Jeff: just a note, the most “Communist” country right after WW II was the new nation of Israel, with all those Jewish Communists building kibbutz, and NATIONALIZED industries like Israeli Defense Industries, and others, only recently allowed to go “public”. Huge numbers of those Russian “Communists” were of course Orthodox Christians, and likewise many Chinese (most in fact) are Buddhist, Taoist, Christians (yes some prosecuted because they call for the overthrow of the government- Falun Gong) or animist, but NOT “atheists”.
World wide, about the same number of folks are “non-religious” as all Christian sects combined, but that doesn’t mean “atheist” either. Actual proclaimed atheists aren’t that numerous.
Which, speaking of Israel, there are more Sikhs than Jewish folk in the world, so it is amazing that some “minorities” are ignored, while others tend to dominate U.S. foreign policy (as well as domestic policies), and not just in the Middle East.
Jeff: just a note, the most “Communist” country right after WW II was the new nation of Israel, with all those Jewish Communists building kibbutz, and NATIONALIZED industries like Israeli Defense Industries, and others, only recently allowed to go “public”. Huge numbers of those Russian “Communists” were of course Orthodox Christians, and likewise many Chinese (most in fact) are Buddhist, Taoist, Christians (yes some prosecuted because they call for the overthrow of the government- Falun Gong) or animist, but NOT “atheists”.
World wide, about the same number of folks are “non-religious” as all Christian sects combined, but that doesn’t mean “atheist” either. Actual proclaimed atheists aren’t that numerous.
Which, speaking of Israel, there are more Sikhs than Jewish folk in the world, so it is amazing that some “minorities” are ignored, while others tend to dominate U.S. foreign policy (as well as domestic policies), and not just in the Middle East.