Crimes in the name of atheism and religion
There are some social commentators who want to highlight religion as the main cause of much of the conflict and suffering in the world. Certainly, one can point to atrocities committed in the name of religion and God. Not least, the terrorist acts that Islamic State encourages today bear witness to this. But the aforementioned commentators often forget that the most extensive and sophisticated violations of human rights in modern times have taken place, and continue to take place, in countries whose leadership embraces an atheistic and deeply anti-religious worldview. I have several books on this subject in my library. Three biographies based on the latest research on Hitler, Stalin, and Mao Tse Tung, as well as the nearly 1,000-page “Black Book of Communism.” This is not pleasant reading, but perhaps necessary if one wants to understand the incomprehensible fact that around 100 million people lost their lives as a result of the atrocities committed by followers of these atheistic ideologies.
Does this mean that all atheists are cruel, violent, deceitful, etc.? Or that all followers of a religion are? No, of course not. If you examine the people behind the atrocities committed in the name of various worldviews and political ideologies, you will find power-hungry and profit-seeking individuals who have used religion or ideologies for political and/or selfish purposes. Some of them have also turned out to be psychopaths suffering from mental illness.
The Christian faith that I myself adhere to is a worldview that, through its teacher, Jesus Christ, clearly and unequivocally rejects all forms of violence. Jesus’ exhortation to even love one’s enemies and bless one’s persecutors is one of the strongest messages of peace ever formulated in words. It is therefore sad to hear that unserious and ignorant debaters lump all religions together and thus influence other ignorant people to take a stance that may prevent them from seeking the truth. But these debaters may have a hidden agenda that is even hidden from themselves. If the Christian faith is true, we can understand that behind the scenes, behind what we experience with our external senses, there is a struggle between darkness and light, evil and good, truth and lies.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, he said that he had come to bear witness to the truth. If this is true, he has something important to say to us. Jesus showed us the way of love, not violence. A path that leads to eternal life in a world that God has prepared for those who love him and who want to cooperate with him in his divine plan. This heavenly invitation is addressed to all people on our earth.
Tommy Lindén
(This text is translated from Swedish to English using DeepL. If you find any serious errors, please let me know and I will correct them. Thank you. tommylindensweden@gmail.com)