach people how to solve their problems, and to give them the power and freedom to act. "I do not want to be seen giving alms to the poor," Tai once wrote, "I want to be seen teaching the poor how to live creatively by making use of his hands and feet." [60]

His humanism had led him to express a fondness for the governments of China and the U.S.S.R., because of their socialist guarantees of free medicine and education for all. But he still upholds the ideals of freedom and democracy [61]. One of Tai's favorite freethinkers is Robert G. Ingersoll, whose writings gave him the courage to accept his doubts and speak out against what he believed was harmful or untrue. Tai says of Ingersoll: "He tore off the dingy curtains across my mind's eye, and let me stand, unafraid, to wend my way through life." [62] He recommends Ingersoll as a necessary addition to anyone's library, alongside Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian, Margaret Knight's Worlds Without Religion, and Thomas Paine's Age of Reason. [63]

Many have tried to criticize secular humanism, and atheism in particular, for leaving people unhappy and lost without a moral compass to guide them. Dr. Tai Solarin says that is all rubbish. "I maintain great comfort and infinite happiness living as a humanist." [64] Although he has always taught open defiance of conservatism and "deadly orthodoxy," he has also taught that people can become, and should become, whatever they choose to be [65]. "Morality," says Tai, "is a question of leadership." He cites great atheist humanitarians who reformed their countries, whom he admires, including Jewaharlal Nehru (first Prime Minister of independent India) and Kemal Ataturk (who led the formation of the secular republic in Turkey) [66]. Tai believes wholeheartedly in the Golden Rule, and ensures that it is the basis of his students' moral education [67]. He teaches morals to his students by telling the stories of famous people who have done good through virtues such as determination or honesty [68]. Most of all, Tai stresses that the purpose of morality should never be forgotten, and that its purpose is not to gain salvation in another life, but to attain a good life here and now, within a peaceful, cooperative society. "A man is morally good," Tai instructs his students, "when he lives a happy, and symbiotic existence with other men." As a message to us all, Dr. Tai Solarin declares that "morality has to do with life and only in its mundane and down to earth consideration." [69]

When we see religious violence in Nigeria, from the religiously-inspired Kano riots of December 1980 (when four thousand people were killed and millions of dollars of property was destroyed) [70] to the attempted coup in 1991 (when Major Gideon Ockar attempted to seize the government, declaring that "true Nigeria" is the Christian South) [71], it would do well to pay attention to Tai Solarin. Not only Muslim-Christian conflict, but inter-Moslem violence, often in the form of anti-Sufism [72], has added to the rampages of anti-academic Christian groups who burn cars, destroy laboratories and other school and college property [73], to prove that religion in Nigeria has forgotten the purpose of morality: to help men and women live in peace. Unfortunately, the Nigerian people no longer have Tai Solarin to remind them.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With all his achievements, he neglected the MOST IMPORTANT PART OF LIFE, HIS SOUL.


What shall a man give in exchange for his soul ?


He was a renown atheist and it is sad he rejected the plan of salvation God offered to HIM.

t is funny with all the alleged sense the man had he fail to see the human angle in religion, the human angle will always want to serve his own greedy motive even when it goes against his faith. To crown it all, it seems this man has not heard of how atheist have actually committed the most heinous crimes, Look at Hitler, he got his inspiration from Fredrick Nietzsche who hated religion because it preached concepts such as love and Kindness, this same man rejected all religion and encourage violence as a mean for man achieving his higher state, that is, "Survival of the fittest" nonsense, Due to his propounding of Social Darwinism, this misguided atheist paved the way for the mots violent conflict known in man history, but again trust divinereal, he has no idea of his own except to regurgitate peoples thoughts and pat himself in the back of his suppose "Knowledge", When I read about people like Tai solarin, I laugh their strange form of wisdom which is usually self serving and lacking objectivity, if he was objective, he would have concluded atheism is astronomically more violent than all religions combined together. Atheism form of violence is cruel, Insane and despicable.

vedaxcool:

t is funny with all the alleged sense the man had he fail to see the human angle in religion, the human angle will always want to serve his own greedy motive even when it goes against his faith. To crown it all, it seems this man has not heard of how atheist have actually committed the most heinous crimes, Look at Hitler,

Hitler was NOT an atheist, stop lying through your teeth. . . .That is a fact. . . .Most of the Nazi people that carried out the crimes during the holocaust were NOT atheist. . .

