Is atheism really a tenet of communism?

[IanHulett]

I've read up recently on the planks of communism. I've noticed that people honestly think that atheism is a tenet of communism. But after reading about them, I haven't seen anything about atheism.

I can't really find anything that is exclusively about the communist planks, all I could really find was some propaganda about how the US is turning into a communist state. Like these two:

http://www.libertyzone.com/Communist-Man...lanks.html
http://www.conservativeusa.net/10planksofcommunism.htm

But even then, I still can't find anything about atheism.

[edit] further research revealed this  page:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/communism1.htm

Phase 2: A dictator or elite leader (or leaders) must gain absolute control over the proletariat. During this phase, the new government exerts absolute control over the common citizen's personal choices -- including his or her education, religion, employment and even marriage. Collectivization of property and wealth must also take place.

But this isn't explicit. All this says is that the government can dictate your religious beliefs. If they want to, they could make you be an atheist, christian, muslim, jew, basically whatever they want.

I dunno, maybe I'm just not researching with the right keywords? I have yet to find anything exclusively linking Atheism to communism.