Atheism's Atrocities

[asd21593]

Many people say religion has caused many wars and atrocities. Yes it has, but, those people may not know that atheism has committed many more atrocities. This by no means is justifying things like the Inquisition. Lets put it into statistics, and I will use estimates

Religious Atrocities (wars and killings caused by religion and religious fanatics)
Miscellaneous - we cant really know but if we take into account Aztecs, Roman persecution and anything else lets estimate - 10,000,000
Crusades - probably around 300,000
Inquisition - probably around 500,000
Holocaust - not really religious as Hitler was more atheist than anything else but because it killed Jews lets keep it - around 7,000,000

Atheist Atrocities(wars and killings caused by atheists and their ideology)
Russian Civil War - war over communists spreading their heavily atheist policy - around 14,000,000
Ukrainian Famine Genocide - the massive famines in the Ukraine commonly agreed to be caused by communist, therefore also atheist, policies and even engineered by the Soviets - about 2,000,000
Communist Chinese Massacres - killings during Mao Zedong's reign and Chinese civil war again caused by atheist communism - about 40,000,000

With these stats we can assume that atheism has killed more people than religion has. This doesn't justify anything its just saying that before people say to ban religion and that atheism is the best way, look at the statistics, atheism has killed more people.

[Dayman]

I see no sources, and speculation abound.

[David Deas]

The tally is in. And there we have it folks.

[jankren]

People will never stop killing regardless their backgrounds.

[HansDuet]

No we cant assume so.
Miscellanous?
Highly unaccurate numbers, people have killed others who doesnt share their beliefs throughout history.
Communist massacres- 40 million? Highly doubt that. Your source?

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

I think the most disturbing thing about this topic is the fact that it is seemingly trying to say "Well religion killed a lot of people, but athiesm killed more!"

And even that doesn't make any sense...

[Irishman]

Atheist Atrocities(wars and killings caused by atheists and their ideology)
Russian Civil War - war over communists spreading their heavily atheist policy - around 14,000,000
Ukrainian Famine Genocide - the massive famines in the Ukraine commonly agreed to be caused by communist, therefore also atheist, policies and even engineered by the Soviets - about 2,000,000
Communist Chinese Massacres - killings during Mao Zedong's reign and Chinese civil war again caused by atheist communism - about 40,000,000

So somehow you assume that these killings were done in the "name" of atheism, or that atheism caused these? I would strongly disagree and point out that you only added in the fact that communism is usually atheistic.

On the other hands, your crusades and inquisition (not to mention the slaughter of the natives all around the world) were preformed and JUSTIFIED by religious teachings.

You cannot justify these killings with atheism as it has no doctrine, thus, atheism is not responsible for the deaths.

[Last Roman]

So somehow you assume that these killings were done in the "name" of atheism, or that atheism caused these? I would strongly disagree and point out that you only added in the fact that communism is usually atheistic.

On the other hands, your crusades and inquisition (not to mention the slaughter of the natives all around the world) were preformed and JUSTIFIED by religious teachings.

You cannot justify these killings with atheism as it has no doctrine, thus, atheism is not responsible for the deaths.

exactly. It was done in the name of communism, which atheism was only a part. Until someone yells, "kill in the name of atheism!!!" your argument is moot.

[Roy Batty]

Many people say religion has caused many wars and atrocities. Yes it has, but, those people may not know that atheism has committed many more atrocities. This by no means is justifying things like the Inquisition. Lets put it into statistics, and I will use estimates

Religious Atrocities (wars and killings caused by religion and religious fanatics)
Miscellaneous - we cant really know but if we take into account Aztecs, Roman persecution and anything else lets estimate - 10,000,000
Crusades - probably around 300,000
Inquisition - probably around 500,000
Holocaust - not really religious as Hitler was more atheist than anything else but because it killed Jews lets keep it - around 7,000,000

Atheist Atrocities(wars and killings caused by atheists and their ideology)
Russian Civil War - war over communists spreading their heavily atheist policy - around 14,000,000
Ukrainian Famine Genocide - the massive famines in the Ukraine commonly agreed to be caused by communist, therefore also atheist, policies and even engineered by the Soviets - about 2,000,000
Communist Chinese Massacres - killings during Mao Zedong's reign and Chinese civil war again caused by atheist communism - about 40,000,000

With these stats we can assume that atheism has killed more people than religion has. This doesn't justify anything its just saying that before people say to ban religion and that atheism is the best way, look at the statistics, atheism has killed more people.