he got his inspiration from Fredrick Nietzsche who hated religion because it preached concepts such as love and Kindness,

Love and kindness are NOT rooted in religion alone because atheistic societies like the one I presently live in show move love, tolerance and value for human life than most religious societies I know. . .If religions like the one you follow preach love and kindness, I wonder why many people the world over that believe in your religion go about killing others as a religious duty while chanting that your imaginary God(Allah) is great while reading and getting inspiration from verses in the Koran that you claim talks about love and Kindness. . . . .

this same man rejected all religion and encourage violence as a mean for man achieving his higher state, that is, "Survival of the fittest" nonsense, Due to his propounding of Social Darwinism, this misguided atheist paved the way for the mots violent conflict known in man history, but again trust divinereal, he has no idea of his own except to regurgitate peoples thoughts and pat himself in the back of his suppose "Knowledge"

Your religion like others before it preaches survival of the fittest that is why we have people that believe in your God killing others as a religious duty all over the world. . . .There is nothing peaceful about your religion because people are always attacking others and killing them in the name of your God and your religion the world over,  .

When I read about people like Tai solarin, I laugh their strange form of wisdom which is usually self serving and lacking objectivity, if he was objective, he would have concluded atheism is astronomically more violent than all religions combined together. Atheism form of violence is cruel, Insane and despicable.

And how many wars have been fought in the name of atheism?. . . .Hitler and the Nazis where not atheist as you lied. . . .

Oga Mazaaje long time oh you still dey bother with these people?
Where sister Jesoul self?
Chei good old days.

Abeg Mazaje leave the guy alone,  he has no idea of what he is talking about. I will forever respect and admire the great Tai Solarin! These religious people and their absolutes based on a house of cards and fraudulent religious books. Let him continue to be a slave to his Arab god. Nonsense

Hitler's views on Atheism:

Statements against atheism
Hitler often associated atheism with Germany's communist enemy.[53] Hitler stated in a speech to the Stuttgart February 15, 1933: "Today they say that Christianity is in danger, that the Catholic faith is threatened. My reply to them is: for the time being, Christians and not international atheists are now standing at Germany’s fore. I am not merely talking about Christianity; I confess that I will never ally myself with the parties which aim to destroy Christianity. Fourteen years they have gone arm in arm with atheism. At no time was greater damage ever done to Christianity than in those years when the Christian parties ruled side by side with those who denied the very existence of God. Germany's entire cultural life was shattered and contaminated in this period. It shall be our task to burn out these manifestations of degeneracy in literature, theater, schools, and the press—that is, in our entire culture—and to eliminate the poison which has been permeating every facet of our lives for these past fourteen years."[54]
In a radio address October 14, 1933 Hitler stated "For eight months we have been waging a heroic battle against the Communist threat to our Volk, the decomposition of our culture, the subversion of our art, and the poisoning of our public morality. We have put an end to denial of God and abuse of religion. We owe Providence humble gratitude for not allowing us to lose our battle against the misery of unemployment and for the salvation of the German peasant."[55]

In a speech delivered in Berlin, October 24, 1933, Hitler stated: "We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out."[56]

In a speech delivered at Koblenz, August 26, 1934 Hitler states: "There may have been a time when even parties founded on the ecclesiastical basis were a necessity. At that time Liberalism was opposed to the Church, while Marxism was anti-religious. But that time is past. National Socialism neither opposes the Church nor is it anti-religious, but on the contrary, it stands on the ground of a real Christianity. The Church's interests cannot fail to coincide with ours alike in our fight against the symptoms of degeneracy in the world of to-day, in our fight against the Bolshevist culture, against an atheistic movement, against criminality, and in our struggle for the consciousness of a community in our national life, for the conquest of hatred and disunion between the classes, for the conquest of civil war and unrest, of strife and discord. These are not anti-Christian, these are Christian principles."[57]

During negotiations leading to the Nazi-Vatican Concordat of April 26, 1933 Hitler argued that "Secular schools can never be tolerated because such schools have no religious instruction, and a general moral instruction without a religious foundation is built on air; consequently, all character training and religion must be derived from faith."[58]

mazaje:

Hitler was NOT an atheist, stop lying through your teeth. . . .That is a fact. . . .Most of the Nazi people that carried out the crimes during the holocaust were NOT atheist. . .

