Was Communism derived from Atheism?

Question

Why such Question is all the communists were Atheists (Lenin,Marx,Angeles)

Answer 1

Not really. For communism to work the people cannot be allowed freedom of religion and religion must be quashed for it to work.

Have you noticed how many socialists in America defile any religion in America and are actively seeking to eliminate from our culture and society?

Answer 2

No, they are two separate belief systems. Outside of Russia & China, most atheists are NOT communists. Nor are all communists, atheists.

Atheism is a rational-based system that rejects myths, superstitions, and the supernatural in favor of materialistic, natural-law, scientific explanations for the world around us. A good percentage of scientists are naturally atheist or agnostic.

Communism, OTOH, is a political ideology, founded on political beliefs. It does, however, try to pass itself off as a rational, scientific system of economics, and as such, its use of atheism can be seen as an attempt to gain credibility among the intellectuals. Which is ironic, because when you study the economics of communism, it's one of the most irrational systems there is.

It's kind of similar to the way that creationists try to use scientific-sounding terms like "creation science" and "intelligent design" in their silly attempt to lend scientific credence and authority to their purely mythological beliefs.

Another link between communism and atheism is reactionary in nature. Communism was in many ways a reaction to the ruling class of the time, which was (or at least was portrayed to be) capitalist & religious. In racially diverse countries, communism also plays the race card by appealing to minorities, and painting the ruling class as being essentially all-white.

In this light, communism's use of atheism is nothing more than putting itself in opposition to the perceived rule by a religious class. If the ruling class had been largely atheistic, odds are pretty good that communism would be preaching about how those mean ol' atheists are keeping the poor downtroden believers under the yoke of their imperialist, atheistic, capitalist system. In such a scenario, communism would have to look elsewhere for its rational-based justification, but in such an event it would likely just try to make use of religious belief & blind faith instead.

Answer 3

As only one other respondent correctly points out, Marx derived inspiration about communal living (hence, communism) from the book of Acts in the New Testament, which describes the early Christians providing for one another's needs and sharing their property among themselves. Most of the "atheist" tendencies in modern Communism have actually just been anti-clerical (viz., anti-Church or organized religion), because the clergy and its followers tend to be extremely resistant to any changes, like social revolutions, and therefore tend to oppose the introduction of communist -- or any other new -- principles in society. (E.g., Christians of a few decades ago generally opposed the idea of heart transplants, but now they would deny that ever happened; today, they oppose stem cell research, and will probably deny that in a few decades when they are seeking the benefits of research they oppose today.)

Answer 4

communism does have roots in christianity. there were many christian sects and orders that shared all their property equally. The equal sharing of property and giving away of property is a very christian quality. there are many quotes from jesus himself that promote a communistic outlook. the equating of pride, gluttony, and greed with sin is also very similar to communist philosophies. Christianity is not alone in condemning selfish and materialistic behavior. All of the major religions can be interpreted in a communist light.

Do you mean Marxism? Marx was an atheist, but its hard to see that his atheism plays a large role in the development of his social philosophy. He assumed that religion was a diversion of the masses, but didn't actively argue against religious claims, I think. He was more concerned with social and political theory than metaphysics or philosophy of religion. Even if Marx had been a Christian, its hard to see that his philosophy would have been much different. He was motivated by the social conditions of his time, not out of a dislike of religion. And, as I said above, had he been Christian, he would have found a lot of support for his communist philosophy in Christianity. The fact that christianity had been supportive of the capitalist societies probably motivated marx to attack it, but its not his major target, and had christianity been in a position it had been in its early days (when it was more communist-like and oppressed by the state) marx would have likely been an ally of it.

So communism has a very rich religious tradition, and actually probably has less in common with atheism than it does with christianity. Marxist communism does deny the claims of religion, but this is almost a side note to his theory. I think its more accurate to say that modern communism arose out of the social and economic conditions of the 19th century. Its connection with atheism is hardly a necessary one.

Answer 5

Evolution started it all, turned a theological student destined to be a priest, into an evolutionist. This student was Charles Darwin. After hearing about the "unproven, unprovable" theories; of the "religion" of evolution, and the folly of an old, old earth; Darwin dropped his aspirations to become a priest. He turned from his theistic view to an atheistic. His theory of survival of the fittest, opened the doors wide for the communist agenda. If you take GOD out of any equation, disaster is the only logical result.

Answer 6

Communists tend to be atheists because they place human in the prime spot. But Communism didn't derive from Atheism.

Answer 7

Marx certainly was an atheist but the concept is actually a Christian notion. It was used by the first church as recorded in the new Testament book Acts. The first church had everything in common and gave their part to the church. This created a powerful movement.

Answer 8

You are comparing apples and oranges. Communism is not synonymous with atheism. The leadership of the communist nations in almost all cases are/were atheists, but communism itself can be a very positive political philosophy if conducted correctly.
Christianity in its most basic sense is communism, everyone shares equally in the community.
Now here are two terms that are synonymous, Evolution/atheism. Both are naturalistic in the most fundamental sense, so God is not included in the equation. Evolution always goes hand in hand with atheistic communism, I know because of my interaction with many people who lived in the former communist bloc nations.

Answer 9

it has come out of the false belief that man is supreme and can achieve any thing he wants and collective labour and collective distribution of all wealth. They over looked the fact that man is basically a greedy and destructive animal. They have no faith in God and believe that doctors can save every body from all diseases. yet cure for cancer like diseases have not been found.

Answer 10

I think it is a by-product of athiesm because if you believe there is no afterlife--nothing to look forward to, then in your mind it would be selfish and unfair for people to life in different classes--the people destined to be poor in this life would be horribly deprived. And so with this belief, the only logical solution would be to give everyone the same access to all the same things and have people all live similar lives.