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by Bart on May 27th, 2008

Bart

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Should we blame athiests for the murders that happen in communist countries?stalin in russia ect. (like we blame christianity or catholics for the crusades and witch hunts. )

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Answers. 21 helpful answers below.

  • by LynfromNM on May 27th, 2008

    LynfromNM

    Atheists are not a group and are not organized. Atheists worldwide did not adopt Stalin as their leader. Just as I disagree with having a state religion, I disagree with forcing atheism on a state. I don't blame all of Christendom for the crusades, because I'm sure soldiers were conscripted to join and didn't necessarily participate of their own free will. The same is true of Stalin's troops. I do blame whoever was Pope at the time of the Crusades, as well as the monarchs who followed his lead.

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  • by AntigoneRising on May 29th, 2008

    AntigoneRising

    One should look at the motivation and justification for the acts involved. Did Stalin ever claim he was doing what he was doing for the glory of Atheism? Was he doing it because Atheism told him to? No. The same cannot be said of the atrocities of the Christian era. They were done because their deity said so, to glorify their deity, and to claim the holy land of their deity.

    Having said that, I don't blame modern Christians or Catholics for these atrocities. However, I do get a bit tired of Christians claiming that morality comes only from Christianity and their deity, when much of the horrific deeds throughout history have been because of this deity, their religion, or both.

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  • by 23Skidoo on May 28th, 2008

    23Skidoo

    It's definitely not a question of blaming today's atheists or Catholics for deeds done long ago. No one alive today can be held responsible for Stalin or the Crusades.

    But what I think you're getting at is if we can attach any responsibility to atheism for Stalin's. There the answer is no. He did what he did because he was a twisted and paranoid dictator. Many other crimes were committed in the name of socialism in the USSR, by atheists, but the important point is that they were not carried out in the name of atheism.

    The crusades, witch burnings, inquisitions, sectarian violence in Ireland, the Middle East, India and elsewhere throughout history can be directly attributed to religion. The phrase "holy war" has no atheist equivalent.

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  • by Franklin on April 24th, 2010

    Franklin

    The atrocities were orchestrated and sanctioned by officially atheist governments, ordered by atheist politicians and atheist generals, and carried out by atheist soldiers and other individual atheists. Is atheism responsible? Obviously.

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  • by miRi hates social norms and regulations on May 29th, 2008

    miRi hates social norms and regulations

    i don't necessarily blame christians, or even christianity for the crusades so much as i blame the leaders at the time for twisting what christianity was.
    nor do i blame christianity for the KKK - that is also a warped view of christianity.
    and i don't blame catholicism for Hitler's killing the jews and gypsies just because he was raised catholic.
    and i don't have a problem with judaism or jews, for how israel was created and kicking palestinians out of their country, so much as (again) the political leaders at the time
    and i don't blame islam for the 9/11 attacks, just the wretched men that have eternally fucked over the mainstream view of islam in the west
    so no i don't blame atheism or atheists for the murders in communist countries mainly because they didn't even do these crimes in the name of a religion (or lack thereof) but for political reasons.

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  • by neveroddoreven on May 28th, 2008

    neveroddoreven

    No, because they were not done based on a beliif system - or rather absence of one to be accurate.
    The murders are the fault of totalitarianism, not Atheism.
    I do feel that the crusades are on the shoulders of Christianity, because they were undertaken in the name of religion.

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  • by Nelson - Jetpacking from bed on May 28th, 2008

    Nelson - Jetpacking from bed

    That would be akin to blaming me, as a white male for the period of American slavery of Africans. I had nothing to do with it.

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  • by JTP on May 29th, 2008

    JTP

    I love you people, setting up these false arguments and letting me knock em down.

    Atheism was never the primary (or even alternate) reason for these peoples actions. Stalin didn't say "ATHEISM FTW! SMITE THESE CHRISTIAN BASTARDS!".

    On The other hand...The crusades were expressly motivated by religion (read:Christianity), same with the witch executions.


    But don't let a little thing like logic get in your way.