Displaying typical atheist love and kindness in explaining YOUR view, why such fanaticism over a nothingness way of of life? This is the typical crude behavior most atheist on Nl display when addressing issues, First and fore most,  your deliberate break part of my response only showed why your emotional outburst did not address the issue, what i wrote was "Look at Hitler, he got his inspiration from Fredrick Nietzsche who hated religion because it preached concepts such as love and Kindness, this same man rejected all religion" Nazism is clearly an atheistic movement because it is based on social darwnism which was proposed on what Nietzsche, social dawnism is anti - religious my claim ws that Hitler was influenced by Neitzsche. and FYI Hitler's dad was a skeptic and from historical evidence Hitler bore strong revulsion to Christianity "Goebbels notes in a diary entry in 1939 a conversation in which Hitler had "expressed his revulsion against Christianity. He wished that the time were ripe for him to be able to openly express that. Christianity had corrupted and infected the entire world of antiquity.". I wish you read and understand instead of insults which only shows what atheism is, ramble and insults.

mazaje:

Love and kindness are NOT rooted in religion alone because atheistic societies like the one I presently live in show move love, tolerance and valure for human lofe than most religious societies I know. . .If religions like the one you follow preach love and kindness, I wonder why many people the world over that believe in your religion go about killing others as a religious duty while chanting that your imaginary God(Allah) is great and reading verses from the Koran that you claim talks about love and Kindness. . . . .

Cheap ignorance is what you are displaying, and i am still going to start a thread to show ignorant atheist like you self how peaceful atheism actually is. Thank goodness, there are religious text for all to read, which clearly shows the precedence of love and kindness in religion generally, thank goodness the so called atheist society which you live in was clearly influenced by religious influence. I wonder if atheism is so peaceful, why do we read certain atheist  like Nietzsche begging for violence and promoting wickedness, but trust this will always be overlooked by "objective" atheists.

mazaje:

Your religion like others before it preaches survival of the fittest that is why we have people that believe in your God killing others as a religious duty all over the world. . . .There is nothing peaceful about your religion because people are always attacking others and killing them in the name of your God and your religion the world over,  .

I believe anybody reading your response will clearly see how you have failed to answer any question raised, rather you believe in counter accusations as a mean to defending nothingness way of life.  this was the question "this same man rejected all religion and encourage violence as a mean for man achieving his higher state, that is, "Survival of the fittest" nonsense, Due to his propounding of Social Darwinism, this misguided atheist paved the way for the mots violent conflict known in man history, but again trust divinereal, he has no idea of his own except to regurgitate peoples thoughts and pat himself in the back of his suppose "Knowledge" clearly asking how an atheist could produce such evil ideology.

mazaje:

And how many wars have been fought in the name of atheism?. . . .Hitler and the Nazis where not atheist as you lied. . . .

Drink cold water and take your time reading and understanding, rather than emotionally crying and then pretending you responded to what was asked, as what I wrote is very clear, Nietzsche provided the ideological frame work for the evils of Nazism. If that elude your objectivity then your nothingness way of life has again failed you. Instead of following people blindly, read and be free from misguidance.

Islam Peace Boko haram Al qaeda Taliban

Find the odd word

Hitler's views on Islam

[b]Islam and eastern religionsAmong eastern religions, Hitler described religious leaders such as "Confucius, Buddha, and Mohammed" as providers of "spiritual sustenance".[59] In this context, Hitler's connection to Mohammad Amin al-Husayni, the Mufti of Jerusalem — which included asylum in 1941, the honorary rank of an SS Major-General, and a "respected racial genealogy" — has been interpreted more as a sign of respect than political expedience.[60] Hitler expressed admiration for the Muslim military tradition and directed Himmler to initiate Muslim SS Divisions as a matter of policy. According to Nazi-era Minister of Armaments and War Production Albert Speer, Hitler stated in private, "The Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?"[61] According to Speer, when discussing with Hitler events which might have occurred had Islam absorbed Europe:

"Hitler said that the conquering Arabs, because of their racial inferiority, would in the long run have been unable to contend with the harsher climate and conditions of the country. They could not have kept down the more vigorous natives, so that ultimately not Arabs but Islamized Germans could have stood at the head of this Mohammedan Empire."[61]
Hitler's choice of the Hindu Swastika as the Nazis' main and official symbol, was linked to the belief in the Aryan cultural descent of the German people. They considered the early Aryans of India to be the prototypical white invaders and the sign as a symbol of the Aryan master race.[62][/b]