So what you're saying is that communism is atheism? Are you saying that these millions of people have been killed in the name of there not being a "God"? If so you have a perversely twisted idea of what atheism is: a mere label to slap on people who refuse to conform to religious dogma and spiritual brainwashing.

[Medicus]

Many people say religion has caused many wars and atrocities. Yes it has, but, those people may not know that atheism has committed many more atrocities.

Atheism has killed more people? The second I read this I knew the rest of the post would be BS.

This by no means is justifying things like the Inquisition. Lets put it into statistics, and I will use estimates

Religious Atrocities (wars and killings caused by religion and religious fanatics)
Miscellaneous - we cant really know but if we take into account Aztecs, Roman persecution and anything else lets estimate - 10,000,000

The Aztecs weren't killed for their beliefs. Cortez tried to convert them. Many more died in battle or from disease than as a result of their beliefs.

Crusades - probably around 300,000
Inquisition - probably around 500,000

Source?

Holocaust - not really religious as Hitler was more atheist than anything else but because it killed Jews lets keep it - around 7,000,000

Probably true.

Atheist Atrocities(wars and killings caused by atheists and their ideology)
Russian Civil War - war over communists spreading their heavily atheist policy - around 14,000,000
Ukrainian Famine Genocide - the massive famines in the Ukraine commonly agreed to be caused by communist, therefore also atheist, policies and even engineered by the Soviets - about 2,000,000
Communist Chinese Massacres - killings during Mao Zedong's reign and Chinese civil war again caused by atheist communism - about 40,000,000

Are you serious? Those deaths were caused by COMMUNISM, not atheism. Did you actually look any of that stuff up?

With these stats we can assume that atheism has killed more people than religion has. This doesn't justify anything its just saying that before people say to ban religion and that atheism is the best way, look at the statistics, atheism has killed more people.

Your entire argument is flawed. Atheism has killed NO ONE. The deaths you cite are the result of Stalin and Mao's policies of turning their countries into communist utopias. As you can plainly see, it didn't work.

[God-Emperor of Mankind]

Holocaust - not really religious as Hitler was more atheist than anything else but because it killed Jews lets keep it - around 7,000,000

Well if you use the search button in this forum on the word hitler you will come across a thread that discusses if Hitler was atheist or not.
And in the thread you will see that Hitler was religious, maybe not christian but he certainly believed in a higher power so that rules out him being a atheist.
As for the other people have already commented on nicely.
Those deaths were in the name of communism and not atheism.

[Wibbler]

This would be an interesting thread if your figures weren't so clearly wrong. "probably" and your own estimations are completely off the mark, and as others have mentioned you seem to have decided that communism IS atheism. I fail to recall any massacres that have taken place because those who are victimised believe in a god.

[HopliteElite]

Blaming Stalin's death toll on atheism is like blaming the entire death toll of all post-pagan Rome Europe, on Christianity, because every major leader in Europe was a Christian. Stalin was an Atheist, yes, but his policies were ALL done in the name of Communism and creating a superpower out of Russia. He would have converted to Christianity if he thought it would save his empire, just as he re-opened the churches after the German blitzkrieg because he thought that would help save his empire. If his driving goal was to spread Atheism would he have re-opened his churches when in crisis? The obvious answer is no.

