Communism as practiced in the Soviet Union and in China admittedly held that there is no God. However, there are Socialists throughout the world that are also Christian or belong to other faiths.
The atrocities committed by Stalin and Mao are related to their communist ideology, not their atheism. In the same way, the atrocities committed by Hitler and Mussolini were unrelated to their Christianity, but instead to their fascist ideologies.
However, could you say the atrocities of the Spanish Inquisition and the Crusades are unrelated to Christianity? Could you say that the tragedy of 9/11 is unrelated to radical Islam?
Doesn't it make sense to blame the ideology when ideology is responsible, and then to blame the brand of faith when the faith is responsible?
Because ignorant people class these two "isms" as "bad things," and then class all Bad Things together. You're talking about people who can't mentally walk and chew gum at the same time. Their "ideas" about anything are simply not worth discussion.
BTW, guy below me, your statement that "religion teaches morals" is debatable, to say the least. "All your righteousness is as filthy rags." "Christians" so-called have the idea from Paul that acceptance of the salvation's theology is paramount, and actual morals are almost an afterthought. That's the whole attraction of the religion, and the reason Jesus is so popular in prisons and rehab clinics.
they're just trying to say that godlessness leads to bad things or is associated with bad things.
they could be right cause religion definitely teaches morals. but that doesn't change my view that god doesn't exist.
as religions is torn apart, we need to make sure that children are raised with morals and an understanding that doing bad things has it's consequences.
To answer the first question - because they are ignorant of the differences and choose to remain so.
And no, some things in history are directly related to religious doctrine. There is no way to get around that.
But blaming the ideology does nothing. How do you hold an ideology accountable for the actions of its followers? The onus is upon the followers who act as they do, usually AGAINST what their religion actually says.
Chris is right. It's simply poor education. It's the same reason why they equate Pagans and Wicca with Satan. They don't actually learn about any of these things before they start spewing forth judgment and hate.
Atheism was a tool used by the communist leaders to enforce their power, just as religions have been used as a tool (even in the Spanish inquisition and modern day terrorism) to enforce their powers.
Ideologies are a tool, but the cause of violence is almost always money, greed, power - you know the basic vices that are not specific to any form of belief.
Actually, Hitler's actions WERE related to his religion. He felt there should be one (practiced by the master race). He worked not only to eliminate other races to promote the one master race, but also to eliminate other religions to promote Christianity.
Anywho, dictators only promote atheism because religion stands to steal away some of their power. They don't actually care about religion in any way. They just want total control. They don't kill to promote a disbelief in god(s), but to promote themselves.
This is a very important distinction, as you point out.
atheism is being equated with communism because a communist belief is that religion is a myth designed to keep the working class under a ruling class. (irony!) ("all animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others" HT to George Orwell) (sorry--couldn't resist) it's an "all fur is hair but not all hair is fur" thing, i think.
Yes it makes sense to think in the way you suggest. But many people are either too lazy or too uneducated to actually sort through individual instances and then decide on their own.
Good point Captain. These thumb sucking Christian twits can come up with some screwy ideas. More innocent people have been destroyed because of Christian ideology than for any other reason. Idiots trying to blame Atheist.
It makes sense but, unfortunately, those who equate atheism with communism do not value sense. Let's face it, those who believe that 6000 years ago some god snapped his fingers and created the universe or that 4000 years ago the peak of Everest was covered by a global flood which killed every creature except for those that one family managed to load onto a boat they made cannot be said to be sensible people.
Faith requires the suspension of sense in favor of blind belief. Once you divorce reason from your beliefs, the Holocaust, the Gulag, the Inquisition, or 9/11 become conceivable.
People equate atheism with communism, because in the main it is true...it is about Control!
The communists Governments thought by instituting atheism, or at least banning religion, would give them more control over the people.
If people don't have another path to follow in life, they will do what they are told.
Attrocities can be related to religion or lack thereof, but atrocities are everywhere in life and not necessarily related to religion, or ideology
You can't say the atrocities of the Spanish inquisition were not related to Christianity, nor the crusades not related to religion
The Spanish inquisition was a dept of the Catholic church, that was trying to stamp out any form of free thought that varied from official church doctrine. The church got very paranoiac and the inquisition got carried away. Remember, in those days , the church was more powerful than the king.
As for the crusades, It was the Christians, trying to stop the rising tide of Islam...They marched across the continent to defend the true god, and massacre the Moorish hoards...so this was christian based.
9/11 was relgious based ideology...Radical Islam is based on a very uneducated interpretation of the Koran, Atheists can be very very educated and choose Atheism, Radical islam tends to be made up of brainwashed uneducated people, their leaders use a twisting of the Koran to control their place of power. Radical Islam regards the west (non Islam areas) as "the great Satan"
The U.S. is the poster boy of "the Great Satan". Everything bad about western civilization can be found in America, as well as everything good. But people see what they want to see.
9/11 was meant to poke an eye of the "great Satan", Nothing more, nothing less, but definitely based on faith.
Why are people equating atheism with communism?