Thus, regardless of what he hoped for, Nietzsche offered grounds for the reprehensible Nazi ideology of a superior race exercising its will to power as it saw fit.  Hitler was living out what Nietzsche had envisioned, trying to prove himself to be the Übermensch and the precursor of the Master race.  He despised weakness as much as Nietzsche did and wanted to "transvalue" the current social values into something that supported the aggressive instinct.  He wanted to become, as Nietzsche called it, a "lord of the earth."

vedaxcool:

Displaying typical atheist love and kindness in explaining YOUR view, why such fanaticism over a nothingness way of of life? This is the typical crude behavior most atheist on Nl display when addressing issues, First and fore most,  your deliberate break part of my response only showed why your emotional outburst did not address the issue, what i wrote was "Look at Hitler, he got his inspiration from Fredrick Nietzsche who hated religion because it preached concepts such as love and Kindness, this same man rejected all religion"

Save all those crazy talk of emotional outburst to yourself. . . .And who made Fredrick Nietzsche an authority over atheism?. . .Enough of your lies about religion preaching love and kindness. Some religions do preach love and kindness but yours does NOT. The religion that you subscribe to does NOT preach that at all and there evidence the world over for all to see. . . .There are many people that subscribe to your religion the world over  that are killing others as a religious duty and chanting the name of your imaginary God while reading the Koran and getting inspiration from it at the same time advocating violence against others the world over, no?. . . . .

Nazism is clearly an atheistic movement because it is based on social darwnism which was proposed on what Nietzsche, social dawnism  is anti - religious my claim ws that Hitler was influenced by Neitzsche.  and FYI Hitler's dad was a skeptic and from historical evidence Hitler bore strong revulsion to Christianity "Goebbels notes in a diary entry in 1939 a conversation in which Hitler had "expressed his revulsion against Christianity. He wished that the time were ripe for him to be able to openly express that. Christianity had corrupted and infected the entire world of antiquity.". I wish you read and understand instead of insults which only shows what atheism is, ramble and insults.

From wikipedia which talks about religion under Nazism. It states that "The German census of May 1939 indicates that 54 percent of Germans considered themselves Protestant and 40 percent considered themselves Catholic, with only 3.5 percent claiming to be neo-pagan "believers in God," [b]and 1.5 percent unbelievers. [/b]This census came more than six years into the Hitler era"

Nazism is an atheistic movement yet almost all its members during that period who carried out all the evil were self professing Christians. How ironic,only a fraction of the population at that time were atheist, over 98 percent were God believers and they were the ones that did the damage. . Nietzsche ideas and philosophy represent his ideas and philosophy as an individual alone, it doesn't represent the world view of atheist the world over if it did atheist the world over will be promoting his ideas . So what if Hitler dad was a skeptic? Hitler had publicly stated that he was a Christian many times. . . .

Cheap ignorance is what you are displaying, and i am still going to start a thread to show ignorant atheist like you self how peaceful atheism actually is. Thank goodness, there are religious text for all to read, which clearly shows the precedence of love and kindness in religion generally, thank goodness the so called atheist society which you live in was clearly influenced by religious influence. I wonder if atheism is so peaceful, why do we read certain atheist  like Nietzsche begging for violence and promoting wickedness, but trust this will always be overlooked by "objective" atheists.

And the atheist religious text which advocates violence and whom all atheist live by was written by who? The same religious text also teach war and destruction, no? Love and kindness have nothing to do with religion and that is a well known fact, religion does NOT promote love or kindness if it does religious societies will be full of love and kindness but the exact opposite is what holds sway. You don't have to go too far, take a look at northern Nigeria, which is one of the most ethno-religious society in the world and see how the love and kindness of religion has helped the people living there. . . .  Before the present religions were invented people lived in love and kindness, no? I live in a completely atheist society and many people from Muslims countries are running here in large numbers trying to seek a better life and a better future for themselves here. . . .The atheist society I in live in is post religious, and as such many of the slaves of Allah are running away from the middle east and places like Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan where they have had enough of the kind of love and kindness your religion teaches to come here and live much better lives than the one obtainable in the Islamic nations.

