an answer to a comment. stalin an atheist?

Question

Stalin (1879-1953) was the product of a seminary, and learned its lessons of manipulation and mind control well. He knew that the best way to stifle dissent and to break the will of the people was to deprive them of that which they value the most. Religion, being so important to the lives of the Russian people, was the perfect target. By depriving the people of the crutch of religion, he knew he could crush their spirit.

There are no elements of freethought (the foundation of atheism) in Soviet philosophy. Stalin most certainly was unfamiliar with the humanistic underpinnings of atheism; they contradicted his goal, which was to create a totalitarian state in which he became the new god, whose dictates were not to be questioned. Individual rights, so central to freethought, were unknown in Soviet Russia.

The massacres of Stalin's reign were committed in the name of statism, not atheism, and statism is a by-product of the fundamentalist religious mindset.

Every government since time immemorial has recognized the role religion plays in stifling dissent and keeping people quiet and submissive. Charles I of England, for example, once said "religion is the only firm foundation of power."

Stalin did not want to share his power with anyone. Recognizing the church as the only significant rival to his supremacy, he attacked it. His attacks had nothing to do with ideological differences; it was a simple question of his stamping out a perceived threat.

Final proof that Stalin was not acting on atheistic principles could be seen during the opening salvos of the Barbarossa campaign during World War II. Things were not going well for the Russian armies at that point and Stalin, facing a possible revolution on the home front was searching for ways to amass a broad base of support for the war effort. To achieve this, he reinstated the Orthodox Church hierarchy to serve 'Mother Russia.'

This shows that Stalin was by no means averse to promoting religion if it suited his purposes to do so. Clearly, Stalin's tyranny was based on the totalitarian premises that he learned from religion: Unquestioning obedience, reverence for a deity-figure (in human form) as well as a pie-in-the-sky utopian vision. His government never tolerated freedom of thought. Stalin's policies were the antithesis of atheist philosophy.

http://www.atheistalliance.org/library/nelson-atheism_communism.php

Answer 1

Well...youre half right anyway.
His goal wasnt to "crush the spirit" of the Russian people, his goal was to remove the Russian Orthodox religion and replace it with his own cult of personality, as they call it.

Meaning he wanted to stop people from worshipping anyone but him.

Stalin was one of those people who believed that "the ends justifies the means". I have no doubt that he thought he was doing what was best for Russia. He just saw it in a different way. He saw that all throughout Russian history, there had always been one leader, one strongman, one ruler, and to try and suddenly change that would bring utter anarchy to the place. (Much like Iraq without Saddam, he was the only thing holding the Shiites and the Sunnis together and quiet) He saw what Lenin tried to do in the early stages of the Soviet Union and saw that it failed miserably.

So he kept the centuries-old way of things going. Certainly there was alot of his own personal desire for power and recognition in there, but he also did want what was best for Russia. But like everything else, "best" is relative. His view of what was best was making Russia a military and industrial superpower, and the millions that died for that, well, the ends justifies the means. That was his philosophy.

He saw himself as the only one who could save Russia, and he did whatever he had to do to keep himself in charge, so he could do so.

Answer 2

Stalin is no more representative of atheism than Hitler is of Christianity. True religion is often just a crutch to prop up an evil state or leader but at some point citizens have to take some responsibility for their situation.

Answer 3

You forgot a point. Stalin was a communist and the communist form of government is explecitly atheist. It sees man as the greatest being and the government as the Higher Power.

Atheism is not rooted in free thought so mush as in free will. It aims to separate man from any kind of moral agent above him, be it god or gods. If it were honestly rooted in free thought, it would implode on its own as it struggled with such concepts as Moral Law, etc.

Answer 4

Stalin was also a paranoid lunatic. Because of that, I would like him to any sort of belief system. It is almost like people who try to claim Hitler was christian or atheist. Either way, he was crazy, and really didn't follow either doctrine accurately.

But, groups will try to link those sorts of people to their counterparts as a means of discrediting the other point of view. Personally, it is a waste of time on both parts.

Answer 5

that makes perfect sense.

Saddam Hussein brutally put down any religious movements in Iraq for the same reason. They can be used as a source of power- against the regime.

Answer 6

Manuipulating religion to serve fundamentally sinful actions is not a religious act! Stalin WAS acting atheistically. If not, he would have bowed his knees to the infinite God and begged forgivess for his sins!

Answer 7

I commend you for the effor but they wont read it.

I posted a line or two about it as an answer once a while back and I don't think they read it based on the thumbs down.

But you're right.

Answer 8

Stalin was mental!

Answer 9

yeah, but he wasn't as hot as me.