SkepticsReligiousFundamentalismViolent229

Hatred and violence can be inspired by certain kinds of religious beliefs. No doubt, there are many other factors involved that can lead believers to want to harm others who do not share their ideology. However, one common mindset seems to be a factor in religiously motivated violence, regardless of the creed involved, and that mindset is fundamentalism, which can be defined as:

… a rigid kind of certainty in the possession of the "one truth" and the "one way" to live. It typically relies on a literal interpretation of a sacred text and an absolute reliance on that text. Other sources of knowing what’s true or other ways of determining what’s valuable are rejected — such as when science or a different group offers an alternative perspective — in favor of what's unquestioningly accepted within the group. (1)

The idea that one group and one group only has a monopoly on divine truth causes its adherents to divide the world into believers and unbelievers. Regrettably, this attitude can lead the believer to develop a sense of superiority (only they possess the truth) and regard those with different views as inferior due to their assumed ignorance. Believing that only they possess the truth, fundamentalists can engage in zealous proselytization. However, when individuals deny their claims to truth and decline to be converted, this can lead to fundamentalists developing aggressive attitudes toward them.

This aggression is probably a defensive reaction. Rejection of the fundamentalist’s beliefs cannot be considered by the fundamentalist as an indication that they might be mistaken. For the fundamentalist, certainty is everything. Doubt cannot be tolerated, as it threatens their ideology, which often forms an integral part of their sense of identity. Therefore, the person rejecting the belief is often seen as either evil, sinful, or rebellious, or as all of these things. This rationalization of the rejection can lead fundamentalists to see those who disagree with them as less than their equals, to the point of dehumanizing them, which increases the likelihood of prejudice and violence directed toward the unbeliever. In addition to this, there is also the problem of paranoia:

The fundamentalist mind operates from a perpetual state of siege. Convinced that their truth is under constant attack, fundamentalists develop what can be described as a “fortress mentality” – a paranoid outlook where enemies are perceived everywhere, and every disagreement is interpreted as a coordinated assault on their beliefs.

This paranoia is often self-reinforcing. When fundamentalists encounter criticism or opposition, they don’t see it as legitimate dissent but as confirmation of the conspiracy against them. This creates a vicious cycle where increased paranoia leads to more aggressive defensive behavior, which in turn generates more opposition, further validating their paranoid worldview. (2)

As a result of this paranoia, fundamentalist groups are often insular. Consequently, members of these groups can become trapped in an echo chamber, losing contact with the wider community and a more balanced perspective. No divergent views exist within the group to challenge the orthodox position. As a result, conditions arise conducive to the development of stronger stereotypes and prejudices, which in turn increase the risk of extremism and violence.

In addition, the group's teachings can also be conducive to hatred and violence. For example, if a passage in a sacred text is interpreted as condoning violence, and this violence is sanctioned by God, the highest moral authority, then the likelihood of violence being perpetrated increases, as demonstrated by psychological experiments:

To the extent that religious extremists engage in prolonged, selective reading of the scriptures, focusing on violent retribution toward unbelievers instead of instead of the overall message of acceptance and understanding, one might expect to see increased brutality. Such an outcome is certainly consistent with our results: People who believe that God sanctions violence are more likely than others to behave aggressively themselves. (3)

The shooting deaths of six people, including two Queensland police officers, at a rural property two months ago was Australia's first domestic terror attack inspired by "Christian extremist ideology," police said.

Constables Matthew Arnold and Rachel McCrow were shot dead by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train after the officers arrived at their Wieambilla property, more than 300km west of Brisbane, on December 12.

Alan Dare was also fatally shot after going to check on the commotion, with the Trains killed in a gunfight with specialist police later that night.

Deputy Police Commissioner Tracy Linford said police don't believe the shootings were random or spontaneous but rather a deliberate and premeditated act of terror inspired by extremist Christian beliefs.

"Nathaniel Gareth and Stacey Train acted as an autonomous cell and executed a religiously motivated terrorist attack," she told reporters on Thursday.