I believe anybody reading your response will clearly see how you have failed to answer any question raised, rather you believe in counter accusations as a mean to defending nothingness way of life.  this was the question "this same man rejected all religion and encourage violence as a mean for man achieving his higher state, that is, "Survival of the fittest" nonsense, Due to his propounding of Social Darwinism, this misguided atheist paved the way for the mots violent conflict known in man history, but again trust divinereal, he has no idea of his own except to regurgitate peoples thoughts and pat himself in the back of his suppose "Knowledge" clearly asking how an atheist could produce such evil ideology.

So because one man who happens to be an atheist believed in social Darwinism means all atheist believe in social Darwinism? How absurd. . . . I live in a completely atheist society that has the highest number of gun holders in the world per capita, yet it remains one of the countries with one of the lowest gun crimes or murders in the world. . . .So tell me where is your senseless correlation between social Darwinism, atheism and violence? Again I ask you who made  Fredrick Nietzsche an authority over other atheists and what they believe and why are atheistic societies like the one I live in not violent or living under social Darwinism? When was the last time you personally heard any atheist advocating violence in the name of atheism?. . . .Stop grasping at straws. . . .

Drink cold water and take your time reading and understanding, rather than emotionally crying and then pretending you responded to what was asked, as what I wrote is very clear, Nietzsche provided the ideological frame work for the evils of Nazism. If that elude your objectivity then your nothingness way of life has again failed you. Instead of following people blindly, read and be free from misguidance.

Whatever. . . . Nietzsche provided the ideological frame work for the evils of Nazism as you put it, but it was the Christians with the love and kindness their religion teaches that carried out the evil acts of the atheist right? How absurd. . . .Again, why are atheistic societies like the one I live and many others around me not practicing social Darwinism, if that is what atheism teaches as are you are trying to say? You clearly do not know what you are talking about. . . . .

Chrisbenogor:

Islam Peace Boko haram Al qaeda Taliban 

Find the odd word 

Islam is peace yet  it has two swords as one of its symbols. . . .Islam is peace yet we have many Muslims who get inspiration from the Koran and believe in killing others as a religious duty. . . .I laugh in Arabic

May his days continue to be rough!

What A Life!!!?

Chrisbenogor:

Oga Mazaaje long time oh you still dey bother with these people?
Where sister Jesoul self?
Chei good old days.

I dey ohh brother. . . .Some times you gas engage this deluded people wey no dey ever know wetin dem dey talk. . . .How you side na?. . .Two days. . . .wetin dey pa?. . . .

Lets just observe three possible scenarios in the case of Tai Solarin and the atheists;

1]. if they are right in their concept of God, they will not be rewarded or punished. All their experiences ended within this world, this life. They have gained nothing more than the people who believed God exists except the many hours they didn't use for religiosity. They probably spent all of that arguing against God and religions, anyhow.

2]. if they are wrong in their concept of God, they will definitely not go unpunished except if God Who is now their Reality decides all by Himself to forgive them.

3]. If they are wrong in their concept of God, and God decides to punish anyone who chose the the wrong path to Him and wrong opinion about Him, then the hard time ahead of late atheists is worse than the worst experiences all mankind can have on earth, if all of the experiences are put together as one single experience.

Is this a chance for a sane person to take? the case of Tai Solarin is determined already. What about you mazaje? You are here now. You have not aged and truly became senile by virtue of your age or brain shot down at some unexpectedly young age.

Take advantage of your youth and straighten out yourself and correct your mistakes against God. Seek sincere repentance and definitely there was no atheist in distress condition, like in the battlefield of wars, WWII saying that there is no atheist in the foxholes.

Dear SweetNecta
Can you please google Pascals Wager?
We have past the what is there to loose if you serve God issue around jeez

, and even in an environment with an atheist like Tai, God was stil able 2 raise up a man 2 prove that he is GOD. Read Pastor W.F. Kumuyi's story about his time in Mayflower, his struggle between believing all d philosophy dat had been planted in his head and how God was stil able 2 prove 2 him dat He existed. Only a supreme being can take an indoctrinated man and turn him around.

isquar3d3:

, and even in an environment with an atheist like Tai, God was stil able 2 raise up a man 2 prove that he is GOD. Read Pastor W.F. Kumuyi's story about his time in Mayflower, his struggle between believing all d philosophy dat had been planted in his head and how God was stil able 2 prove 2 him dat He existed. Only a supreme being can take an indoctrinated man and turn him around.

