Who's the most overrated historical figure?

At my above post, dunno where I got the idea he was anti-nukes from hehe. He wasn't all that great no, not MASSIVELY overrated, did do a lot to save the world from fascism, but he was pretty colonial ect. I'd rate Tony Benn higher as a British politician, brilliant man.

 

Celebrating Columbus Day is sooooo ethnocentric.. There were already people here, he definately wasnt the first..

 

Jebus

 

I said FDR because he completely crossed the line over which no President should cross (circumventing the constitution).

 

Ever heard of how John Lennon,JFK,RFK,MLK died?

Even if Jesus was not a real person, the IDEA of him should be something positive for everyone (outside of organized religion, which I agree takes away from what Jesus SHOULD be about). You're attitude suggests you don't understand the idea of Jesus.

 

I hope you're not comparing jesus to those figures, Jesus wasn't sniped or assassinated. he supposedly willingly gave himself up.

i grew up catholic, read the ridiculously skewed st.james bible, and have even attended other christian churches like baptist and lutheran, and you're telling me I don't understand the idea of Jesus? lol

the ideas of jesus were not original, I know this, and apparently, so do many others. he's more overrated than any celebrity or politician, by a very wide margin. his mythical story is nice and all, but so is any other children's bedtime story, and I don't see anybody praying to Mary Poppins.

 

what, Bush didn't?

do you know your history? the economy at the time was a complete wreck, so he implimented the New Deal, and much of the legislation protected workers from previously hazardous conditions. sure, he wasn't the greatest, but the previous administrations had put the nation into a deeper rut, and didn't know how to fix the problem. FDR initiated an economic comeback, though arguably, WWII is what really got the US back on its feet.

at least FDR tried to do something real. he's not exactly revered throughout the superstitious world like a certain storybook character

 

A band of Seminoles has recently returned from an astounding voyage. They've discovered a new continent, previously unknown. India, they're calling it, although the natives call their land 'Spain'.

At this very minute warships full of Seminole warriors and preachers are on their way to the new continent to find gold and convert the Indians to the Seminole faith. Rumours that the warriors are really going there to rape, take slaves, and plunder are completely unfounded, Seminole officals say.

 

Jesus

 

I suppose your right. Unfortunately I chose Jesus for that reason without even looking at the other choices. I definitely should have chosen Columbus for obvious reasons. And then Bell because of the well known fact that he did NOT invent the telephone, he just beat somone else to the patent office.

And for the record, I don't think Hitler is overrated at all.

 

No, you don't understand the idea of Jesus directly because of being corrupted by organized religion. That part of my point. Btw, I highly recommend reading 'The Probability of God', the book atheists don't want you to read.

 

I don't know where you got the idea that I don't think Bush crossed the same line. Of course he did. I'm saying FDR is over-praised for getting the US out of the depression at a greater cost for future generations. Perhaps the real blame rests with subsequent presidents who didn't abolish the FDR bureaucracy.

 

I agree it seems cool to say Jesus is overrated. You need to motivate a choice like that. I think the ones who post a name here without the motivation why they think so can be ignored really.

Well, that's your idea of a rebel. And your idea of Jesus too. It isn't even a fact he was a rebel.

 

nuttbaked, I understand that he was perhaps a prophet..nothing more. so the guy was humble, and preached love..big deal, so did mithra, buddha, krishna, mohammed..the list goes on and on. like I said, jesus' story isn't even original http://www.carm.org/evidence/mithra.htm
but an atheist I am not.. the 'higher power' is kind of hard to ignore when your mind is even a slight bit open to the possibility. I just don't believe that higher power was ever in the form of a person or animal.

I like this message board a lot, because there are so many good minds in here, ones who don't buy into superstitious rhetoric like dimwitted religious zealots who lead hypocritical lives. many of the latter people are ridiculous, they think the world's resources are at man's disposal, and don't even consider that we share the planet with all the other creatures in symbiosis.
instead, the wonderful board members who post here appreciate the glorious beauty of nature and accept it as the creation of a higher power that words can't even fully describe...something bible-thumpers will never understand.

 

Mohammed wasn't overly peaceful, he led troops into bloody battles. The others were though.

 

That's cool, and I agree, at least about the importance of acknowledging the awesomeness of the universe OUTSIDE of defined terms. But I just like to think that a higher power did manifest itself in human form as a means of acknowledging life-forms with intellect and consciousness, i.e. humans (you know what I mean?).

 

God.

 

yep, I know what you mean.

I just had to throw this one in, good for a few ha-has https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeSSwKffj9o

(i don't necessarily agree with him in the existence of god department, but certainly about religion. amusing, though)

 

You are 100% correct!!! That is why i voted for FDR in the poll.

 

interesting how many people voted for Reagan. he was a puppet (well, all presidents are really), his alzheimer's disease had probably surfaced during his terms, making him easier to manipulate.
and FDR? lol he did what Hoover and Harding couldn't do: stuck it to corporations to accomodate the people. like I said, he didn't exactly get us out of depression, but he actually did something (successful) to initiate it.

I assume the most overrated person in history isn't a regional figure (not limited to the US), but one with worldwide influence thoughout ALL of history, thus why the appropriate person is leading the poll. I wouldn't exactly say FDR was such a person. for instance, people in uruguay probably didn't give a crap about him.