"What we've been able to glean from that information is that the Train family members subscribe to what we'll call a broad Christian fundamentalist belief system known as premillennialism."

Premillennialists hold an apocalyptic belief that the world will go through a period of calamities before the second coming of Jesus Christ. (4)

1. Promoting Tolerance: Religi-ous leaders can teach their followers about the importance of tolerance and understanding toward different beliefs and cultures. By promoting dialogue and respect between different
groups, they can counter the divisive nature of fundamentalist ideologies.

2. Encouraging Critical Thinking: Religious institutions can emphasize critical thinking and interpretation of religious texts. By encouraging followers to think for themselves and question rigid interpretations, they can help prevent the spread of fundamentalist ideologies that often rely on literal readings of texts.

3. Fostering Peacebuilding: Religious leaders can actively engage in peacebuilding efforts by promoting reconciliation and conflict resolution. By advocating for peaceful solutions to disputes and promoting dialogue between conflicting groups, they can counter the divisive and confrontational nature of fundamentalist ideologies.

4. Providing Support and Guidance: Religious institutions can offer support and guidance to individuals who may be vulnerable to extremist ideologies. By providing a sense of community and belonging, they can offer an alternative to the isolation and radicalization often associated with fundamentalist groups.

5. Advocating for Social Justice: Religious leaders can advocate for social justice issues and address the root causes of extremism, such as inequality and discrimination. By addressing these underlying issues, they can help prevent the spread of fundamentalist ideologies that often thrive on feelings of marginalization and injustice. (5)

Almost everything Straughen says about religion in Religious Fundamentalism and Violence (#229, July 2026) is true of atheism. Indeed atheism is often regarded as a religion. In religion the gods may be idols of wood, metal or stone, but in atheism the idols are higher ranking or higher educated atheists.

Here I quote from Straughen's introduction, with "religious" changed to "atheist" and "fundamentalism" to "atheist-fundamentalism":

Hatred and violence can be inspired by certain kinds of atheist beliefs… that mindset is atheist-fundamentalism, which can be defined as:

… a rigid kind of certainty in the possession of the "one truth" and the "one way" to live. It typically relies on a literal interpretation of a sacred text and an absolute reliance on that text.

Readers can perform similar transformations on Straughen's whole article and see that he has done little more than provide quotes that support his prejudice. An example of "relies on a literal interpretation of a sacred text" is Lysenkoism which by replacing genetics science with ideology increased poverty and famine in Russia.

Atheism's inflexible intolerance, rejection of science, and despising of biblical ethics has produced multitudes of violent, murderous brutes.

Collectivization in Ukraine in the 1930s, for example, led to mass starvation. Note, before going on, that Communism is not identical to atheism. Atheism was, however, the official ideology of Communist regimes, the majority of those in power professing atheism.

Robert Conquest (1986), in his chapter The Death Roll, provides "conservative estimates" of deaths from traumas inflicted by Communist leadership in the Soviet Union. For example from 1930 to 1937:

There was also WWII. The Nazi Germany versus the Soviet Union part of WWII can be regarded as two atheist regimes in a fight for domination. The Soviet Union had 27 million dead, half of these civilians; Germany about 8 million dead, half of these civilians. Remember, the Nazis were not Christians, merely repeated some Christian words to appear moral and tolerant. The Nazi agenda eliminated political, cultural, religious and ethical opposition first within Germany and intended, after defeating Russia and the West, to destroy Christianity and the Japanese Empire, resulting in a Nazified planet.

A foretaste of the future intended for Christian belief and people everywhere is seen in Poland: "What Hitler had specified at the beginning of the occupation of Poland was that the clergy and intelligentsia were to be killed, that the standard of living of the remaining Poles was to be kept as low as possible while the people were still alive..." (Weinberg 2005, p. 33)

Next, consider China. Callick (2013) reported on China's "laogai" or labour camps, which in 2013 still numbered up to 1000 with 3 – 5 million detainees:

These camps, often in remote locations, established under Mao's enthusiastic direction in 1951 ... to deal with counter revolutionaries and criminals, have inherited a 1956 slogan, "Reform first, production second" — although this principle appears to have frequently been ignored in practice, with camps focused on output...

