Should the atrocities of atheistic communism (e.g. Stalin, Mao) be necessarily linked to atheism?

Question

If so, why? If not, why?

Note: Stalin was responsible for 20-30 million deaths. Mao, 60-70 million.

Fiveshift, by redirecting the question towards religions, keep in mind that death count of Stalin and Mao is larger than found in all religious wars in history combined. Also keep in mind that it seems like you are implicitly acknowledging a corrolation between atheism and these deaths.

Answer 1

Freedom of religion, or the lack thereof, is what atheists value. Restricting that freedom, as these two did, is the same as what the theocrats do here and in the Middle East. Although religion was a minor point on their list of objectives, regardless, they do not represent the atheist agenda.

I've never met an atheist, for example, that was against people worshipping a god. We laugh at them, sure. We think they're foolish. But we're not against them doing it. The only thing atheists have a problem with is when those people attempt to make their religion into law.

This is similar to what Stalin did, and although his intentions were honorable enough, in my opinion, his methods were highly questionable.

Answer 2

First off, I'm not an atheist.

The obvious implication behind your question is woefully faulted. The numbers are meaningless when doing a historical comparison. You're not taking into account population growth or atrocities committed "per capita". Coupled with the simple fact that the latter half of your contention (in regards to the "death count") is baseless, your numbers scheme is rendered impotent.

Now that we've got that figured out I've a real (not rhetorical) question for you: How many qualified historians (qualified being the key word) believe atheist leaders have committed more separate atrocities than theist leaders? How many do not?

This would be a sensible question. I'll bet my big left toe that those pointing to the atheist would be in the very lonely minority.

Answer 3

No more so than all Christians should be linked to the Crusades, Inquisition and the genocide practiced by the early explorers of the New World. Less, in fact....atheism isn't exactly a cohesive community, unlike organized religion. Just like with the past atrocities of Christianity, many people who profess atheism today weren't even alive when these events happened and regret that they did.

Answer 4

No, because killing people is not a characteristic of atheism. Atheism is the stance of not believing in god, it doesn't ensue that atheists are cruel. In fact they're not, most are humanists and kind, respectful people.
Many religious countries/civilizations have also committed atrocities for centuries, and continue to do so.
So...

In regards to your edit that Mao and Stalin's death count is larger than all others combined, may I remind you their countries were also the most populated. The greater the population, the greater the opposition, the greater the oppression.

Answer 5

The deaths were, or were not based on the religion of the deceased? I guess I am missing some mechanism here to link the govenment to the deaths. If I am right, many Russians died due to starvation and during the war, which has nothing to do with religion, unless you count Hitler's Christianity in the mix.

Answer 6

While people's religion or lack of religion absolutely can affect their decisions, it is not logically correct to assume all their decisions are so affected. It is sometimes opposite: people's goals or fears or needs help them form their religious beliefs.

So the question is not simple,but since it is generally incorrect to try to generalize the behavior of a few, I would asnwer "no".

Answer 7

you be responsive to, there's a clarification why this form of questions are posed on internetfora including those and not in books or articles printed by making use of teachers. It shows which you haven't any longer have been given any theory approximately how Stalin or Mao worked. that's for me, as a historic previous student, incredibly ordinary to coach you incorrect. that's actual that the two favorite faith to be destroyed and that God grew to become into forgotten, they whether did no longer pass away a void, they crammed it in with their own cult. Stalin and Mao needed to kill God by way of fact he grew to become into opposition to the cultus they build around themselves. The statues of the large names of Communism, and Stalin and Mao had to be erected everywhere and worshipped on a regular basis, purely like nonetheless is occurring in North Korea. Stalin and Mao killed purely approximately everybody who disagreed with them or stood interior the way of a few venture. No non secular theory? They asked for timeless love and loyalty from their subjects interior the comparable way God asks for it, yet the place God gives you paradise, they presented hell and concern to maintain you in examine. So, atheism. Having already concluded that those tyrants had a cult of their own with themselves as God on the earth, that they have a undeniable form of atheism by making use of refusing God and changing Him with themselves. they might even have believed it. that is no longer the atheism the atheists in this dialogue board adhere to, for the hassle-free reason a dictator of the kaliber of a Mao or a Stalin, heck even the Kims of South-Korea would desire to do it, would have banned this website alongside with many of the internet. additionally, in case you assert "interior the call of". there are a number of, many motives you're able to desire to be deliver on your loss of life in those regimes. examining a incorrect e book, driving around 'suspiciously', having had a school coaching in yet another usa or formerly the rustic replaced regimes. So, you ask: "would desire to it no longer be mentioned that Stalin and Mao killed interior the call of atheism?" sure, yet that could coach you basically overlook approximately what those regimes have been actual like.

Answer 8

Should every person killed in the name of God as well as events like the inqusition, 9 - 11, and Hitler's holocoust be linked to their respective religions.

Answer 9

Should the atrocities of religious imperialism (e.g. Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, Holocaust, various Jihads) be necessarily linked to religion?

Answer 10

No, the main reason they were Atheistic is because they didn't want to have to submit to any authority above them. Religion and communism don't go together very well.