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THE CRIMES AND EVILS OF MILITANT ATHEISM

     Atheists are quick to point out that throughout history large numbers of people were killed in the name of Religion; but they fail to mention the countless millions who were killed by leaders who worshipped themselves or by militant atheist-Communists who were driven by a hatred for God and Religion.

"The Black Book of Communism: Crimes, Terror, Repression, published by Harvard University Press, is the work of eleven scholars that ignited a continental firestorm when it first hit bookstores in France in 1997. The authors estimate the century's death toll at the hands of Communist governments (excluding wars) at 100 million people. Country by country, deaths by the state in China stand at 65 million, in the USSR 20 million, Vietnam 1 million, North Korea 2 million, Cambodia 2 million, Eastern Europe 1 million, Latin America 150,000, Africa 1.7 million, and Afghanistan 1.5 million. Additionally, the international Communist movement murdered about 10,000 people throughout the world." (Author's emphasis).

Daniel J Flynn, "Ideas Have Consequences... Like Murder, Tyranny, and Repression," Accuracy in Academia, <http://www.academia.org/campus_reports/2000/March_2000_4.html> (9 July, 2008).

WAS ATHEISM IN PART RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CRIMES OF COMMUNISM?

     A major atheist (Richard Dawkins, I believe) was interviewed not long ago on a national station. During the interview, he was  asked to justify the evils perpetrated on tens of millions by the atheist leader, Stalin. The atheist’s response was that the connection between Stalin’s atheism and his great crimes is unfounded. Stalin, he said, had mustaches; could you not use the same logic, he added,  and conclude that he killed people because he had mustaches?

    The atheist’s response is foolish to such a magnitude that it is not really deserving deserving of an answer. Nonetheless, for the sake of fairness, we will endeavor to assess his objection.

    Was the philosophy of atheism espoused by communists responsible for the mass murders perpetrated by communist leaders such as Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot and Ceausescu? Let's look at some enlightening facts that militant atheists prefer not to acknowledge.

 1. Communists leaders were motivated by a strong desire to impose an ideological "package" over the whole world. The package included the eradication of Religion, defined by arch-atheist, Karl Marx, as “The opium of the people.” According to Marx, religion helped keep the masses passive before the abuse of the wealthy and powerful, and the only way to free them from the “stupor," God and religion had to be eradicated.  Lenin embraced Marx's views and so did Stalin up to the Second World war. The enforcement of Atheism was a “critical” requirement for Communism’s success, and thus it had to be implemented at all costs. This meant oppressive measures, such as brainwashing in state schools, the closing of houses of worship and arresting countless religious leaders. (For an enlightening discussion of Atheistic-Communism's persecution of the Christian church see the article, Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union.)

 2.  Karl Marx’s extremist followers were not in any way impeded in their blood-thirsty global quest by fear of a Higher Power. Atheism took very efficient care of this “limiting factor.” Since the end justified the means, as Machiavelli had instructed, they could do whatever was necessary to bring about a workers’ paradise. Because the opposition in some cases proved to be powerful and resilient, drastic means were used. Large numbers were killed for refusing to abandon their religious beliefs. A great many were sent to concentration camps. (For an enlightening, "first-hand" account of suppression of Religion and other "enemies" of Atheistic-Communism in Russia, please read, The Gulag Archipelago, by Alexander Solzhenitsyn -- especially Chapter 2.)

 3.  Communist-atheist leaders, in their own eyes, became supreme, all-knowing, all-wise and all powerful "gods." They had total control over people’s lives and over who lived and who died. Being "gods," they asserted their evil schemes over the masses with brutality and mercilessness.

 4.  People like Stalin were interested in propagating an ideology, not a look. Nobody was persecuted in the Soviet Union for not having a mustache like Stalin, or for not wearing a uniform similar to his, or for not liking the same food, music or sports. Large numbers were persecuted and killed for practicing religion, and for being interferences to atheist-communist expansion. Now some would  retort that Stalin had a change of heart during the Second World war and that he recognized and elevated anew the Russian Orthodox Church. This is a historically correct statement, but in no way does it indicate that Stalin moved toward theism. The move was strictly utilitarian.  Steven Merritt Miner in his work Stalin's Holy War informs us that Stalin had ulterior motives behind the move.

"Moscow's religious policy at this time can only be understood in the context of Soviet security considerations, especially Moscow's concerns about the disaffection of non-Russian nationalities. The Kremlin saw the church not only, and perhaps not even primarily, as a tool for mobilizing and harnessing Russian nationalism throughout the union, but rather as one of several instruments for countering and disarming non-Russian, and anti-Soviet, nationalism. As most tsars could have told Stalin, the Russian Orthodox Church was an effective agent for the Russification of the ethnically diverse and contentious western regions." [1]

     This move, though "seemingly" noble, did not neutralize or excuse his heinous actions toward countless Christians and Muslims who were killed so as to facilitate the spread of  Stalin's atheistic-communistic ideology. 