So wait kumuyi was indoctrinated then God "un-indoctrinated" him then he started indoctrinating people

Chrisbenogor:

Dear SweetNecta
Can you please google Pascals Wager?
We have past the what is there to loose if you serve God issue around jeez

nice one.
"If i saw no signs of a divinity, i would fix myself in denial" and
"if reason cannot be trusted, it is a better wager to believe in God than not to do so".
These two quotes got me. All these athiest on here, how many of u can confidently say that since u were born, u'v neva seen any signs of a divinity smwhere, no matter how small. How many?? Also, it is obvious dat NONE of u can say that u'r unmistakably sure(if u r, show me proof) that there's no God. So, if u were 2 wager, wldn't it be sensible 2 place a bet dat there's a God rather than on d believe that there's none? At least then, there's a chance dat u cld hv been right all along?hat there's none? At least then, there's a chance dat u cld hv been right all along?

Dr. Solarin says that "blacks hold onto their God just as the drunken man holds on to the street lamp post--for physical support only." He paints an interesting analogy from a childhood memory. He made a long journey with his mother once, who gave him a "bicycle" to help him finish the journey--which was really just a wheel he had to hit with a stick to keep it going. He says that without the "bicycle" he would never have made the forty mile walk, but upon reflection he realized that he had really carried himself and the bicycle all along. Religion is like that bicycle, Tai says. We only need it when we lack the confidence and determination to face the world alone

Profound!!!

Chrisbenogor:

So wait kumuyi was indoctrinated   then God "un-indoctrinated" him   then he started indoctrinating people  

obviously, i'm nt goin' 2 engage in argument wit any1 here. If u read wat i wrote well, u'd see that wat i'm tryin 2 pass across is dat there is a difference btw indoctrination and comprehension. Tai was asking dem 2 repeat d same words evryday bt God, in his own wisdom was stil able 2 reveal Himself to him thru understanding d merits nd d demerits of wat he'd always recited. If u don't understand wat 'to indoctrinate' means, just ask.

This is a man who supported the USSR and other Socialist regimes. He is no different than a Nazi. It's telling, the people that are supporting him.

So happy 2 have passed thru the school.

On theists and their lies, 

Stop trying to lump Hitler with atheism. You're not talking to your congregations or fellow believers, so all your lies won't be taken as absolute facts.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler listed Martin Luther as one of the greatest reformers. And similar to Luther in the 1500s, Hitler spoke against the Jews. The Nazi plan to create a German Reich Church laid its bases on the "Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther." The first physical violence against the Jews came on November 9-10 on Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) where the Nazis killed Jews, shattered glass windows, and destroyed hundreds of synagogues, just as Luther had proposed. In Daniel Johah Goldhagen's book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, he writes:

"One leading Protestant churchman, Bishop Martin Sasse published a compendium of Martin Luther's antisemitic vitriol shortly after Kristallnacht's SinParty of anti-Jewish violence. In the foreword to the volume, he applauded the burning of the synagogues and the coincidence of the day: 'On November 10, 1938, on Luther's birthday, the synagogues are burning in Germany.' The German people, he urged, ought to heed these words 'of the greatest antisemite of his time, the warner of his people against the Jews.'"

A quick quote from the man who caused the split of Jesus' church, "Did I not tell you earlier that a jew is such a noble, precious jewel that God and all the angels dance when he farts?"
Martin Luther, On Jews and their lies, 1543.

That's Hitler's inspiration. Not Nietzsche.

God is Dead- Nietzsche

He died when logic and reason were applied

Kenezi:

This is a man who supported the USSR and other Socialist regimes. He is no different than a Nazi. It's telling, the people that are supporting him.

Stop telling lies. . . . .Here is what the article says. . ."His humanism had led him to express a fondness for the governments of China and the U.S.S.R., because of their socialist guarantees of free medicine and education for all. But he still upholds the ideals of freedom and democracy".

Martian:

On theists and their lies, 

Stop trying to lump Hitler with atheism. You're not talking to your congregations or fellow believers, so all your lies won't be taken as absolute facts.

