Summary

Clearly not all atheists are left-wingers or liberals. This myth is based in part on the mistaken assumption that atheists must all agree with each other across a range of issues, including political ones. Atheism and communism were closely associated in political discussion and the public mind, with the result that many people still conflate atheism and communism, hearing an echo of the word “communist” in the word “atheist”. Communism is most certainly not the main motivator in current expressions of atheism in Western culture. Theists claim that many atrocities have been committed in the name of atheism. Nazi Germany was never an atheist state, regardless of what Hitler's personal views might have been, and none of its atrocities were committed in the name of atheism — quite the opposite.

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