     Militant atheism, therefore, was a major factor in the murder of countless millions, during the past century. Unfortunately, militant atheism, is still driven by some of the same extremist views reminiscent of atheist-communist regimes of old. They, like their predecessors, do not hesitate to admit that they hate God, religion and that they would like to see both disappear forever. Furthermore, they are driven by a hatred for the unborn, and a blind support for common-law living, sexual immorality, euthanasia, etc.

     The understandable concern of many is that a propagation of their philosophy of meaninglessness and their blind allegiance to atheistic evolution would lead, in the long run,  to a return to a cold-hearted and dangerous devaluing of the weak and the needy in society; though they "assure" us that that is not part of their agenda. We believe that their cold-heartiness toward millions of unborn babies, and their total support of euthanasia indicates otherwise.

     Theist author, Dinesh D'Souza, eloquently expresses similar concerns  in the following quote:

     The crimes of atheism have generally been perpetrated through a hubristic ideology that sees man, not God, as the creator of values. Using the latest techniques of science and technology, man seeks to displace God and create a secular utopia here on earth. Of course if some people - the Jews, the landowners, the unfit, or the handicapped - have to be eliminated in order to achieve this utopia, this is a price the atheist tyrants and their apologists have shown themselves quite willing to pay. Thus they confirm the truth of Fyodor Dostoyevsky's dictum, "If God is not, everything is permitted. [2]

     That is the kind of world we must strive to prevent. That is the kind of world this site, and many others like it, are determined to combat.

___________

[1] Merritt Miner, Steven, Stalin's Holy War. The university of North Carolina Press, 2002. <http://uncpress.unc.edu/browse/page/542> (23 October, 2009).

[2] D’Souza, Dinesh, “Atheism, Not Religion is the Real Force Behind the Mass Murders of History.” The Christian Science Monitor. (November 21, 2006 edition). < http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1121/p09s01-coop.html> (9 July, 2008).

RELATED QUOTES

"Soviet policy toward religion was based on the ideology of Marxism-Leninism, which made atheism the official doctrine of the Communist Party, though, in theory, each successive Soviet constitution granted freedom of belief. As the founder of the Soviet state V. I. Lenin put it:

Religion is the opium of the people: this saying of Marx is the cornerstone of the entire ideology of Marxism about religion. All modern religions and churches, all and of every kind of religious organizations are always considered by Marxism as the organs of bourgeois reaction, used for the protection of the exploitation and the stupefaction of the working class. (Lenin, V. I.. "About the attitude of the working party toward the religion.". Collected works, v. 17, p.41. <http://www.psylib.ukrweb.net/books/maenl01/txt17.> Retrieved on 2006-09-09. 

Marxism-Leninism has consistently advocated for the suppression, and, ultimately, the disappearance of religious beliefs, due to their unscientific and superstitious character. In the 1920s and 1930s, such organizations as the League of the Militant Godless were active in anti-religious propaganda. Atheism was the norm in schools, communist organizations (such as the Young Pioneer Organization), and the media."

Religion in the Soviet Union, Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_the_Soviet_Union#cite_note-5> (23 October, 2009).

"Sadly, the specter of Communism still haunts the world. In Russia, one-third of the people believe that Stalin "did more good than bad for the country," according to a recent poll. In China, thousands of dissidents are imprisoned in the slave labor camps known as the laogai. In North Korea, masses starve as the leadership threatens to unleash nuclear war. In Cuba, dissidents are routinely imprisoned for peacefully petitioning for democratic reform."

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation,. <http://www.victimsofcommunism.org/history_communism.php> (5 Jan., 2007).

"Whatever the motives for atheist bloodthirstiness, the indisputable fact is that all the religions of the world put together have in 2,000 years not managed to kill as many people as have been killed in the name of atheism in the past few decades.

It's time to abandon the mindlessly repeated mantra that religious belief has been the greatest source of human conflict and violence. Atheism, not religion, is the real force behind the mass murders of history.”

 D’Souza, Dinesh, “Atheism, Not Religion is the Real Force Behind the Mass Murders of History.” The Christian Science Monitor. (November 21, 2006 edition). < http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1121/p09s01-coop.html> (9 July, 2008).

For an in-depth analysis of atheistic-communist casualties in China, visit the following site:

<http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/warstat1.htm> (3 July, 2008).

RELATED WEB SITES

Atheism Conservapedia

Atheism - CreationWiki

Society of the Godless

Culture of the Soviet Union

Religion in Russia

Religion in China

Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union