In addition to that, there are 3,500 people murdered in this country via abortion. That is 1,277,500 a year! Another statistic that can be attributed to lack of religion.
 

While it is true that Stalin, Hitler, and Mao were atheist despots, I do not believe that they
murdered “in the name of atheism” as the article suggests. Yes they were seeking some sort of utopia, and religion did not factor much into their idea of a utopia. However, I don't believe the victims' religious beliefs were the reason they were targeted, as some of the terrorists are currently targeting us.

Also, one of these days I want to write my own journal article related to another of your posts from awhile back, where you mentioned someone's notion that Hitler was possessed by the devil. I am reading a very fascinating book right now called “What We Knew” by Eric A Johnson. It contains interviews with many Holocaust survivors who are only now telling their story as they approach the final years of their lives. The thing that
is scariest about Naziism is that Hitler never would have gotten very far without the complicity of the German people. Hitler tapped into anti-Semitism that existed in
Germany and Eastern Europe, long before there was a land dispute in Palestine. Keep in mind that many Nazis and Nazi sympathisers at the time would eagerly have called
themselves Christians. I do believe that twisted views of Christianity have been a major
force in the western world’s anti-Semitism, only because for the life of me I can’t figure
out any other reason why Jews are so vilified throughout the world.

There have been some that killed in the name of God, Allah, the sacred Emporer, etc in the 20th Century. The concept seems completely foreign to Atheists. I don’t believe the author of the article did a good enough job of dismissing the idea of “political religion” causing mass murder. He claims it is an excuse to “exonerate Atheism” from the murders done in its name. Yes these guys were evil, and they were Atheists, but it does not follow that their evil was done in the name of Atheism.

Sincerely,
The Governor
 

The Governor: I do not believe that they murdered “in the name of atheism” as the article suggests. Yes they were seeking some sort of utopia, and religion did not factor much into their idea of a utopia.

Thanks for the thoughtful response... just a few remarks off the cuff:

I don't think the author meant to imply that Hitler, Mao, etc, literally murdered "in the name of atheism." That is to say, they didn't go to war with shields emblazoned with the slogan "There Is No God!" Nonetheless, the stamping out of religion was a crucial element of their philosophies. There's a hubris that's inherent with atheism, and at it's worst, it includes a self-perceived ability to decide who is and isn't fit to live. The author of the article might argue, as I would, that atheism made it possible for those who committed their crimes to justify them.

I'd also argue that "functional atheism," even on the part of those who are nominally Christian, makes it possible to justify abortion. You mentioned those in Germany during the holocaust who'd have called themselves "Christian." I'd argue that they were "functional atheists" as well. It's simply isn't possible to practice Christianity as a matter of daily guidance and justify murder. Ultimately, you have to decide between Christian morality and convenience. Those who make the decision to remain honestly Christian under circumstances such as Germany in the 30's and 40's run the risk of being martyred. Those who remain honestly Christian in this day and age have it easier, in a way. We're simply rejected by society and sometimes by friends and family. All in all, it's far easier to try to live a Christian life when you know you're not going to risk being killed for it. Ironically, the relative comfort of Christian living today leads many of us to take it for granted.
 

One point that The Governor makes about the latent anti-semitism. Sadly it's been something in Gentile Christians that would seek to cast off the Jews though Paul would argue against that sort of thing (Rom 11).