Ok, you don't know what causality is. I wasn't incorrectly spelling "casualty".
Causality is (according to our good friends at Merriam-Webster) " The principle of or relationship between cause and effect." The way in which that relates to your statement is stated clearly in the old stats 101 saw, "Correlation can never show causality".
In other words, that the communist regime in Soviet Russia killed many of it's citizens and was atheistic at the same time is worthless in making determinations about the effects of atheism. Both things existed together, which is a correalation. Such a correalation does not provide any evidence that one correalated factor is the cause of the other.
Your other point is similarly flawed. That America was Christian during it's rise as a world power is not informative as to the effects of Christianity on a nation. It does not show that being Christian is the cause of a rise in temporal power and wealth, or any other qualities. Maybe something else was the cause.
I could make a similar claim. It is a fact (I can provide references upon request) that church attendance increased steadily from 1970 to 1986. It is also a fact that the per capita rates of murder, rape and cocaine trafficking arrests increased steadily during this period. There is a correaltion betwen the two... they are both rising at the same time. Would I therefore have evidence for the claim that attending church causes murder, rape and cocaine trafficking? No, I wouldn't, because correlation does not show causation, just like in your claims.
Your claims could be true. I am pretty sure they aren't, but they still could be. You just haven't provided any supporting evidence at all.
This message has been edited by mikehager, 03-16-2006 11:43 PM
™ Version 4.2