I have read nothing of Marx or Engels that leads me to believe they wouldn't use force to abolish religion, that seemed pretty self evident in their remarks on the subject.
The purpose of our government was to protect our individual rights from everyone else, be it other individuals, groups and even government. You see governments protection of our individual rights as government exerting control over the population but I see your Communist government exerting control to deny individuals their rights by enslaving them to the will of the majority.
You need to read up on your Marx. The concept of transitioning to Utopian Socialism was predicated on building a massive authoritarian state that would have the power to abolish such things as private property and religion, once that goal was accomplished, they were then supposed to begin dismantling the state aparatus... in that, Lenin and Stalin were doing precisely what Marx had called for. So you're complaint should be that they didn't take the necessary final steps to implement utopian socialism.
Its good to hear you're coming around and recognizing the existence of individual rights.
They were all communists, what they were not is utopian socialists, a concept which you seem to confuse with communism.
That is a glittering jewel of collasal ignorance.
You have already said that you and your buddies practice communism... so exactly how are people who choose not to participate with your collectivist activities preventing you from exercising communism?
Negative rights bar action from being taken against the right. The right to free speech is a negative right, it bars other people and even government from infringing on your right.
Positive "rights", like Health Care, impose obligations on others. If you have a "right" to health care, then someone is obligated to provide you with health care, which violates the individual rights of the provider.
You're the communist... you want to take property from other people, property you didn't earn and don't deserve. Those who own property have a right to do with it as they please, that includes giving it away, even to snot-nosed brats that don't deserve it.
If I could get some help from the peanut gallery on this one... Could one of my religious friends please chime in as to whether or not you chose, by your own free will and by rational decision, to believe in your religion? Where you in any way forced, or otherwise "brainwashed", into following your religion?
You can do which... argue against the law of identity or stop me from exercising free speech without the use of force?
Glad to help.
If we take things like talent, skill, education and all the other requisites out of the equation and simply asked people whether they would prefer to be a pro-athlete or a concession stand worker, I can't imagine more than 5% choosing the consession stand.