In Mein Kampf, Hitler listed Martin Luther as one of the greatest reformers. And similar to Luther in the 1500s, Hitler spoke against the Jews. The Nazi plan to create a German Reich Church laid its bases on the "Spirit of Dr. Martin Luther." The first physical violence against the Jews came on November 9-10 on Kristallnacht (Crystal Night) where the Nazis killed Jews, shattered glass windows, and destroyed hundreds of synagogues, just as Luther had proposed. In Daniel Johah Goldhagen's book, Hitler's Willing Executioners, he writes:

"One leading Protestant churchman, Bishop Martin Sasse published a compendium of Martin Luther's antisemitic vitriol shortly after Kristallnacht's SinParty of anti-Jewish violence. In the foreword to the volume, he applauded the burning of the synagogues and the coincidence of the day: 'On November 10, 1938, on Luther's birthday, the synagogues are burning in Germany.' The German people, he urged, ought to heed these words 'of the greatest antisemite of his time, the warner of his people against the Jews.'"

A quick quote from the man who caused the split of Jesus' church, "Did I not tell you earlier that a jew is such a noble, precious jewel that God and all the angels dance when he farts?"
Martin Luther, On Jews and their lies, 1543.

That's Hitler's inspiration. Not Nietzsche.

God is Dead- Nietzsche

He died when logic and reason were applied

unfortunately a great majority are blissfully unaware of a simple truth and wish to see it through the veil of religion and faith. per chance it begins to crumble and sway to the relentless attrition of knowledge and reason (or even common-sense) - then the devil (as foretold) has swung his evil tail of tribulation and deception across the path of God's prodigal orphans. Religious reason must stubbornly entrench itself; rooted to the fallow soil of old tradition as it sucks out the air of insight from the lungs of the voices that cried out "The Earth is round and is not the center of the universe".

Atheists are equally as stubborn as Theists and you can liken their situation to that of two drunks (high on different spirits of knowledge and awareness) who argue with a lamp-post in the middle of the road   . of what value are your beliefs if it costs humanity more harm than good, more regression that progression, more sadness than happiness. Divinity matters naught if it promises Heaven on Earth but delivers Hell. what matters is what legacy we live to humanity, what knowledge we build for the future of man,s "endless journey".

Kenezi:

This is a man who supported the USSR and other[b] Socialist regimes[/b]. He is no different than a Nazi. It's telling, the people that are supporting him.

Democratic socialism will do a lot of good in Nigeria. Capitalism with progressive taxes and a broad social safety net could transfrom Nigeria. But since God isn't included in the mix, you'll probably reject it.

Nazis killed people because of their ethnicity and religion. When did Tai Solarin do something like that?

lagerwhenindoubt:

unfortunately a great majority are blissfully unaware of a simple truth and wish to see it through the veil of religion and faith. per chance it begins to crumble and sway to the relentless attrition of knowledge and reason (or even common-sense) - then the devil (as foretold) has swung his evil tail of tribulation and deception across the path of God's prodigal orphans. Religious reason must stubbornly entrench itself; rooted to the fallow soil of old tradition as it sucks out the air of insight from the lungs of the voices that cried out "The Earth is round and is not the center of the universe".

Atheists are equally as stubborn as Theists and you can liken their situation to that of two drunks (high on different spirits of knowledge and awareness) who argue with a lamp-post in the middle of the road  . of what value are your beliefs if it costs humanity more harm than good, more regression that progression, more sadness than happiness. Divinity matters naught if it promises Heaven on Earth but delivers Hell. what matters is what legacy we live to humanity, what knowledge we build for the future of man,s "endless journey".

With all due respect, f#ck humanity! Im officially a misanthrope.   at least when it comes to religion and the people who use it to make a hostile world even more violent.

Sweetnecta:

Take advantage of your youth and straighten out yourself and correct your mistakes against God. Seek sincere repentance and definitely there was no atheist in distress condition, like in the battlefield of wars, WWII saying that there is no atheist in the foxholes.

Hey coward, you keep saying there are no atheist in foxholes. You won't know a foxhole even if you fell into it.

He is the most reasonable human being that has ever come out of Nigeria. I don't know what these people are saying about religion shiit! any of them doesn't  know the history of religion yet try to defend it. Africans are really deceived by the doctrines - it hurt to see how people try to make you look when you say you don't believe in a God.

As for me, there is nothing like God the religion tries to portray!