A Misunderstanding of Religion, Atheism, and Wars
I was browsing twitter today and came across this:
Godless communism killed more people than all the God-based things in history times five. #tcot #p2#teaparty
I thought that was a bit unfair, afterall…
If you do basic math, it’s true. More people have been killed under Communist regimes than in religious genocides. However, if you look deeper into the numbers (something this guy is incapable of) you see the motivations behind the killings.
While Communist countries have mostly been Atheist, they did not commit mass murder in the name of Atheism. Communist dictators killed anyone who opposed them, regardless of religion. Communist dictators were often religious themselves (not Atheists), but saw religion as being in conflict with their power, and thus banned it. When they committed mass murder, it was not to further some Atheist agenda; it was to preserve there power.
Now, examine all the religious genocides. These have all been committed in the name of a religion, for the purpose of furthering a religion. It was their religion, and only their religion, that motivated the killings.
Ultimately, my point is that Atheism does not lead to mass killings. Organized religion does. I challenge anyone to find a case of a mass murder carried out for the purpose of converting people to Atheism.
PS – I’m not Atheist.