Something I'm sick of hearing

[Alex K]

True, but forget what Hitler believed. *The country* wasn't atheist. My home town for example was catholic like hell.

[abaris]

I did think that, but it is seriously an arguement they pull out. They are under some misguided impression it was atheist.

It's an apologist argument from ignorance. Truth is, neither the communists, nor the Nazis, nor Franco, nor Pinochet, nor Ante Pavelic and whatever bastard in history did what they did because of their religion or the absence thereoff. They all had an underlying ideology to drive them.

You can even use the same argument when it comes to the crusades or the 30 years war. In both instances religion was a strong motivating factor, but it wasn't the only one. The crusades started because of the Byzantine emperor calling for help against an invasion and the 30 years war because of the Bohemians no longer playing ball with their rulers.

[Alex K]

And, for the umpteenth time: religion made sure that these countries are filled with a populace that was trained to accept messianic authority figures and not to question. Religion provided the fertile ground by suppressing critical thinking.