what exactly is the correlation between atheism & communism?

Question

i keep seeing christians claim that atheism is basiclaly communism. im quite interested to hear HOW exactly atheism can be compared to communism. communism says to put the state and its needs before you or a god. atheism has no needs and doesent ask anything of anyone.

so what exactly is the comparison?

great answers so far, thanks guys.

Answer 1

Communism sought to destroy the hope of the masses, making them more pliable. People without hope are generally apathetic. Religion gives people hope, and the communists do not want people to have hope they want them utterly dependent on the government (sounds familiar) leaving a handful with power and everyone else despondent. Communist deny God as a means to maintain power, atheists on the other hand deny God for more philosophical reasons. In the end it make no difference God believes in you and loves you anyway in spite of politics or philosphy.

Answer 2

Atheism is the belief that there is no God. Communism is the belief that fairness and equity are best accomplished when the government owns and controls everything. Inherently the two are not related.

They may have become confused because the former Soviet Union was basically an atheist state. But that does not mean that a communist country also has to be an atheist state, nor does it mean that an atheist is inherently a communist.

Anybody, Christian or not, who says atheism is basically communism doesn't know what they are talking about.

Answer 3

i do not deny the correlation between Communism and atheism. I do deny the correlation between atheism and Communism. All Communists will be atheists, yet no longer all atheists are Communists, a twin of all Floridians are people yet no longer each person are Floridians. and that is not any longer even moving into the very undeniable actuality that atheism predates Communism through a minimum of a few thousand years. There are too many examples of non-Communist atheists to really provide any credence to the concept that there is unavoidably something sinister and totalitarian about atheism, that's the position this line of argument unavoidably is going, both implicitly or explicitly. If one needs to sentence the moves of Communist regimes, bypass ahead through all skill; yet all too usually it really is purely a segue way into laying blame and responsibility for Communist atrocities on the ft of atheists who are not Communists, that's both deceitful and absurd.

Answer 4

Atheism is not basically communism. Communism does have an aspect of atheism in it, mostly because of Marx's infamous "religion is the opiate of the masses" quote. Communist countries, in turn, encourage atheism because they don't want people to value anything above the state or their dedication to the Communist party. I think the general attitude is that a dedication to god will just get in the way of the glorious worker's paradise (which of course turned out to be not so glamorous or so much paradise, but you know, details...)

Atheists as individuals support all types of governments, depending on persona preference.

Answer 5

Communism (of the Soviet Union specifically) was a form of government opposed to religion in any form (therefore an advocate of atheism). You were not allowed to practice or preach it, though it continued anyway. It was yet another form of oppression used to run a dictatorship and to rule with an iron fist.

An atheist typically is a member of the religions of Naturalism/Darwinism(Evolution) and Materialism(Money) more so the second for most worship the almighty dollar.

Answer 6

Well, the Chinese are run by an Athiest and Communist government.But there is no correlation.Communism is a political ideology that seeks to establish a future classless, stateless social organization based upon common ownership of the means of production. It can be classified as a branch of the broader socialist movement. Communism also refers to a variety of political movements which claim the establishment of such a social organization as their ultimate goal.

Where as Atheism is in its broadest sense, is the absence of theism (the belief in the existence of deities). This encompasses both people who assert that there are no gods, and those who make no claim about whether gods exist or not. Narrower definitions of atheism, however, typically only label people who affirmatively assert the nonexistence of gods as atheists, classifying other nonbelievers as agnostics or simply non-theists.

So, the two are not mutual.But they can be used together.Just like ice cream and root beer.

Answer 7

There is a slight correlation. Some communist countries have declared war on religion. That is terribly wrong, but you can't blame that on atheism. There have been a lot more crimes against mankind perpetrated in the name of religion than against it. I don't blame the Baptist next door for the Crusades, the Holocost or the child-molesting David Coresh so I don't think that he should blame me for the religious oppression that took place in the USSR or China.

Answer 8

They say that because Karl Marx wrote in the Communist Manifesto that "religion is the opiate of the masses" and that human nature is determined by the means of production. Communist states like China and the former Soviet Union outlawed religion. However history shows that outlawing religion did nothing to improve people's lives at all, even though religion is sometimes used as an excuse for things like going to war, which is actually against the teachings of all the major world religions.

Answer 9

The two are not necessarily the same. But Karl Marx, the person who started communism, wrote against religion and called it the opium of masses. In most communist regimes, religion is prohibited or controlled by the state. So that is where the connection comes in.

Answer 10

mmm i dont think atheism and communism have anything to do with each other. athiesm is where u dont believe in a god or anything. communism is a classess society where all aspects of life are taken away and controlled by the dictator and u have to put the state first. so u have be like nationalistic and stuf. that christian who said that to u doesnt know anything. he probably misunderstood stuf. lsadkfjlakjdslcvmsdlkfjlsdkajflkdsj that stupd guy

Answer 11

There is no correlation. Atheism is a lack of religious belief. Communism is a social and economic concept.

Tell that to the Christians.

Please capitalize next time. Only Communists always use lower case.