The hajj, one of the largest annual human gatherings in the world, begins on Wednesday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Amid rising temperatures and logistical challenges, the pilgrimage has increasingly become a test of endurance both for pilgrims and the Saudi government.

Millions of Muslims from around the world travel to the city to take part; Saudi Arabia said 1,475,230 pilgrims from abroad have arrived since Sunday. Last year, the Saudi government said more than 1,300 pilgrims died, many from Egypt. Most of those who perished had been unregistered, Saudi officials said, meaning they had made the trip without the permits that gave them access to heat protections.

  • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Sure, but atheists don’t organize together to persecute theists for their beliefs, in many theocracies right now being a non believer is punishable by death, not to mention the homophobia, the sexism, the tolerance for child rape, and many other kinds of abused towards vulnerable people, and other dogmatic nonsense. Religion creates in groups and out groups and twists people into being obedient fools who will do anything to stay part of the in group and guarantee their ticket to their so called heaven, I’d rather people learn to think for themselves and have the strength to live on their own, rather than becoming slaves to someone else’s ideology

    • pikl@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      Apparently they do it online. Every single time something religious is even hinted at, or somebody does something in line with religious beliefs, or even if somebody posts a picture of someone that moderately resembles a religious figure… Send in the atheists to proclaim their denial en mass. It’s just as pathetic and annoying as the goat herder yelling about his sky god.

    • Saleh@feddit.org
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      3 days ago

      Sure, but atheists don’t organize together to persecute theists for their beliefs,

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stalinist_repressions_in_Mongolia

      Estimates differ, but anywhere between 20,000 and 35,000 “enemies of the revolution” were executed, a figure representing three to five percent of Mongolia’s total population at the time.[2] Victims included those accused of espousing Tibetan Buddhism, pan-Mongolist nationalism, and pro-Japanese sentiment. Buddhist clergy, aristocrats, intelligentsia, political dissidents, and ethnic Buryats were particularly impacted.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_Christians_in_the_Soviet_Union

      Soviet Marxist-Leninist policy consistently advocated the control, suppression, and ultimately, the elimination of religious beliefs, and it actively encouraged the propagation of Marxist-Leninist atheism in the Soviet Union.[2] However, most religions were never officially outlawed.[1]

      The state established atheism as the only scientific truth.[14][15][16][17] Soviet authorities forbade the criticism of atheism and agnosticism until 1936 or of the state’s anti-religious policies; such criticism could lead to forced retirement.[18][19][20]

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        You should be able to understand that a totalitarian dictator attacking religion as a competing institution, in order to consolidate his power, says more about totalitarian dictators and absolutely nothing about atheists.

      • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Of course more dumb what about isms, you think I can’t Google religious atrocities and find dozens and dozens of more links, and as I already explained to the other guy, if you pay even a fraction of attention to your own links, these are autocratic political organizations persecuting religions so as to eliminate any competition over control of the masses. Notice how in all of these examples it’s political organizations doing these things, where as for religion even the avg Joe turns into an asshole so as to not get ostracized by his little tribe of good for nothings

        • Saleh@feddit.org
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          3 days ago

          Did it cross your mind that where persecutions were done “in the name of religion”, religion was instrumentalized by autocratic political organizations for their political goals?

          By the way, did you think that you are not on the track to get people persecuted, when you dehumanize people based on the fact that they are religious? You know, the broad generalizations and consistent insults?

          Thats how genocidial regimes start, when they want to annihilate the people they hate a decade or two down the line.

    • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      You might want to crack open a history book focusing on any of the attempts at socialism or communism in Asia. You will find many atheists persecuting theists.

      There aren’t many theocratic states remaining.

      Everything creates in groups and out groups, nothing does this better than leftism.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        The church has been a political power throughout history, and has often come into conflict with other political powers, such as totalitarian dictators. It is utterly disingenuous to claim that this has anything to do with atheists. It’s about the state eliminating the church and their message as a competing institution and influence.

        • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          You need to crack open a book desperately if that’s your current perspective because Im not talking about churches. You absolutely have bigoted atheists, who murder theists. China loves murdering religious folk.

          There are tons of atheists who are bigots.

          • scarabic@lemmy.world
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            2 days ago

            You gonna keep using that “crack a book” line repeatedly without citing any references? It’s getting tired.

              • scarabic@lemmy.world
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                1 day ago

                I’m saying that references are more convincing than the condescending exhortation to “go read a book.” I’m also saying that if you persist in flogging people with the claim that you’ve read more than them, it won’t be long before you’re asked to show one bit of evidence for that. You can’t just run around saying “you’re wrong! I’ve read books that say so!”

      • DragonSidedD@lemmy.ml
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        3 days ago

        “Atheists” who make themselves, or the State, a swap-in replacement for God(s) are not much different from purely religious authorities who abuse their positions. It is apparently a common kind of power-seeking Dark Trait.

        The Leviathan theory of the state – the Motherland who is greater than us, who we would die for as cells die to preserve the body, and whose Exegeses come from the Great Leader/Supreme Council/President for Life.

        It’s exactly the same play on faith and credulity and servility that religions use.

        • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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          3 days ago

          It’s almost as if there is a factual history of atheists murdering theists and that the claim I replied to is wrong about that very well known historical fact.

      • BackgrndNoize@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Religion is just a means of controlling the idiot masses like yourself, those political parties that clamp down on religion aren’t doing it because they are atheist but because they don’t want any competition when it comes to controlling people, and morons like you who think of the world in binary terms like left and right fall for this stupid shit. As I said before read more than one book in your life and form your own opinions for once, stop assimilating the views of the people around you like a good little sheep, stop worrying so much about being discarded by your flock, this isn’t the dark ages, you won’t die from starvation on your own

        • QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works
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          3 days ago

          Considering that you are two comments in and you have already made a series of factual errors AND I have said Im an atheist I don’t think you are qualified to determine who is less intelligent than average.

          You also need remedial English lessons because oof.