Why Communist Gennady Zyuganov brings shame upon Liberal Atheists

Over five years ago, Gennady Zyuganov, leader of the Communist Part of the Russian Federation, attended a conference whose main topics included dialogue between religious faiths and combatting the western invention of ‘Islamophobia’. When interviewed at the conference, the leader of one of the world’s most prominent left-wing/atheistic parties said the following:

“Orthodox Christians and Muslims have always lived in peace (in modern Russia). They established a great country together…I have read the Bible and The Koran and I can say that the moral and ethical bases of these religions are commonly related. Moral values are considered higher than material values. There is no reason for phobia”.

In the remainder of the interview, Zyuganov went on to talk about the common struggle for morality and social justice that atheist Communists, Christians and Muslims share in common. This is of course the same Zyuganov who once spoke of Christ being an exemplar of Communist values. Nietzsche said much the same, albeit from a greatly different perspective.

Zyuganov’s remarks bring shame upon western liberal atheists who use and abuse atheism to justify their immoral behaviour. For decades, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and its successor, the Communist Party of The Russian Federation have been the literal vanguards of left-wing Leninist-Marxism for not just the Russian people but for the world. Yet the leader of this party is far more measured and sensible in his approach to religion than western liberal atheists.

Zyuganov, far from seeking to sow divisions, seeks to unite people in what he as a leftist sees as a common struggle against injustice, unequal distribution of wealth and inequality. As a true conservative (as opposed to some right wing nutter or neo-liberal moron), I am sympathetic to much of this. What’s more, as a non-religious person myself, I am fully sympathetic to the idea that religious people and institutions ought to be respected as sovereign entities, just as foreign states whose ethos one might disagree with, have the right to exist on their own terms, free from invasion, intimidation or blackmail.

But the compassionate, sensible, respectful and pragmatic attitude taken by Zyuganov is far removed from western liberal atheists. Western atheists have become a sad and pathetic sight. They are individuals aping all they claim to hate about religious people. They force their version of events on others, they feel others are inferior to them, they spit upon traditions derived from religion, even when celebrated among the putatively agnostic.

Worst of all, many of them use their atheism as carte blanche to act in ways which are manifestly immoral by the standards of any moral philosophy, including and in this instance, especially, secular moral philosophy. In this sense, they bring shame to the title ‘atheist’  as it feeds the misconception that to be without religious belief, one is necessarily without morals or a nihilist. This simply isn’t true.

Gennady Zyuganov is an exemplar of morality based on secular belief, one which seeks to draw people together as humans and common citizens rather than a false creed which seeks to segregate, deride and divide.

This naturally leads to a discussion of ‘Islamophobia’, a term I earlier said was a western invention. Western liberals have committed an intellectual crime by confusion mainstream Sunni and Shi’a Islam with Wahhabism, Salafism and Takfiri beliefs. The terrorist atrocities committed across the world in the name of Islam are not committed by normal Sunnis nor Shi’a Muslims. They are committed by Wahhabists, Salafists and Takfiris.

These latter three ideologies are evil, wicked occultist beliefs which are far removed from Islam, which is one of the world’s great religions. They are in fact blasphemous according to true Islamic scholars. Just because one says ‘I am a Muslim’ this doesn’t make it so, they could well be a Salafist which is in fact a blasphemous perversion of Islam. Those who bomb and kill in the name of Islam are not Muslims at all, they are Wahhabists, Salafists and Takfiris and there is nothing wrong with hating such people, let alone being afraid of such people. They are ferocious and thus are correctly feared.

One could indeed say ‘I am a Christian’ but if they are not baptised they would be lying according to the very tenets of true Christianity. Likewise, one could say ‘I am Jewish’ but if they are not circumcised, they would be lying according to the very tenets of true Judaism.

But to the western liberal, none of this matters. For them, their contempt for religion is so great that they are willing to disparage all Muslims as radical Salafists, just because they want to prove a point about the evils of religion.

Irrespective of one’s beliefs, one must stand up for the sensible and genuine followers of atheism (Communist or otherwise), and all of the legitimate religions of the world. Gennady Zyuganov understands this and his left wing credentials are far more serious than the liberal atheists who sow hatred in order to sell books and t-shirts.

This is yet another reason why if the proposed summit between Israeli and Palestinian leadership takes place in Moscow, there may be real chance for peace. The Russian state is respected by both sides in this prolonged conflict. This is a unique position amongst great powers. America, Iran, Britain and Saudi Arabia cannot say the same for themselves. Whilst Gennady Zyuganov is an opposition figure, he is a product of a society which treats differences with respect rather than consternation.