Death rates in the camps reached 10 per cent annually from 1959 to 1962. Overall, millions have died during their incarceration there.

In 1958 Mao Zedong (Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party) announced the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) to speed up the development of heavy industry and boost China's agricultural production, but it turned out disastrous. People who resisted were killed but more died from famine. Frank Dikotter (2010) estimated 45 million deaths from violence and famine. 2.5 million were tortured to death or executed. Agricultural practices were unscientific and water control projects lacked professional engineers. The collapse of 60 poorly constructed dams in Henan province after a 1975 typhoon killed up to 240,000 people.

In May 1966 Premier Zhou Enlai announced the start of the "Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution". Major leaders and officials including Mao presided over a massive rally in Tiananmen Square in August where the Red Guards, mainly students, made their appearance. They vandalized libraries, shops, historical sites, museums and religious buildings and beat up and killed large numbers of Chinese especially targeting those thought to have had exposure to Western education and influence. The Red Guards divided into factions that fought and killed each other and within a year all China verged on anarchy. The Red Guards were abolished in July 1968 and 20 million sent to work in rural areas but the turmoil continued until Mao's death in 1976.

"after taking power in 1949, Mao and his party perpetrated a political terror in which millions of "bad elements" were arrested and executed; millions more were sent to a system of forced labour and "re-education" camps ; then forced collectivization and irrational economic policies killed 45 million in a few short years. Yet the party's response was to double down on repression and "socialist re-education", in which millions were abused, tortured and coerced, in mass campaigns led by Liu and Deng — the supposed pragmatists and "moderates" within the party. Then, suspecting these very men were "capitalist roaders", Mao unleashed his Cultural Revolution to hunt down "monsters and demons".

Straughen finished his criticism with a five-point list of how leaders of "faith communities" can counter "extremist narratives". All five however agree with the Bible and are part of Christian ethics, although often ignored.

Atheist government-policies confirm the biblical observation that: "one person exercises authority over another to the other's hurt." (Ecclesiastes 8:9)

Atheists, and all humans, have a perverted sense of being morally and ethically infallible, which is a mental defect described as the "knowledge of good and evil". (Genesis 3:5) This defect greatly adds to human suffering when people try to force their personal variation of infallibility-in-ethics onto others. "God" permits this situation until the consequences irresistibly prove that everyone was deluded and only God was right.

Most of the lawbreakers reported in newspapers — such as thieves, rapists, child abusers, drug traffickers, violent thugs, murderers, kidnappers, perjurers, etc — are either atheists, or atheists as judged by their godless conduct.

The Bible teaches and predicted that many people will profess Christian belief but are fakes, and this teaching is obviously true. The corresponding claim that atheist criminals are all fake atheists, i.e. pretend atheists, is however manifestly false.

Atheism itself stimulates every sort of evil due to its comforting implication that criminal scumbags who successfully stay unidentified are winners in life, forever safe from retribution. The Bible in contrast teaches that every deed ever done and every word ever spoken is on record and will be judged. (Matthew 12:36-37; Revelation 20:13) Nothing will stay unidentified forever; no data is permanently lost; and every evil deed by everyone who never repented will be exposed and punished.

The doctrine of inescapable punishment is consistent with the scientific theory that information cannot be destroyed, only scrambled or dispersed, and therefore recoverable by as yet unknown future technology — or by God. (Investigator #225) This belief invites self-monitoring so as to be a godly example to others. It's a restraint that atheists lack and the lack steers many atheists, especially when in positions of power, to become critics of God and/or law-breaking brutes.

You can confirm their lack of restraint by viewing crime documentaries on TV; consulting psychological research on how being observed changes behavior; and reading history books such as Female Guards of Nazi Brutality (2026) and The Cultural Revolution (2016).