Christian Perspectives, Exposing the Myth: “More people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason.”
This myth is false. In the last century, more people in the history of the world were killed, maimed, murdered, and enslaved in the name of a belief system that says there is no God. That religion is atheism the religion of socialists.
Like the explosion in both population and technology during the 20th century, there was an equal mushrooming in the quantity of killing during the last century. So much so that there were more people killed in wars of conquest and extermination during the 20th century than in all the wars in the entire history of the world prior to then. Between three men; Mao Tse Tung, Josef Stalin, and Adolf Hitler, almost two hundred million people were killed or murdered directly as a result of their actions to conquer or control the populations of their own and other’s countries.
Mao alone is responsible for murdering upwards of a hundred million Chinese when he took control and instituted his purges. The rest of the population was enslaved. Any who objected were sent to “re-education camps” from which most did not return.
He followed in the footsteps of Stalin who deliberately starved millions of Ukrainians during his purges. Adolf Hitler did the same to the Jews and the Slavs. Others followed their example on smaller scales in Cuba, North Korea, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, Sudan, Iran, and many others, although some did adhere to a religion that is anti-Christian. Socialism became the Great Plague of the 20th century.
The principals by which these men assumed and exercised their power was founded by Karl Marx known as socialism in which God and religion, the “opiate of the people” as Marx put it, has no place. The basic tenet of socialism is first and foremost that the people must serve the state for the benefit of all and that those who head the state must be obeyed without exception. “From each according to their ability to each according to their need,” is their motto for justifying stealing from those who produce and giving to those who support their rulers.
As such, there is no room for God or any higher authority other than that of the imperial leaders, for their rule cannot be questioned. This is nothing less than despotism under the guise of “caring for the people, ruling by Divine Right.” Men such as these hold cheap the lives of those who do not bow to their malevolent authority.
It is evident that socialists have the same motivations that drive all conflict – greed. Always has it been that for the sake of greed men go to war. Greed for money, for power, for possession. A jealous lover engages in conflict over greed for a woman, either fighting another man for possession, or destroying the woman who would not have him. “If I can’t have you, no one can!” People call it lust, but at its core is greed.
There is no difference between a king who would invade his neighbor to conquer and steal his kingdom than a thief who would invade another man’s home and steal from him. Both are motivated by greed. They are the ‘takers’ of the world. The only difference between an invader of a foreign land and a socialist dictator is that the socialist steals from his own people rather than foreigners.
Even so-called religious wars are nothing more than greedy leaders misleading their followers by encouraging them that “God is on their side” as they exhort their followers to destroy others and steal from them their lives and possessions. (Righteous leaders pray that they are on God’s side.) When Popes commanded their followers to attack those who would not submit to the Church, they were no different than Muhammad when he commanded his followers to attack Meccan caravans and steal their goods because Meccan leaders would not submit to Islam.
Mohammad waged war until he conquered Mecca. He, like the Popes who said they were “Vicars of Christ” as they cultivated armies and the Inquisition to subjugate the people, were not following Jesus. They acted purely for their own greed as there are no teachings from Christ saying to take anything from anyone.
For Mohammad, it was greed to acquire power over others, forcing them to submit to his authority, or to pay to live under his protection. Though Mohammad exhorts his followers under the name of his god, Allah, his actions are the same as all the conquerors of history who were greedy for great wealth and power. The followers of Islam have waged war on the world since its inception because Mohammad justified war on the “infidel.” Their reign of oppression and murder through the centuries has been far greater than those of the wars of the Inquisition that followed their lead.
Religion is often blamed for the evils of the world, but it is a close competition between Islam and the Inquisition and socialism. But the depredations of those who defile God’s name has taken centuries to acquire their body count, while socialism achieved their death toll. Atheists say, “Faith in God kills,” but the truth of the 20th century is that godless socialism is more devastating than the Black Death that snuffed out Europe in the 15th century.
Of all religions, Buddhism and Christianity are the only two that call for no evil to be done to others, that all men are created equal and have the right to live their lives in peace and should help one another. The only difference in the two is that in Buddhism there is no god, just the desire for righteousness in the hearts of men to overcome their animal desires to serve themselves at the expense of others. But without the God of Christ, men’s hearts often turn to greed. That is why Jesus extolled his followers to,
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength,” and “love your neighbor as yourself.” Mark 12:30-31
In order to fight evil, you have to know evil.
“When you compromise with evil, evil wins.” – Rush Limbaugh
True faith in God does not kill.
Faith in God kills, pt. I – Socialism; the Great Plague of the 20th century
Faith in God kills, pt. II – Mohammad’s life; forging the death cult of Islam
Faith in God kills, pt. III – Blaming Christ; corruption in the Christian Church
Liberals Backwards Think 