The short of it is that NO major leader of a country has explicitly committed acts of genocide in the name of Atheism. There have been many atheist leaders that have engaged in genocide in the name of Communism, Fascism, nationalism, etc... but never in the name of atheism. To blame atheism for the acts of such men is like blaming Christianity for World War I just because the respective leaders of the nations involved were Christians.

Let's get this straight: Atheism is not a religion or even a specific set of beliefs. I am an Atheist and I have entirely opposite views than every other atheist I have ever met. The only thing uniting (and I use that word VERY lightly) atheists is that they lack a belief in God and do not adhere to any church dogma.

[removeduser_487563287433]

Many people say religion has caused many wars and atrocities. Yes it has, but, those people may not know that atheism has committed many more atrocities. This by no means is justifying things like the Inquisition. Lets put it into statistics, and I will use estimates

Religious Atrocities (wars and killings caused by religion and religious fanatics)
Miscellaneous - we cant really know but if we take into account Aztecs, Roman persecution and anything else lets estimate - 10,000,000
Crusades - probably around 300,000
Inquisition - probably around 500,000
Holocaust - not really religious as Hitler was more atheist than anything else but because it killed Jews lets keep it - around 7,000,000

Atheist Atrocities(wars and killings caused by atheists and their ideology)
Russian Civil War - war over communists spreading their heavily atheist policy - around 14,000,000
Ukrainian Famine Genocide - the massive famines in the Ukraine commonly agreed to be caused by communist, therefore also atheist, policies and even engineered by the Soviets - about 2,000,000
Communist Chinese Massacres - killings during Mao Zedong's reign and Chinese civil war again caused by atheist communism - about 40,000,000

With these stats we can assume that atheism has killed more people than religion has. This doesn't justify anything its just saying that before people say to ban religion and that atheism is the best way, look at the statistics, atheism has killed more people.

Aside from the fact you've pulled these numbers straight out of your arse you have also made no effort to try to seperate actions done by atheists and actions motivated by atheism.

[RusskiSoldat]

Let's have a few of the latter:

As for the Russian Orthodox Church, Soviet authorities sought to control it and, in times of national crisis, to exploit it for the regime's own purposes; but their ultimate goal was to eliminate it. During the first five years of Soviet power, the Bolsheviks executed 28 Russian Orthodox bishops and over 1,200 Russian Orthodox priests.

And that was before Stalin.

Stalin's role in the fortunes of the Russian Orthodox Church is complex. Continuous persecution in the 1930s resulted in its near-extinction: by 1939, active parishes numbered in the low hundreds (down from 54,000 in 1917), many churches had been leveled, and tens of thousands of priests, monks and nuns were persecuted and killed. Over 100,000 were shot during the purges of 1937-38.[35][36][

[Wibbler]

Let's have a few of the latter....

They weren't in the name of atheism, they were in the name of communism and political power. The Russians didn't like how much power the church had over the country, so they weakened it.

[Sher Khan]

Belief in no God did not motivate as many people as you would like to believe.

Communists tend to war and kill over social classes, or so I hear.

[ThiudareiksGunthigg]

Hitler was more atheist than anything else

Hitler was nothing of the sort. He was a theist. He stated, repeatedly and categorically, that he believed in God. He never made any statement that could be construed as being even vaguely inclined toward atheism in any way.

I wish atheism-bashers would get this through their heads: Hitler is one of yours.

[Vladimir Lenin]

Hitler was nothing of the sort. He was a theist. He stated, repeatedly and categorically, that he believed in God. He never made any statement that could be construed as being even vaguely inclined toward atheism in any way.

I wish atheism-bashers would get this through their heads: Hitler is one of yours.

One of yours?

Stalin is one of yours.
Lenin is one of yours.
Mao is one of yours.

Since apparently we're judging by only their offical beliefs rather then personality.

[C.M.]

One of yours?

Stalin is one of yours.
Lenin is one of yours.
Mao is one of yours.

Since apparently we're judging by only their offical beliefs rather then personality.

Saddam is one of yours.