People killed in the name of atheism

[victormarte]

I'm atheist and I'm always looking for arguments against it and exploring answers. However, I can't find a response to this.

Often, I hear most atheists say "People kill in the name of religion, people never kill in the name of atheism."

But then I heard about the soviet union and it's move to end all religion and establish only atheism, which led to deaths to many religious folks.


What say you, my fellow atheists and theists?

 

[Zatoichi]

One example vs countless does not make an equivalency.

I think most of us atheists are not at all interested in forcing anyone not to believe... can't do that anyway, rather we are quite happy to let religion die on it's own. The Soviets obviously took a very bad approach. And I think that had less to do with pushing atheism as much as it was about eliminating social power structures capable of competing with the government for the influence of the population.

Education is all it really takes. Inform people with facts and teach critical thinking and the problem will eventually solve itself.

[Johan]

What difference does it make?

[GurrenLagann]

The Soviets are really the only example. To quote Hitchens jokingly referring to it:

Well, considering for the entirety of recorded history, the Monopoly on genocide, torture, slavery, racism, genital  mutilation and misogyny had fallen totally in the hands of the religious, I suppose some of my fellow unbelievers thought they'd give it a try.

But yesl the Soviet Union did horrible shit and was headed by atheists. However, you could borrow from Freud and Hitchens to respond.

The Soviet Union leadership became as fanatical and stupid as out of control religious instititutions and even made the same mistakes. The conditions that allow for the religious mentality to take hold and the sorts of belief that follow are very much analogous:

-They had a Great Leader from whom all blessing flowed

-Their were hersy hunts

-They were willing to kill over matters of belief

-They produced false miracles, case and point Lysenko's Biology


But really, just admit that the SU was shit and those atheists that ran it were too. Unlike say a Christian, an atheist isn't committed to saying that Atheist X is somehow important to atheism because they're infallible or some such nonsense, which a Christian must believe about God and Jesus, hence God commanding patently evil acts is a deadly argument to them.

[billhilly]

The soviet union killed in the name of the state, not atheism.

[Thumpalumpacus]

Billhilly got there first.

China's "Cultural Revolution" is often counted against atheists as well, as is Pol Pot's regime, but those too were examples of a government using terror as a tool of control -- not an attempt to eliminate people because of their faith.

[Minimalist]

I don't blame the Russians for striking back at the orthodox church.  For centuries it was a prop for the monarchy.  As in France, where the church joined the aristocracy to oppress the population, it is amazing that the reaction against the religious fuckers was not more severe than it was.

[GurrenLagann]

I'm going to have to disagree with some of you, or question whether you apply that same attitude toward some apparently religiously motivated violence in history. The Soviets were very much motivated to violence against religion/the religious specifically. Were there historical, cultural explanations/justifications? Sure. But if you take that route in a conversation with some theist, then you really can't much justify using historical examples of apparently religious violence without also applying the same principle.

[NitzWalsh]

Atheism doesn't lead to any sort of violence. It is not a cause for mass murder or genocide in the Soviet Union. Atheism is simply a lack of belief in a god or gods. If there is murder or genocidal acts committed by people who claim to be atheist, it is not because they are atheist, it is because of other philosophical outlooks they hold. Religion on the other had has these "holy" books which condone and even command violence, murder, slavery, rape, etc.

[Bibliofagus]

What say you, my fellow atheists and theists?

 

I say I'm no fucking communist.

[Fidel_Castronaut]

I'm atheist and I'm always looking for arguments against it and exploring answers. However, I can't find a response to this.

Often, I hear most atheists say "People kill in the name of religion, people never kill in the name of atheism."

But then I heard about the soviet union and it's move to end all religion and establish only atheism, which led to deaths to many religious folks.


What say you, my fellow atheists and theists?

 

Where in the book of atheism does it say we should kill in the name of atheism?  

[Brian37]

I'm atheist and I'm always looking for arguments against it and exploring answers. However, I can't find a response to this.

Often, I hear most atheists say "People kill in the name of religion, people never kill in the name of atheism."

But then I heard about the soviet union and it's move to end all religion and establish only atheism, which led to deaths to many religious folks.


What say you, my fellow atheists and theists?

 

Do you think you are the first to hear and or use this argument?

First off Stalin, long before he became a dictator was a theologian. So he had been educated in the same manor as to the God character's demand of blind loyalty. But even as such if one wants to claim the Soviet Union was "atheist", the crime to the state was not religion, religion NEVER left Russia during his rule. The crime was ANY dissent to the worship of the state. The Soviet Union had the same mentality of worship, instead of a god you had to worship the state.

But like I said, religion never left. When the Soviet Union fell the churches popped right back up. It wasn't that the citizens were not religious, it was that the state did not allow for any type of POLITICAL OR BUSINESS OR PRIVATE CITIZEN OR RELIGIOUS dissent. The crime was not religion, the crime was dissent.

[pr126]

Maybe it would help if you looked up the term Cult of Personality.

[WitchSabrina]

Feb 17, 1600 -  one of the first atheists burned at the stake for heresy.

http://philosopedia.org/index.php/Giordano_Bruno

[Brian37]

Maybe it would help if you looked up the term Cult of Personality.

Funny you should mention that phrase. "Cult Of Personality". People hail Hendrix, and he was a great guitarist and showman. BUT, the band "Living Colour" of the early 90s, to me kicked much more ass, but never got the fame it deserved. One of their songs was titled "Cult of Personality" and between Hendrix and guitarist Vernon Reid of Living Colour Vernon smokes Hendrix. It may be blasphemy to rock fans, but I don't give a fuck. Vernon Reid to me is much more talented.