Show me just one person killed in the name of atheism. Can’t do it, can you?  This is a complaint often lobbed by atheists who use a filtered version of history to form a worldview.  How would you answer their complaint?

Respectfully, when an officially atheist country kills someone for his or her religion, this IS an example of a person killed in the name of atheism.  The NAZIs were no friend of religion; they murdered prominent catholic lay leaders, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others because of their religion. You can get the death penalty for possessing a Bible in North Korea today; North Korea is no theocracy.  I could add many more to this list, but  examples such as these are rejected by fundamentalist atheists who claim atrocities may be committed by atheist leaders, but the murders were not done in the name of atheism.  Forgive me for disagreeing, but if you kill someone in an effort to cleanse your country of religion, you are killing in the name of atheism.

It would be wrong for me to say atheism made the leaders of the aforementioned countries become murderers.  They killed for power in an atheist state. It is equally wrong for non-believers to claim that religion makes religious leaders become murderers.  It is their desire for power in a theocracy or country made up of religious people that led them to kill.  Both ideologies can be abused.  Killing can be done in the name of anything, but it is the individual who makes the decision to pick up a weapon or to order others to do so.

Atheist and religious leaders have been responsible for atrocities throughout history.  Blaming religion, atheism, or something other than the leaders themselves is to remove their guilt.  Since the homicide rate doesn’t shoot through the roof near all churches with large congregations, there must be something other than religion to blame for the flaw in the human condition.

What are your thoughts?