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  • by Yeats1 on May 29th, 2008

    Yeats1

    The Crusades were directly caused by a belief of superiority from the Christians. Stalin did what he wanted to do by his own free will, not anyone elses. Stalin himself may have been an atheist but that does not mean that all atheists share his point of view. I am sure that there are many Christians that would wholeheartedly dissagree with the Crusades as well. We can not all be put into one category, as there are millions of different beliefs and viewpoints. To "blame" the atheists for the actions of others would be like blaming all of a country's population for the actions of the leader. It just doesn't work like that. Stereotypical question from a stereotypical mind.

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  • by Prunesquallor on May 28th, 2008

    Prunesquallor

    The crusades were carried out in the name of Christianity.

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  • by king of ellipses on May 27th, 2008

    king of ellipses

    you blame who is responsible for the crime committed. You don't rule someone in or out because of their religious belief or lack thereof.

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  • by Anonymous on July 24th, 2008

    Anonymous

    Bolshevism preferred atheism, not general communism. Here’s an extract from the Communist Manifesto:

    "Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a Socialist tinge. Has not Christianity declaimed against private property, against marriage, against the State? Has it not preached in the place of these, charity and poverty, celibacy and mortification of the flesh, monastic life and Mother Church? Christian Socialism is but the holy, water with which the priest consecrates the heart-burnings of the aristocrat."

    But the scapegoating of atheists is not going to be slowed down by anything so insignificant as the truth or historical facts.

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  • by Retrovampire on July 24th, 2008

    Retrovampire

    No!
    The crusades were a result of Christianity, but communism is not a result of atheism. Communists only preferred atheism so as not to empower the church.

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  • by singwell-is off researching a lot on May 28th, 2008

    singwell-is off researching a lot

    If you blame Christianity for some things that definitely are not supported by the whole of Christianity, then why not blame state atheism for the murders committed by state atheism. Pol Pot was an acknowledged atheist, and desired to create an atheistic state. Together with atheistic followers, they murdered 1/3 of their own people.
    Albania was the same.
    We do not have to go back to Stalin.

    Atheism may be individualistic in the USA or Australia, but we have had many cases of state atheism develop over the past 100 years, and see atrocities committed in the name of wiping out all religious belief.

    You cannot have your cake and eat it too, fellows. Either you stop blaming "Christianity" for the crusades (when there were many other factors in play anyway) or you acknowledge that state atheism is just as dangerous as any state religion.

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  • by LuckyLefty on July 29th, 2008

    LuckyLefty

    i have an idea
    lets blame
    chuck norris

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  • by Miss Madge on July 27th, 2008

    Miss Madge

    It would probably be fairer to blame the murderers for the murders that happen in Communist countries. Anyway, I think most people blame the Crusaders and witch hunters for the Crusades and witch hunts.

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  • by Anonymous on July 24th, 2008

    Anonymous

    Interesting to not that Hitler and the Nazis blamed Judaism for communism for the same reason you blame atheism: Leon Trotsky was born Lev Davidovich Bronstein for example and a white army poster shows him with a Star of David around his neck.

    Just a coincidence of course! I understand the need to blame atheists for everything today though; anti-Semitic bigotry like that displayed by Hitler is no longer fashionable. Interesting to note you only ever talk about the “crusades” and “witch hunts” too; make sure everybody forgets about real atrocities committed in the name of Christianity these last two millennia by just continually talking about the crusades. Nice to see how an idiotic bigot can become a master of demagogy; and I’m not talking about Hitler!


    And who cares if we "should" blame atheists, everybody already does, so why does it matter?

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  • by Aintthatapip - Kevonian Overlord on May 29th, 2008

    Aintthatapip - Kevonian Overlord

    3 scoops in a waffle cone and consider it done.

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  • by Mephistopheles on April 24th, 2010

    Mephistopheles

    Why? Is it the Atheists commiting those murders or the Communists? When Christians and Catholics commit crimes, they do it because their god told them too. Not so the Communists. So, how about dropping the hypocrisity and stop using asinine excused such as this to justify the evil that you all do in the name of your delusion of choice?

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  • by Jiggy Kaiser on July 29th, 2008

    Jiggy Kaiser

    Well, it's a well known fact that Stalin did not kill in the name of atheism. It's a well known facts that catholics crusaded and hunted witches in the name of Christ.

    So no, you shouldn't. It's dumb. Oh and usually the only thing atheists have in common is disbelief in deities. You can't really put us in one neat group.

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  • by -O-uknow on July 27th, 2008

    -O-uknow

    Especially when they are State sanctioned.

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